Support - Types of Power Problems
The amount of electronic equipment grows daily, which means there
is more demand than ever before on the utility industry. Plus, the
complexity and sensitivity of new technologies makes them highly
susceptible to sags, blackouts, spikes, surges and noise.
Performance of your mission-critical equipment is a must.
Here are the different types of power problems,
their causes and their effects.
Sags
Also known as brownouts. Sags are short-term
decreases in voltage levels. This is the most common power problem.
Sags are typically caused by the start-up power demands of many
electrical devices (including motors, compressors, elevators, shop
tools, etc.).
Sags also are the electric utilities means of
coping with extraordinary power demands.
In a procedure known as "rolling brownouts", the
utility will systematically lower the voltage levels in certain
areas for hours or days at a time. Hot days, when air conditioning
usage is at its peak, will often prompt rolling brownouts.
The effects of a sag is that it can "starve" a
computer of the power it needs to function, causing frozen keyboards
and unexpected system crashes with the end result being the loss or
corruption of data. Sags also reduce the efficiency and life span of
electrical equipment, particularly motors.
Blackout
Blackouts are total loss of utility power.
Blackouts are caused by excessive demand on the
power grid, lightening storms, ice on power lines, car accidents,
backhoes, earthquakes, power rationing, etc.
The effects of a blackout is loss of current work
in RAM or cache, possible loss of hard drive File Allocation Table
(FAT) resulting in total loss of data stored on drive.
Spike
Also referred to as an impulse. Spikes are
instantaneous, dramatic increases in voltage. Akin to the force of a
tidal wave, a spike can enter electronic equipment and damage or
completely destroy components.
Spikes are typically caused by a nearby lightening
strike. Spikes can also occur when utility power comes back on line
after having been knocked out in a storm or as the result of a car
accident.
The effects of a spike are catastrophic damage to
hardware and loss of data.
Surge
A surge is a short-term increase in voltage
typically lasting at least 1/120 of a second.
Surges are caused by high-powered electrical
motors such as air conditioners and household appliances in the
vicinity. When this equipment is switched off, the extra voltage is
dissipated through the power line.
The effects of surges on computers and similar
sensitive electronic devices, which are designed to receive power
within a certain voltage range, are stress on delicate components,
which cause premature failure.
Noise
Noise is more technically referred to as
Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interface (RFI).
Electrical noise disrupts the smooth sine wave one expects from
utility power.
Electrical noise is caused by many factors and
phenomena including lightening, load switching, generators, radio
transmitters and industrial equipment. It may be intermittent or
chronic.
The effects of noise are an introduction of
glitches and errors into executable programs and data files.
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