UPS APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI: above all reliability



    In the world of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), On-Line devices belong to a kind of "major league". They not only “put a shoulder” on the equipment at the moment when the power supply disappears, but also improve the quality of the electricity supplied to it.
    It is not a secret for anyone that the form of voltage in modern networks is far from the sinusoid prescribed by GOST, and this does not in the best way affect the reliability and durability of the fed equipment. On-Line UPSs solve this problem. Another important advantage of such UPSs is the instantaneous switching to backup mode with almost no transients.

    But On-Line UPS for a long time had the reputation of expensive, bulky devices that require highly qualified specialists for their service. The appearance on the market of APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI, created by APC - a subsidiary of the famous company Schneider Electric - finally dispelled these stereotypes.

    It should immediately clarify the essence of the name. The term Smart-UPS sometimes incorrectly denotes all UPSs of the Line-Interactive type (occupying a middle position between simple Off-Line and high-end On-Line UPS), although, in fact, their principle of working directly with "intelligent" technologies is in no way connected. Here SRC1KI is really Smart, that is “smart”, and then we will explain why. Another word On-Line is perceived more unambiguously - this is the principle of operation of this UPS.



    On-line UPS uses double conversion. First, the supply voltage is rectified and stabilized, the battery is charged from it. A voltage is taken from the battery, which stabilizes once more (since the battery changes voltage during discharge) and is fed to the inverter, which forms a sinusoidal supply voltage at the output.

    Specifications



    APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI is positioned on the market as a device for professional use. Therefore, the load is connected not through standard sockets, but through IEC C13 sockets. They have many advantages that are important for professional use, for example, compactness and security, but the main advantage is standardization around the world. That is, do not have to think about the compatibility of the plugs and sockets when connecting equipment. The package includes two cables, each of which has a plug at one end, and the other end with an IEC C13 socket.

    For transmitting control signals to the UPS there is a USB connector (the corresponding cable is included), as well as an RJ-45 connector. It should be noted that in the basic configuration of the UPS, only the serial port of the computer can be connected to the RJ-45 connector via a special adapter supplied in the package. But, if an expansion module is installed in the UPS, it can be assumed that it will be possible to connect an Ethernet local area network to this connector. EPO is supported, providing remote emergency power off without switching to battery power. The features of the EPO control circuit are low voltage (usually 24 V) and full galvanic isolation from the switched power supply circuit. The cable for remote disconnection connects to the port on the rear panel, which is a 3 pin green connector. When the EPO connector is not used, it is covered with a jumper, which should not be moved or removed unnecessarily. The rear panel also has a yellow jumper through which you can turn on or turn off the built-in battery by physically closing or breaking the circuit. When transporting the UPS or its long-term storage, the jumper should be in the “open” position. This provides protection against accidental activation, and also prevents the battery from self-discharge. In addition, the need for physical disconnection of the battery during transportation is spelled out in the IATA (International Air Transport Association) rules and a number of other regulatory documents. The rear panel also has a yellow jumper through which you can turn on or turn off the built-in battery by physically closing or breaking the circuit. When transporting the UPS or its long-term storage, the jumper should be in the “open” position. This provides protection against accidental activation, and also prevents the battery from self-discharge. In addition, the need for physical disconnection of the battery during transportation is spelled out in the IATA (International Air Transport Association) rules and a number of other regulatory documents. The rear panel also has a yellow jumper through which you can turn on or turn off the built-in battery by physically closing or breaking the circuit. When transporting the UPS or its long-term storage, the jumper should be in the “open” position. This provides protection against accidental activation, and also prevents the battery from self-discharge. In addition, the need for physical disconnection of the battery during transportation is spelled out in the IATA (International Air Transport Association) rules and a number of other regulatory documents. This provides protection against accidental activation, and also prevents the battery from self-discharge. In addition, the need for physical disconnection of the battery during transportation is spelled out in the IATA (International Air Transport Association) rules and a number of other regulatory documents. This provides protection against accidental activation, and also prevents the battery from self-discharge. In addition, the need for physical disconnection of the battery during transportation is spelled out in the IATA (International Air Transport Association) rules and a number of other regulatory documents.

    At the input of the UPS there is an automatic fuse that operates during a short circuit. After elimination of the problem, the UPS can be restored by pressing the corresponding button on the rear panel of the device.



    On the front panel are an LCD display and control buttons. With their help, even without a computer, you can set almost any UPS settings. The LCD is not a dotted display, but a segment one, so you will need to refer to the instructions for the interpretation of the characters displayed on it. Of course, the point display is more informative, but the segment display has a much wider viewing angle. Therefore, from what angle you looked at the front panel of the UPS, you will see the displayed information without distortion. And this, again, is important for professional use.

    Depending on the settings, the SRC1KI may produce an output voltage from the following row: 220 V; 230 V; 240W. Why is this feature very useful? Since 2015, according to GOST 29322-2014, the standard voltage in the electrical network for our country is 230 V, the same as in most EU countries. At the same time, there is a large fleet of vehicles designed for the old standard of 220 V. Of course, this technique works without problems even at a voltage of 230 V, but ... this often increases the power consumption. For professional applications, this is important. UPS can work with the equipment, originally designed for the standard 240 V, found in some exotic corners of the world.

