RE: 911:: power outages & generators

[Guest guest]

>

> hi, mark. our comm center, like many others, has a diesel

> generator and a UPS for emergency power. ...<snip>..

> if the generator fails to start or doesn't provide the

> necessary power, the UPS will sustain us for between 4-6

> hours. during that time we can bring up a second generator

> on a flatbed truck, literally plug it into the building and

> throw a manual transfer switch. so far we've never had to

> do that beyond an initial test.

Gad zooks! A system that actually works all the time!

Our UPS start screaming out in alarm due to low capacity/high

drain within seconds after commercial power goes off. If we

turn off printers, monitors, etc., at least we won't lose the

data that we already input... if we hurry 'cause the motors

in the drives use a lot of power.

Our generator is great. Once. If power goes out and stays

out. Last summer, we learned about a 'quirk' that may also

exist in your system. 1/Commercial power drops. 2/Emergency

generator comes on, takes over load. 3/Commercial power

restored; emergency generator begins shut-down sequence.

BUT..... if commercial power goes out again before the

emergency generator completes its shut-down/reset procedure,

the system doesn't sense a power interruption and the

generator doesn't come back on line. It gets real dark

down here, real quick. Noisy, too, as all the alarms on the

UPS scream at once. The buttons on the telephone don't even

light up (although the bells work well). The only solution

is to go thru the basement to the generator control panel,

start the generator at its underground home, and manually

switch it 'on.'

Calls occur randomly... all at the same time.

R J 'Tree' Greenwood

doctree@... or tree.greenwood@...

doctree@... on 911 Console

Falls Church City & Fauquier County, VA

Can't find what you're looking for?

The LookSmart Live! community will help you find it and reward you for helping

others. http://live.looksmart.com

[Guest guest]

>

> hi, mark. our comm center, like many others, has a diesel

> generator and a UPS for emergency power. ...<snip>..

> if the generator fails to start or doesn't provide the

> necessary power, the UPS will sustain us for between 4-6

> hours. during that time we can bring up a second generator

> on a flatbed truck, literally plug it into the building and

> throw a manual transfer switch. so far we've never had to

> do that beyond an initial test.

Gad zooks! A system that actually works all the time!

Our UPS start screaming out in alarm due to low capacity/high

drain within seconds after commercial power goes off. If we

turn off printers, monitors, etc., at least we won't lose the

data that we already input... if we hurry 'cause the motors

in the drives use a lot of power.

Our generator is great. Once. If power goes out and stays

out. Last summer, we learned about a 'quirk' that may also

exist in your system. 1/Commercial power drops. 2/Emergency

generator comes on, takes over load. 3/Commercial power

restored; emergency generator begins shut-down sequence.

BUT..... if commercial power goes out again before the

emergency generator completes its shut-down/reset procedure,

the system doesn't sense a power interruption and the

generator doesn't come back on line. It gets real dark

down here, real quick. Noisy, too, as all the alarms on the

UPS scream at once. The buttons on the telephone don't even

light up (although the bells work well). The only solution

is to go thru the basement to the generator control panel,

start the generator at its underground home, and manually

switch it 'on.'

Calls occur randomly... all at the same time.

R J 'Tree' Greenwood

doctree@... or tree.greenwood@...

doctree@... on 911 Console

Falls Church City & Fauquier County, VA

Can't find what you're looking for?

The LookSmart Live! community will help you find it and reward you for helping

others. http://live.looksmart.com

[Guest guest]

Regarding UPS's, how many of you have ever experienced a UPS catching on fire?

About 4 years ago one weekday morning I smelled something burning. Several

minutes later a plume of smoke came from under our desk with a bright glow

coming from one of the UPS's. Fortunately we had a dry chem extenguisher handy,

and I used it despite my not having any turnout gear since it was in my car;

good thing OSHA didn't find out or I would have been in trouble.

Rich Dean, NJ USA .. secondary email addresses are rldean@...,

deanr@... .. HS Class of 1970, Vol Firefighter since 1973,

Telecommunciator/Dispatch since 1975, Railfan since birth in 1952.. Founder of

Egroups.com groups for NJArea, Fire-Police, NJ_Area_Railpics,

NorthAmericanParades and NorthJerseyVolFire.. Member of many more online groups

such as nysw@..., nyswegroups, tiersightings@egroups,

Fire-L@topica, Firepics@egroups, 911dispatcher@egroups

------------------------------------------------------------

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http://www.deja.com/

[Guest guest]

yep...works good too. we just replaced a literal wall full of batteries

last year. we maintain a very aggressive schedule of battery testing and

replacement.

rich, n9dko

RE: 911:: power outages & generators

>

> hi, mark. our comm center, like many others, has a diesel

> generator and a UPS for emergency power. ...<snip>..

> if the generator fails to start or doesn't provide the

> necessary power, the UPS will sustain us for between 4-6

> hours. during that time we can bring up a second generator

> on a flatbed truck, literally plug it into the building and

> throw a manual transfer switch. so far we've never had to

> do that beyond an initial test.

<< Gad zooks! A system that actually works all the time!>>