Hidden dangers in the power supply 
(05/06/2008)
Power quality is a serious and often costly issue in health care, especially when equipment is prone to fail without warning – something that can be very damaging to patient care and research project.
We know they’re there but being invisible can mean that ‘gremlins’ lurking in the power supply are ignored and allowed to cause cumulative damage to sensitive microprocessor controlled equipment
Electrical equipment can be highly sensitive to the quality of the electrical power it receives. While the power supply itself is usually very reliable, the quality of the power itself can be highly variable. This means that anything with built in microprocessors, and this covers an ever growing range of equipment, can be very vulnerable to the cumulative effect of ‘gremlins’ in the power supply in the form of spikes, surges and other disturbances inherent in conventional power supply.
The problem lies in the fact that their impact is largely hidden and over time can result in sudden failures that happen without any advance warning.
Anyone putting a scope on their system can instantly see the effect of these gremlins, especially when they plug in something new. Unfortunately, not everyone has a scope to hand and it can be hard to imagine what is happening without seeing some visible evidence.
It has been estimated that the cost to the private and public sector of these problems is as high as €10 billion per year in the EU alone and significantly higher – $188 million pa in the US.
Now, Powervar has created a virtual demonstration on its web site to show what typically occurs to the power supply when various devices from UPSs to power conditioners are added or left off.
The demo room has two separate sections – one for power conditioning products and one for uninterruptible power products. Each section gives the user the interactive opportunity to compare the power quality performance of a variety of power protection technologies.
The virtual demo room was created using Flash® software technology to capture the full motion video performance of a variety of power conditioning and uninterruptible power products. “Our virtual demo room allows us to display on our website what in the past we’ve only been able to show our customers face to face,” says Rob Morris, Powervar’s UK Country Manager. “Now we can walk a customer through a demonstration in minutes even though we may only be able to meet with them for a limited time via the telephone or web cast.
“Education has been a hallmark of POWERVAR operations”, says Rob Morris. “There are so many copycat power protection products out there that customers can become easily confused. Our virtual demo room uses the power of the internet to provide a 24/7 self service learning environment where it’s easy and convenient to learn a great deal about power quality.”
POWERVAR is a global provider of power management systems, based in the US but with sales and distribution offices in the United Kingdom and Germany. The company’s primary products include transformer-based power conditioners and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). All POWERVAR products are in full compliance with the European Union’s WEEE and RoHS directives. The company is ISO 9001:2000 registered and continues to lead the industry by creating higher standards for power quality to support increased technology in business, government and nonprofit sectors.
The new demo room can be found at www.powervar.com under ‘ABCs of power conditioning’. For more information contact: Rob Morris, +44 (0) 1793 553980 sales@powervar.co.uk
Related categories: Industrial Office and commercial UPS and batteries
