Commercial Customers
Good Business Sense –
Guarding Power Quality...
When your business depends upon equipment reliability, even minute disruptions of power can have major consequences: down time, data loss, and even equipment damage. In the past, this was much less of a problem, as older electrical equipment was more tolerant of power quality. Motors, solenoids, and electromechanical controls simply don't notice minor disturbances. But today's electronics are much more demanding. Computers, micro processors, telecommunications equipment, process controls, and robotics and automation demand "clean" power.
The power that comes to your Cheyenne Light meter meets American National Standards Institute guidelines for power quality. Unfortunately, there are occurrences outside the control of CHEYENNE LIGHT that can cause your power supply to be disrupted, or deviate from normal. Also, factors within your business can cause power deviations that could disrupt sensitive electronic equipment. Some types of power deviations are shown in the following table:
Problem | Definition | Duration | Cause | Effect |
Outage | Planned or accidental total loss of power in a localized area. A blackout is a wide-ranging outage. | Minutes to a few days. | Catastrophic system failure, weather, small animals, human error (auto accidents, kites, etc.). | System shutdowns. |
Sag/Surge | A decrease or increase in voltage above or below the normal voltage level (also called an over- or under-voltage). | Less than 2.5 seconds. | Heavy load switching, air conditioning, disk drives, transformers, and other equipment drawing large amounts of power. | Memory loss, data errors, flickering or dimming lights, shrinking display screen, equipment shutdown. |
Spike | A sharp, sudden increase or decrease in voltage of up to several thousand volts. Also called an impulse, transient or notch. | 1 microsecond to 1 millisecond. | Utility switching operations, on-and-off switching of heavy equipment/office machinery, SCR's firing, elevators, welding equipment, static discharges, lightning. | Loss of data, burned circuit boards. |
Noise | A high frequency interference from 7,000 Hz to 50 MHz. | Usually of constant duration. | Electromagnetic interference, microwave, radar, radio and TV transmissions, arc welding, heaters, printers, thermostats, electric typewriters, loose wiring, improper grounds. | Although generally not destructive, it can garble or wipe out stored data. |
There are steps you can take to protect power quality. The degree of protection you choose should be based upon what you stand to lose in the event of power deviation. Things to remember:
- Proper Wiring and Ground: The most common causes of power quality problems are the simplest. The importance of a good, low-resistance ground cannot be overemphasized. Inadequate wire sizing, loose connections, or dust and dirt from poor maintenance are also problem-causers. Checking these things is the lower-cost way to prevent or cure power quality problems.
- Dedicated Circuits: Critical and sensitive electronics should be located on their own independent circuit. This isolates them from power quality problems arising within your business. A dedicated circuit also prevents overloads.
- Spike Suppressors: These help eliminate many sudden changes in voltage, but beware: You get what you pay for! Their capability depends upon the quality of the device purchased.
- Major Steps: If uninterrupted, clean power is vital to your business. You should consider taking major steps toward power quality control. These can range from voltage regulators all the way up to uninterruptible power supplies or generator sets.