One More Thing to Check on Your UPS Systems

If you’re using a UPS to power critical equipment or to transition power to a generator during a power outage, think about the life span of the capacitors used inside that system.

Besides batteries, a large-scale UPS also uses capacitor banks to “clean up” and filter incoming and outgoing AC power and to filter the DC power that it converts to recharge its batteries. The capacitors used in large-scale UPS systems also degrade over time and like the batteries, may need to be replaced as they age. Also like a battery, a failing capacitor can disable UPS power flow and possibly disrupt power to your computer room or other critical equipment.

So in addition to performing preventive maintenance on a UPS system’s batteries, you should also ask your vendor about the maintenance schedule of any capacitors the UPS uses, particularly as a system ages. A capacitor failure can be just as serious for a UPS power flow as a battery failure.

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