9 power supply issues solved by using a UPS 

By on

Installation of a UPS can help in reducing problems due to issues with the power supply.  Often this is related to nine key issues:

  1. Power failure - complete loss of supply (standard application for a UPS)
  2. Power sag - short term voltage dip in supply beyond normal operating parameter
  3. Power surge - short term voltage increase in supply beyond normal operating parameters
  4. Under voltage - longer term voltage dip lasting minutes to days
  5. Over voltage - longer term voltage increase lasting minutes to days
  6. Electrical line noise - electromagnetic and other high frequency interference
  7. Frequency variation - variations in frequency from normal operating parameters
  8. Switching transient -  spike and large over voltages caused by switching operations
  9. Harmonic distortion -  current and voltage distortion due to non-linear loads

Depending on the type of UPS installed it is possible to resolve some or all of the above issues.  The simplest installation of an off-line UPS will resolve issues (1) to (3), while the installation of a full double conversion unit could potentially resolve all issues. 



Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus

  1. Notes's avatar Notes says:
    8/21/2013 3:21 PM

    Trackback from Notes

    A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply.  It is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electrical power, even in the event of failure of the mains (utility) supply.  A UPS is installed between the mains supply and the equipment to be protected... ...


Comments are closed for this post:
  • have a question or need help, please use our Questions Section
  • spotted an error or have additional info that you think should be in this post, feel free to Contact Us



Motor Insulation

Insulation on a motor prevents interconnection of windings and the winding to earth.  When looking at motors, it is important to understand how the insulation...

How a Digital Substation Works

Traditionally substations have used circuit breakers, current transformers (CT), voltage transformers (VT) and protection relays all wired together using...

Maxwell's Equations - Introduction

Maxwell's Equations are a set of fundamental relationships, which govern how electric and magnetic fields interact. The equations explain how these fields...

Fault Calculation - Symmetrical Components

For unbalance conditions the calculation of fault currents is more complex. One method of dealing with this is symmetrical components. Using symmetrical...

Low Voltage Fault Tables

The following tables provide quick order of magnitude fault levels for a a range of typical low voltage situations.

Robots - Interesting Videos

The robot folding towels post below was interesting enough at the time to post a link.  Recently I’ve come across a couple of other interesting videos...

Wiki Depreciation

We have had the Wiki with us for a long time now, but at last I have decided to say bye bye – more details on why below.

IEC 61439 Verification Methods

The (relatively new) switchgear and control gear standard, IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies' has three methods which can be...

Network Theory – Introduction and Review

In electrical engineering, Network Theory is the study of how to solve circuit problems. By analyzing circuits, the engineer looks to determine the various...

Operational Amplifier

The fundamental component of any analogue computer is the operational amplifier, or op amp. An operational amplifier (often called an op-amp,) is a high...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note