    To improve the reliability of the UPS APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI provides a mode of direct transmission of electricity from input to output - the so-called bypass. This mode is automatically activated if the UPS is heavily overloaded or has any malfunctions. Also, the bypass can be turned on forcibly through the control menu. But, in any case, if the voltage and frequency at the input go beyond certain limits, the limits of which the user can adjust, the bypass is turned off and the power supply to the load is terminated.

    Through the control menu, you can set the "eco-friendly" (Eco) mode. In it, the SRC1KI works like an off-line UPS, with the result that it consumes less power for its own needs.



    Opening the UPS cabinet showed that it uses two standard batteries with a nominal voltage of 12 V each, connected in series. Their total voltage is 24 V, however, when the UPS is connected to the mains, the battery is in a state of charge and the voltage on it can reach 28 V and even large values, which is displayed on the display of the device, as well as software on the computer.



    The output of the inverter uses IGBT transistors NGTB15N120FL from the well-known manufacturer ON Semiconductor. The use of these transistors provides high efficiency and resistance to overloads. Other high-power nodes use Toshiba's TK80E08K3 MOSFET transistors. Power transistors are mounted on a single aluminum heat sink classic, well-proven over decades, form. In this case, the edges of the heat sink are precisely oriented in the direction of the air flow, which eliminates their clogging with dust. In general, the developers paid very serious attention to improving the reliability of the UPS.

    By the way, an interesting improvement was found. The heat sink and some powerful UPS units are covered with a thin transparent plastic casing. This ensures the desired direction of air flow from the built-in fan without a significant increase in the mass of the device. At the same time low-power control units are not blown by hot air coming from the heat sink, which increases the stability of their work. Because of the need for intensive air cooling, the UPS has turned out to be very noisy, but since it is intended for servers and not workstations, this drawback is not significant.

    Impressive are the massive toroidal chokes installed at the outlet. They are more difficult to manufacture than chokes on the W-shaped magnetic cores, but at the same time they provide a form of voltage at the output that is closer to the ideal sine wave.

    PowerChute Business Edition is available for use with the UPS. The most current version is 9.2, but if you are using Windows 10, you will have to install the previous version 9.11. This program has a web-based interface and is capable of monitoring up to 5 nodes. When installing this program, the computer, after receiving information about a power failure from the UPS after a specified period of time, begins the process of correctly terminating the applications and the operating system on the computer and then shutting down.

    The tests of the UPS were carried out at a voltage of 230 V. The load was a powerful server that consumes 710 watts. When changing the supply voltage using LATR within 190 - 236 V, the output voltage was within 228 - 230 Hz. The output frequency was in the range of 50 - 50.1 Hz.

    After turning off the power at the input of the UPS, after 2 minutes the software began the process of shutting down the computer (at default settings), the computer eventually shut down correctly without losing data until the battery is discharged. When tested in the mode when the UPS could not shut down the server, the power to the load continued for 5 minutes from the moment of disconnecting from the network until the battery was completely discharged. All this time, the output voltage ranged from 228 - 230 V, frequency - 50 - 50.1 Hz. It is important that the battery life turned out to be more than the calculated value given by the PowerChute Business Edition program - this means that the forecasts of this program are a reliable lower estimate, as it should be.

    After full discharge, the battery charges in 3 hours (if the battery is charged for the first time, it takes about 5 hours to charge it). So fast charging requires large currents, so that the fan is working at this time.

    For 100% of the load is taken the active component of power consumption, equal to 800 watts. Tests have shown that a slight excess of this load triggers an audible indication, but does not entail the inclusion of a bypass. As shown by experiments, automatic switching on of the bypass occurs if the current in the load exceeds 4.5 A. At an output voltage of 230 V, this corresponds to a load power of 1035 W, which means a load of 129%. After the automatic transfer to the bypass mode, the audible alarm is disabled. We strongly recommend that you avoid the regular operation of the UPS when loading above 100%; the bypass should automatically be turned on only in critical situations.



    And finally, about the “smart” features of APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI. This UPS provides a so-called Smart Slot - a place for installing additional units. When this slot is not used, it is covered with an overlay fastened with two screws. Smart units allow you to control the parameters and control the UPS via the Internet. In addition, the use of "smart" units will allow the use of this UPS in large projects to create "smart" power networks.

    UPS APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI is the best choice for use with servers in small and medium-sized enterprises. The form of output voltage, close to the ideal sine wave, allows it to power not only computers, but also devices that have powerful electric motors, such as ATMs. Compactness and low weight allow you to install the UPS where you need to provide temporary power to the voltage-sensitive equipment from the gas generators.

    In the event that you will miss the APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC1KI's power, it makes sense to pay attention to its APC Smart-UPS On-Line SRC2KI “big brother”. Its maximum output power is 1600 W / 2000 VA. To ensure such a high output power, the UPS had to install not two, but four batteries with a voltage of 12 V, the nominal voltage of such a battery is 48 V. The weight of the UPS increased to 18 kg, but the dimensions (220 mm x145 mm x 504 mm) changed little Except that the width has increased by 104 mm. The remaining parameters are the same as that of the UPS being monitored. The number of IEC sockets at the output is increased to 4, so that a greater number of devices can be powered from the UPS at the same time.

    Read more about Smart-UPS On-Line UPS

    Also popular now: