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UPS Maintenance

One-off UPS servicing, or comprehensive protection with 24/7/365 coverage, emergency call-outs and planned maintenance.

UPS Maintenance

Introduction

In today's modern world, the need for backup power services is more crucial than ever. However, just as important is the need for your backup power solution to be properly serviced.

A properly maintained UPS system helps to ensure trouble-free operation, affords piece of mind for many years and helps to reduce the need to replace parts and consumable items such as batteries, capacitors and fans prematurely. We offer one-off service options and comprehensive maintenance plans for most UPS systems, including Eaton, APC, Riello, Borri, Certa, Emerson Chloride, Socomec, Salicru, MGE and Powerware.

Why Maintain a UPS

Why do I need to maintain my Uninterruptible Power Supply?

Like any other electrical equipment, your UPS system requires regular maintenance to ensure it is properly functioning, effective and efficient. Neglecting the UPS servicing element of ownership can lead to various problems, including reduced battery life and increased risk of equipment failure during a power outage. Regular UPS servicing helps identify potential issues beforehand and ensures that the system is always ready to provide backup power when needed.

Regular servicing also helps extend the lifespan of your UPS. A well-maintained system can last for many years, saving you the cost and inconvenience of frequent replacements. It also minimises the risk of downtime and loss of critical data or equipment due to power interruptions.

In addition to these benefits, regular servicing can also save you operating expenditure in the long term. A well-maintained UPS is more energy-efficient, reducing your electricity bills. It also decreases the likelihood of costly repairs or replacements due to neglect or lack of maintenance.

UPS Maintenance Solutions

What is the solution?

A cost-effective, comprehensive maintenance plan brought to you by one of the UK's leading power experts with 30 years of experience. The commercial investment in your UPS system can be considerable, and it is important for this equipment to be maintained to the highest standards to ensure it performs flawlessly when called upon. Our scheduled maintenance service includes efficiency checks on all the components of your UPS system and helps to identify required corrective works (such as battery replacements) before they become an issue.

We offer 24/7/365 emergency coverage and technical support throughout the whole of the UK and can respond to the site in as little as 4 hours (6 and 8-hour response times also offered). We also offer generously discounted pricing for multiple units across one or more sites and on contracts from 1 to 5 years.

UPS Under Warranty Maintenance

Why have a maintenance contract if the UPS is under warranty?

A manufacturer’s warranty will cover the parts and labour costs if the UPS becomes faulty. The warranty will not guarantee a specific response and fix time in the event of a failure and does not include any servicing of the UPS system.

NSSE UPS Servicing

What happens during the servicing process?

The process for servicing an Uninterruptible Power Supply includes a thorough inspection, testing, and cleaning of all the components. It also involves checking the health of the consumables such as the batteries, capacitors and fans. In addition, software and firmware updates are applied to ensure that the system is up-to-date with the latest features and bug fixes. The engineer will then follow up with their findings and detail any recommended corrective requirements in a comprehensive report.

Inspection

During the inspection, the engineer checks for any physical damage or loose connections in the UPS. They also ensure that the UPS is adequately ventilated and there are no obstructions around it that can hinder the airflow.

Testing

The engineer performs various tests to evaluate the performance of the UPS including battery capacity, charging rate, and inverter efficiency. This helps identify any potential issues with the UPS prior to it becoming a problem.

Cleaning

Dust and other contaminants can accumulate inside the UPS, affecting its performance and lifespan. A thorough cleaning of all the components, including fans and filters, helps keep the system running smoothly.

Battery Health Check

The batteries are the most expensive consumable item in your UPS and have a design life of either 3-5 years, or 7-10 years. The engineer uses specialised tools to check the battery's capacity, charging rate and overall condition. If batteries are found to be weak or faulty, corrective recommendations are made.

Capacitor Health Check

Much like the batteries, the capacitors in your UPS system (components that adjust fluctuations in electrical voltage, known as “supply voltage filtering”), require similar checks to ensure they are not starting to bulge or leak. Should a capacitor fail, the other capacitors are forced to then take up the workload which in turn shortens their natural life. As with UPS batteries, capacitors have a finite design life (usually around 7 years).

Fans

The last of the consumables found in the UPS, fans play a crucial role in keeping the electronic components cool which allows them to operate within safe parameters. Poorly performing or failed fans means higher temperatures which in turn means premature deterioration of components such as the inverter and rectifier. With a design life of around 5 years, it is beneficial and good practice to replace the fans at the same time as the batteries.

Software Updates

Like any other technology, UPS systems require software updates to function efficiently. These updates not only improve performance, but also fix any bugs or vulnerabilities in the system.

UPS Condition Reports

UPS servicing reports

Following the completed service, the engineer will produce a detailed report highlighting any areas of concern which may require attention. These might be recommendations to replace the batteries or other consumables (if at fault or at the end of the design life), or to advise upon ways to improve the UPS performance generally (should load improved balancing be required or where the UPS environment’s ambient temperature is on the high side).

UPS Maintenance FAQs

If your UPS is new, servicing should take place around nine months after the date of installation. It should then be serviced at 12 monthly intervals to ensure continued effective and efficient operation. Servicing can be carried out every six months for mission-critical operations.

Depending on the size of the UPS, servicing will usually take 1 – 2 hours per UPS.

If you have a Maintenance Bypass Switch connected to your UPS, you do not have to power down the critical load. Your systems can remain running, albeit on raw mains, with no UPS protection.

Where your critical load continues to run on raw mains, there is always a very small risk of a power event (outage, fluctuations, etc), which may compromise your systems.

There is also a mitigated risk to your critical load when switching the UPS to bypass to carry out the service works and back again.

The UPS servicing can be carried out outside of normal working hours to mitigate the risk of interruption of operations. We can also arrange for the servicing to take place during a scheduled power down to remove all risk to the critical load.

Yes. We provide a comprehensive report which clearly details the condition of the UPS, its components and consumable items (batteries, capacitors and fans). Any required corrective or remedial works are identified with recommendations offered.

The batteries in your UPS system will have either a 3-5 year or 7-10 year design life. In most small UPS systems, 3-5 year design life cells will be fitted; we recommend replacing them once the UPS is in its 5th year of use.

We recommend replacing long-life 7-10 year batteries in year 8 or 9; however, the actual useful battery life greatly depends on the condition of the UPS and its environment. We have seen batteries fail well before their expected life span in poor environments and, conversely, go on to work up to 2 years after the expected lifespan in well-ventilated and air-cooled settings.

Capacitors are usually changed in year 7, with fans being recommended for replacement at the same time as the batteries.

Our engineers carry spare parts with them when attending scheduled service visits and emergency call-outs. However, it is impossible to carry every spare part for every UPS we support and maintain, and these are widely available from our UPS manufacturer partners.

Conclusion

Regular servicing of your Uninterruptible Power Supply is crucial for maintaining its reliability and performance

By carrying out this routine maintenance, you are helping to ensure that your UPS equipment is operating effectively and efficiently at all times and ready to provide backup power when needed.

Remember, prevention is always better (and often cheaper) than cure! Invest in the maintenance of your UPS, and it will serve as a reliable backup power source for your critical operations for many years.

Contact Us

If you require an emergency call out for your contracted equipment, the 'in hours' and 'out of hours' emergency contact numbers can be found on your maintenance contract.

For all other enquiries, please complete the form below, and one of our team will contact you at the earliest opportunity. Alternatively, call us on 0333 222 4000. Our office hours are Monday to Friday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

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