[UPS Maintenance] 10 Guidelines for Daily Maintenance of UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply

Nowadays, many network service providers (SPs) use UPS to continuously supply power to their servers in order to ensure that the information on their servers can be accessed by the outside world at any time. The UPS power supply system consists of two parts: the host and the battery, which are not only expensive but also require special attention to the usage environment. If users cannot use and maintain UPS correctly, not only will it fail to effectively function, but it may also shorten its service life in severe cases.

(1) Focus on protecting computers that store important information

Every computer may experience sudden power outages during use due to unstable power supply voltage or other reasons. For ordinary computers, sudden power outages may be commonplace, but for computers that store important information, it may cause incalculable losses to users. Therefore, from the perspective of practical value protection, users should only provide power protection for a small number of important computers in order to ensure that UPS guarantees value for money

(2) Select the appropriate UPS based on the protected object

If choosing a UPS is to protect a computer that stores important information, it is necessary to ensure that the UPS can provide a protection voltage within the normal range of the rated value. This way, in the event of a power outage in the mains, the UPS can instantly switch to the backup power supply, allowing the computer to operate smoothly even in the event of a short-term power outage without data loss or system shutdown. In the event of a prolonged interruption of the mains power supply, UPS can activate power management software to safely shut down the computer system and ensure data integrity. This way, UPS not only protects the hardware of the computer, but also protects the data inside the hardware. If the selected UPS is to protect the network server, in addition to anti surge voltage function, the selected UPS should also have the function of preventing data line surges to ensure that the UPS can operate at full load for at least 5 minutes in the event of a power outage from the mains power supply, thereby avoiding interference from the mains power to the network switching equipment. In addition, the UPS adapted to the server should preferably have intelligent battery management function

(3) UPS cannot operate at rated power for a long time

In the eyes of many people, to fully utilize the effectiveness of UPS, it should be kept running at rated power all the time. Although this is correct, long-term full load operation of UPS may greatly shorten its service life. The principle of using UPS should be to use it for critical equipment as much as possible, rather than connecting devices that do not require power protection to UPS, which can only increase the operational burden of UPS and shorten its service life. The correct approach is to moderately control the load rate of the UPS, ensuring that the load capacity of the UPS does not exceed 85% of its rated power. Of course, there is no need to let UPS operate at excessively low loads.

(4) Backup UPS should not be used on power sensitive equipment. Backup UPS is usually in a float charging state of the battery, and when there is a power outage, the inverter switches to the working state to convert the DC power provided by the battery into stable AC power output. However, this type of UPS has a switching time issue and is not suitable for protecting power sensitive equipment. Although the switching time of this UPS is short, for power sensitive devices such as those with very high control accuracy, not only is the power supply voltage required to be continuous, but it must also be stable. Once there is a small fluctuation in the power supply, its working state can undergo significant changes.

(5) Ensure that the UPS distribution cabinet uses air switches

In order to ensure the safety of UPS use, it is also necessary to pay attention to the switches used in the UPS distribution cabinet, because if the distribution cabinet connected to the UPS uses ordinary old-fashioned knife switches, these switches will have a pulling phenomenon when turning on or off the power supply, which will generate sudden sharp currents and cause additional interference to the mains power supply. If a new type of air switch is used in the distribution cabinet, the anti islanding function of the air switch can be utilized to avoid pulling and ensure the stability of the mains power supply. In addition, the old type of switch uses a fuse, which is relatively slow in current response. This means that in the event of a short circuit or other special circumstances, the power supply cannot be cut off in a timely manner

(6) The UPS for protecting servers should have intelligent management functions

The server is the core of the network, where all important information is stored. In the event of an accident on the server, the entire network may be paralyzed. In order to respond promptly to any abnormalities on the server, it is necessary for the UPS connected to the server to have intelligent management functions, such as white management and adjustment of the server's power supply. In other words, when the power supply encounters an emergency, the UPS can automatically shut down the server's operating system and turn off its power. In addition, the intelligent function loop of UPS includes transmitting server related information to the operating system or network administrator through the network, so that server administrators can remotely control and manage in real time,

(7) Let the battery work in a suitable environment

What maintenance work can users do for lead-acid batteries inside the power cabinet? In fact, the most important maintenance work for batteries is to keep them working in a suitable environment. Because batteries have high requirements for the temperature of the working environment, a suitable temperature can allow the battery to reach its optimal potential and also extend its service life. For this reason, it is advisable to maintain the working environment temperature of the battery at around 25 ° C. If the temperature is too high, it will shorten the battery's service life, and if the temperature is too low, the UPS will not achieve the nominal delay. In addition, when assembling batteries, it is important to be careful not to mix batteries with different capacities and brands, as this will greatly reduce the actual performance of UPS.

(8) The capacity of the selected UPS should match the power of the protected object

The price difference of UPS with different capacities is significant. If the selected UPS capacity is lower than the load power, the UPS cannot provide power protection for these devices normally; On the contrary, if the selected UPS capacity is significantly higher than the power of the load equipment, the UPS usage capacity will inevitably only reach the power of the equipment that needs to be protected, and the funds spent on the high power part will be wasted. Therefore, when choosing a UPS, it is best for users to first calculate the power of the equipment that needs to be protected, and then choose a UPS with a capacity at least as large as the load requirements. Of course, if the number of devices that users need to protect may increase in the future, some margin can be considered on the existing basis

(9) Do not connect inductive loads to UPS

Due to the fact that inductive loads generate oscillating currents at the moment of connecting or disconnecting the power supply, the peak value of this current will be far greater than the current value that the UPS can withstand. This oscillating current can easily cause the UPS to overload. If the overload occurs many times, it will greatly shorten the service life of the UPS. Therefore, it is recommended not to connect some unimportant inductive loads, such as household appliances such as refrigerators or air conditioners, to the UPS

(10) Learn to check UPS when making a purchase

In order to verify whether the selected UPS meets the actual needs, on-site testing must also be conducted after purchasing the UPS to confirm whether the selected UPS matches the actual needs. The main inspection contents during testing include UPS startup inspection, alarm and automatic shutdown inspection, battery power/charging time inspection, mains/battery switching point inspection, etc. A simple way to test whether UPS can provide power-off protection for computers is to suddenly unplug the UPS power plug. If the computer can continue to operate normally, it is considered that UPS is capable of providing protection.