Brownouts: The Quiet Equipment Killer
Just because there is no lightning and thunder doesn’t mean your equipment
is safe!
Brownouts can be more problematic then blackouts to delicate electronic equipment
in some cases. Brownouts are defined as extended periods of voltage drop or
sag coming from the power grid. In brownout conditions, most devices will continue
to run, but with unexpected errors and possible long term damage to components.
Brownouts can occur at the utility level like blackouts, but in many cases they
can also occur within your building’s electrical grid, when a large local
load is applied.
Twenty percent of the power problems we see are utility problems, like blackouts
and brownouts, the other 80 percent come from the customer’s facility,
because of inductive loads and switching. Dr. James T. Kennedy, of Lucent Technologies
said that internal problems “are one of the two major problems we deal
with.”
Uninterruptible power supplies installed on computer and network devices can
protect them from local grid fluctuations within your building or switching
station, if they provide AVR boost and trim features. Different types of UPSes
are better suited for such applications.
|
