Falcon SG Series Online Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
Plus 800 VA to 6KVA – When only the best will do
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Introduction
"Protect mission-critical
applications and sensitive equipment from damaging high voltages with a Double
Conversion Online UPS. This type of UPS converts the incoming utility
alternating current (AC) to a filtered and regulated direct current (DC) and
electronically regenerates a clean, new and tightly regulated AC source for use
by your sensitive equipment. The double conversion technology removes utility
voltage sags, high voltage transients, noise, frequency shifts and most forms
of power pollution. Low cost Off-line and Line-interactive UPSs can’t even come
close to offering this level of protection."
http://www.falconups.com/pdf/Rolling%20blackouts-online-UPS-article.pdf
"Known for their robust capabilities in mission critical
applications, the SG and SSG Series were put to the test during a recent
California storm that resulted in a power blackout at the Chaos Manor.
“When the big rains came to Los Angeles, we had power outages,” Jerry
Pournelle recalls. “The big one happened in the middle of the night. I happened
to be working at the time. All of my major computer systems are protected by
Falcon UPS boxes. First the lights blinked several times. Then they went off
for about half a minute and returned. Finally they went off and stayed off.
None of this had any effect on my computers: my online connections remained
intact. There were no glitches whatsoever.
“I thought they might come back,
but after several minutes I decided to shut down my computers in an orderly
manner. This was no problem at all. I was now listening to a chorus of chirps
as my Falcon UPS boxes complained bitterly that they had no input power. I went
around to each and shut it down. Pushing a single button did the trick. Now all
was quiet, and dark. Hours later, when the power returned, the Falcon UPS boxes
woke themselves up. In half an hour, computing at Chaos Manor was back to
normal.”
"Falcon’s SG and SSG Series
feature a true regenerative double-conversion On-line design to provide the
highest level of protection against the widest spectrum of power problems. Auto
restart, a comprehensive front panel user interface, site wiring indicator and
built-in surge protection make these UPSes some of the most robust on the
market today. Special models feature a unique voltage/frequency converter
option for worldwide applications, working well in harsh environmental
conditions where there is poor frequency input. Both the SG and SSG Series are
able to provide a continuous, clean, tightly regulated power source from the
most polluted incoming AC power, acting as electronic firewalls between
incoming “dirty” power and sensitive micro-processor-based computers and
automated systems found in industrial environments."
"With an on-line UPS, there's never a worry
about whether the unit will switch to battery during a power failure, because
the connected equipment is driven by the battery 100% of the time. There are
also no worries about spikes, surges, and other artifacts of utility power,
because the connected equipment never sees utility power directly. Instead, the
dirty utility power is used only to charge the battery, which drives the
connected load."
What I Learned
I received the 1000KVA, 700Watt, SG1K-1T, 38-pound
double-conversion online UPS unit for review. The list price is $680.
You
do not want one of these things under your desk if you want to be able to hear
at all. These are server-room items and the server room better be sound-proof.
You get real used to quiet with Macs. I'd forgotten what it
was like to be in proximity to very loud fans in computer equipment
environments.
Frankly, I think the fan system is over-rated. These devices
should be smart enough to drop the windflow and be proactive – unless
these units are designed to run hot. If that is the case, they need o be
redesigned along the "green environment" think. A variable windspeed
indicator/auto-adjustor would be nice.
"In an Online UPS, the batteries are always connected
to the inverter, so that no power transfer switches are necessary. When power
loss occurs, the rectifier simply drops out of the circuit and the batteries
keep the power steady and unchanged. When power is restored, the rectifier
resumes carrying most of the load and begins charging the batteries, though the
charging current may be limited to prevent the high-power rectifier from
overheating the batteries and boiling off the electrolyte." Wikipedia
"The
true advantage to the on-line UPS is its ability to provide an electrical
firewall between the incoming utility power and your sensitive electronic
equipment."
We have really dirty power here (Richland, WA) due to
occasional popping/blowing transformers that are nearly 60 years old, new
construction and new housing that taxes the heck out of an over-age energy
distribution system that can't really handle the load.
Note: Don't plug
laserjet printers into a UPS, because of the fuser heater units.
If you can access the units via DSL, then you can monitor
these systems from literally anywhere in the world.
"All SG Series models have continuous duty inverters
and support the addition of optional external battery/charger
packs. With a factory modification and the addition of an external input
transformer, SG Series models can be configured for use as voltage and
frequency converters." That is why there is a "Plus" in the
title of this UPS.
"With the supplied UPSILON® software, all
SG Series UPS models support unattended shutdown, management, data logging, and
self-diagnostics. The software supports MS Windows® 95, 98, NT, 2000, 2000
Server, ME, XP, Novell Netware® 5 & 6, LINUX and FreeBSD. UPSILON for UNIX
supports most popular UNIX platforms and OS versions." The Mac OS X just
isn’t popular enough yet. The closest I've found is the FreeBSD version with
the User Manual from 2002 and developed by Mega System Technologies - http://www.megatec.com.tw/Download.htm#UPSilon.Manual for
FreeBSD 1.0 and 2.0.
Why an online UPS?
- Full
Generator Compatibility - Double
Conversion Online technology will take the dirtiest generator input and convert
it into clean, computer grade power. Off-line and Line-interactive models will
pass the noise and frequency shifts through to the connected equipment.
- International
Frequency Conversion - Because this type
of UPS generates a completely new AC output, some online units may be
configured for 50Hz input, 60Hz output or the reverse. This cannot be done with
any of the Off-line and Line-interactive products.
- Longer
Battery Runtimes - Most Off-line and
Line-interactive products will only provide a limited battery backup time of a
few minutes, while online products typically offer optional battery packs that
can increase the runtime up to several hours.
- Input
Power Factor Correction (PFC) - All
Off-line and Line-interactive UPS products on the market today do not offer
input power factor correction. What does input PFC do? Simply stated, it is an
electronic circuit that puts the incoming AC voltage and current in phase,
irrespective of the connected equipment. This reduces the amount of input
current required to operate the UPS and any connected equipment.
Conclusions
If you live in a dirty power environment and you are using 3
or more pieces of sensitive electronics (computer systems, network deices,
etc.), this is a good solution for a dedicated communications and equipment
room. This would not be a good solution for an in-office environment where
people work all day. The decibels on this gear is too high.
And if you work in a Mac environment, tweaking the remote
monitoring software can be done on the UNIX side of a Mac.
Other Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply
