Every driver knows how important it is to service a car. Often, a vehicle can seem fine. It’s driving well, and there are no obvious signs of malfunction or wear and tear. Only when a mechanic lifts up the hood does the damage become apparent. During the service, a mechanic will spot things that might go wrong in the future – and not things that have already stopped your car in the middle of the road. This predictive approach is best. After all, the cost and inconvenience of servicing is nothing compared to the cost and inconvenience of an emergency breakdown repair. With predictive maintenance, your journeys will be as safe and seamless as possible.
Your UPS isn’t a car, but it still needs servicing
Just as it’s important to service a vehicle, it’s important to service a UPS device. This is because, much like cars, UPS devices are complex and require regular and specialist care. There are any number of factors that can affect their performance, and you only really know what’s going on when you run tests and checks. And as it happens, 93% of the time, the cause of UPS failure is related to a lack of preventive maintenance. And just as you employ a mechanic to service a car, it’s key to employ trained, vendor-specific experts to service a UPS. DYI is not an option. Specific tools and training are required and the checks involved are complex. On top of this, multi-vendor service suppliers are also not as robust either, as they may not have access to genuine parts and vital firmware updates.
How do experts service a UPS devices?
During a service, your UPS expert will inspect the battery condition of your device. They will also clean the ventilation channels and internal components to remove dust. On top of this, they will check the fan status and environmental conditions, and they will also replace any worn-down parts with original spare parts, carry out load testing, undertake firmware upgrades, and check and adjust the system calibration to maximize UPS performance on the critical load. Of course, they will undertake the service safely. After all, working with UPS means working with live parts and batteries. They will know how to minimize the risk and dispose of materials such as batteries.
Uninterruptible peace of mind
Uninterruptible power supplies need to be just that: uninterruptible. Whether you work in a data center, medical facility, or manufacturing plant, your UPS needs to be working efficiently at all times. Given the importance of a fully functioning UPS device, the vast majority of owners should service their device every year at the very least. For those with devices serving mission-critical applications – or for those working in industrial environments – twice annual or more frequent servicing is best. But while frequent servicing is vital, what happens when your UPS expert leave the site? What happens in between your service appointment? With 24/7 monitoring, the ABB Ability™ SmartTracker service is a better way to cover all the bases. With its user-friendly app, data-driven, actionable insights, cloud-based data analytics, and tech support, SmartTracker is like having an ABB expert sitting in front of your UPS around the clock. So you can enjoy uninterruptible uptime, while, our team helps improve your UPS availability, energy efficiency, and system resilience.