From the

Desk of

Bud Worwetz

Luckily, my good client accepted my good advice to allow me to do a service of four of his UPS units plotted at the corners of his large North Carolina county. His thrifty nature chided me into doing all in a single day at a nominal fee, "cuz I was just passin' thru from Virginia." I honestly had slobbery visions of a gratis barbeque dinner topping off the day, as a dozen of his back-slapping crewmen all joked about fishing, hunting, and loose expense accounts. Instead, I was met by my familiar lunch partner with half a cold gas station calzone. The day was spent knee crawling and stretching to record measurements. For the first two Best Ferrups UPS systems, dust bunnies were the devil and a few volts calibrated ensured longevity. Tightened bolts, metered temps and checked for alarms.

Two more units to go and I am on my way to surprise my wife in Jacksonville, albeit the taste of she crab soup still lingered on my tongue. As my preventative maintenance sessions are more than thorough, I apologize to my client for my extensive use of his time as guide. He nods a humble appreciation for my record keeping and seems to take my recommendations seriously. I hand him a football size oval of plastic wrap which had somehow situated itself over the main fan guard cooling the heatsink of a 10KVA unit.

"I guess that could have become a problem," he drawls.

"Yes," I agree, "Power systems like their cooling. I expect this kind of crap to accumulate since ya'll have made this room storage for files and ... starter fluid ... 2-cycle oil .... and what the Hell is this? Propane tanks?"

"I guess we ought to do something about that," is murmured under a thick mustache.

This is commonplace. Battery backup equipment is relegated to an electrical room. That's OK, but that room is also home for some fat-daddy transformer installed right after WWII. The room is hot, but access is restricted. I'll take it! (My first apartment overlooked a swamp... it was smelly, but secluded, and I loved it.)

Our Carolina gentleman, a director, has many other duties and he hands me over to an older fellow who is still senior, and, therefore, first in line to (WAIT FOR IT!) OVERTIME. We are at the county's west perimeter and we are boxing to its east and lastly its south site. It was a perfect line-up that will leave me 30 minutes south on I-95. After 15 minutes of eating Chevy 1500 fumes I was deposited behind my new guide on a slather clay road. We bounced over an old tobacco field to finally roll onto the gravel pad spread beside the county's cell tower. It's time to work.

This Best Ferrups 4.3KVA is old. I mean FD series old, but the sucker is still humming; and according to the senior maintenance man, it was not a problem unit. Humming she was, as one fan was stuck tight. She was hot enough to grill cheese (yes I was getting hungry again). "No problem, I'm sure I have a 230V fan for her"......... no. I was scheduled to inspect three 10KVA to 18KVA units, and I am unprepared. If this fan is only dumping heat into the working unit, then there is no harm in yanking one (1) lead. So that's how we left it. Cooler, but not in shape. I chuckle as I note the wide calibration change I had to make, yet she hummed. So tough: so dirty.

The years (ten or more) of inattention allowed static and vibration to take hold. I barked as my hotdog fingers nearly test-tugged one of two wires clean out of the din-rail. Oh, did I mention that everything is still hot? (You see, these sites (911 call centers) are seldom inclined to go to bypass and almost never allowed to go down. Would it be my luck that I drop a UPS supporting switches connected to a withered old lady suddenly the prey of a home invader?!) I settle down and tighten the leg's retaining screw. I tighten all the screws (did I mention it is still hot!) The unit seems to even be more quiet.

Overall, the batteries are good and the system is now OK. The batts are good, because my client was smart enough to write in bold black Sharpie "LAST BATTERY REPLACEMENT DATE nn/nn." My veteran host is quick and serious as he relays the order to replace the fan, instructing my Jacksonville office to overnight ship this fan to his county office. (How did he get reception? I've been roaming since we passed that goat farm.) Now we can proceed to the south tower.

Cats, opossums and rabbits scatter as I roll down a tree-lined path to our last tower. Damn! This is a big county. We drove at 70mph (more or less) for at least 5 twangy songs before we wiggled into this camp site. My weekend Boy scout trips were less remote than this cell tower. This box is beautiful: the "building" is encaged by fences and it's goose-bump cold inside. My guide awards me his confidence and trust: he pats my back, exiting, places a broom handle in the doorway to ensure I don't lock myself out. OKAY, I get it, but I'm gonna make short work of this PM (Preventative Maintenance) while this sucker is reheating his meatloaf and wiggling his shoeless feet in his EZ chair at home. His truck throws rocks. I love nature, but this neck of the woods is real ... naturelike. Wrap it up, Bud!

As I survey the system's status, the Low Battery Alarm is not my first worry. 208V Nominal Input is my worry, given the main voltage is 240V. Also High Input Alarm. How long has this been like this? (The initial Service Call was, "We moved a UPS from the city to a new outside tower and we got some problems later." Problems, huh? Yes, this mobile data center is actually wired for 240V and the unit was configured for 208V. She also had new but damaged batteries in it. These ran themselves dead, dead, dead, trying to support an underpowered unit at 208V. The top battery was 10.something, so I took a shot. I reconfigure the UPS by software and by internal wiring to make her a 240V system. Viola! She began to hum and charge and white doves flew overhead. I checked all other connections and tucked my Superhero cape back into my bag.

I clenched back a wash of urine as Mr. Overtime unexpectedly returned, clanging open the metal door."Well, I was worried you didn't lock the gate," he smacked. I am sure he had barbeque sauce on his breathe.

"Whew! Yes, we are OK, and I am done. Let's lock it up together. I got your system back up." No response. "I will call [supervisor] in the morning. Maybe we can save the batteries. In fact, I'll call him now."

"OK, lock it up when you're done." His truck is already barrelling down the path before I can wave. Again, rocks are slung behind him.

So, what can go wrong in a year, or two, or five after installing a battery backup? Debris blocks airways. High voltage/current wires loosen and fall out. Batteries leak and fail. Fans seize up. Even new systems may fail in the event of an hasty and untrained startup.

My clients are great folks. They protect citizens, fuel power plants, and make the Internet go, but they don't open the UPS. Maybe someone should.

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