Are you ready for a sudden outage?: The weather this spring has churned devastating storms through much of the mid western US. While most of us aren’t experiencing such calamitous weather, it is thunderstorm season and it is not uncommon for afternoon storms to pop up in many areas of the country this time of year. We’ve all experienced the power outages that can come along with those sudden storms and many facilities are already protected with Uninterruptable Power Supplies. Or are they?
Many business or satellite office locations protect a large portion of their equipment with small single phase UPS units that sit under desks or in a network closet out of site. It is not uncommon for that UPS equipment to be forgotten or taken for granted. As the equipment ages, battery life can be reduced and reliability can be compromised. Many aren’t connected to the network, so alarms or low battery warnings go unnoticed – until you need them. That’s the wrong time to find out that your UPS batteries are past their useful life.
Small single phase UPS equipment is generally designed to last for about five years. It’s a good practice to regularly check the status of your UPS. Some customers make it a habit to check their power protection equipment when the seasons change, or twice a year when the clocks are changed for daylight savings time. Most UPSs have user-friendly displays that allow you to easily check the battery life and the overall status of the equipment. Better still, with a simple network management card, most UPSs can be connected to your network and send push notifications in the event of an alarm.
Knowing that a spring storm can come at just about any time, take a few minutes to locate and check the status of your UPS equipment. With minimal cost and easy set-up, consider connecting it to your network so you can receive reminders to check your power protection.