Diesel generators play a critical role of supplying emergency power when there is a loss of power. Emergency diesel generators are typically designed to be able to operate for extended periods of time before refuelling. Whether small or large volumes, diesel fuel must be stored on-site in order to meet the operational time requirement in supplying the load.
We’ve written before about our use of thermal cameras to improve the level of faults we can diagnose during a UPS maintenance visit. A recent maintenance uncovered problems with poor crimping on the battery interlink cable lugs.
Continue reading UPS maintenance detects faulty battery links
The team at Power Protect love our coffee! So much so the when advertised for staff in our Port Melbourne office we made a point of saying there were two great cafes within walking distance.
You can imagine then that we were all to happy to help when we received a call from Allison from Mojo Expresso. Allison runs a coffee van in South Western Sydney and had been having problems with the on-board Cummins Onan generator cutting out suddenly with no explanation of why. When it was occurring once daily, it was manageable but the issues started to increase which was impacting Allison’s ability to run her business.
Not so long ago the practice of thermography was limited to scientific applications primarily due to the cost and difficulty in setting up and using the equipment. These days the cost of thermal cameras has come down sufficiently for them to be a standard part of the service technician’s toolkit.
A single bad battery in a UPS battery string creates a risk of downtime for datacenter and critical power applications, and the biggest killer of batteries is excessive temperature.
Continue reading UPS battery temperature logging – just part of the service
I mentioned in my previous post about the generator control system upgrade, the process of carefully documenting the existing installation due to a lack of any drawings or information about how the current system works.
Here I thought I’d provide some insight into the process as it moves from not really knowing how the control system operates to having a fully developed schematic. When you’re faced with a mess of wires, a bunch of unlabelled contactors, relays and fuses, all you can really do is pick a point to start work your way through until you have identified how every component comes together.
This job started out as a fairly routine call to our Sydney office, the customer indicated they were having issues with their standby diesel generator not operating correctly. They had a weekend test scheduled and wanted us along to see how the system was performing and advise what could be done to improve its reliability.
One quick look at the generator controller and anyone could tell this wasn’t going to be a simple fix but apparently those that came before us were not so quick to put forward a solution. The test run was completed which allowed us to see the full operation (and failure) of the generator, controller, and transfer switch. Without a doubt the only fix for this was a re-wire of the control system.
Power Protect have been a member of the ACTSmart Business Recycling Program since 2011. The program encourages and recognises businesses for their efforts in recycling and waste minimisation. At the 2016 Business Sustainability Awards Power Protect received a Highly Commended Corporate Award for our ongoing commitment to waste minimisation.
Continue reading Power Protect awarded for our commitment to recycling
Equipment Supplied: Liebert UPS
Our Customer: Government Dept.
Project Value: $80,000
The client contacted Power Protect as they had a UPS in alarm and their contracted service provider was unable to attend site. On arrival we found that one of the battery systems had failed and was overheating. The
affected system was shut down for safety and a thorough audit was
undertaken of the site equipment.
In addition to replacing the failed batteries, two 80kVA transformer based UPS were replaced with modern digital UPS units. The improvements in
energy efficiency were visible on the site’s next energy bill. The client now contracts Power Protect for their UPS maintenance services.
Equipment Supplied: Powershield BDL
Our Customer: Thycon
Project Value: $75,000
In 2009 the facility undertook a substantial upgrade to their UPS Systems. The customer had selected the Powershield Sentinel Voltage and
Impedance Battery Data Logger [BDL] to monitor the UPS Battery System . Power Protect were engaged by the UPS manufacturer Thycon, to supply, install and commission the BDL.