ESI-50L Hardware Installation Manual External
connections
G.2
UPSs can first be broken down into
system types
:
•
Stand-by
— A very simple design that affects power only when either a lag/brownout occurs below, or a
spike/surge occurs above, a certain threshold. When either occurs, the unit trips —
i.e
., goes into battery
mode. This "cleans" the voltage and helps to keep any load safe. Industry average "trip" times are 2–8
ms. No other filtration of AC power is performed.
•
Line interactive
— Constantly monitors inbound voltages, and uses special circuitry to boost low voltages
and clamp high voltages without having to use the batteries. Indeed, the batteries are used only if the
input voltage drops below acceptable levels (typically about 12% below normal), goes out completely or
rises to dangerous levels (typically about 14% above normal) at which components will be damaged if line
voltage is not removed. Industry average transfer time is 1–3 ms. (If voltage stays within its normal
window, this unit continues to pass voltage, unaltered, from the wall.)
•
On-line
(or
full on-line
) — Constantly filters the power and performs a function known as double
conversion (AC to DC to AC). This assures that the load — in this case, phone equipment — will receive
not only uninterrupted, true sine wave output but also the cleanest, steadiest power possible throughout
any foreseeable power disruptions or voltage irregularities. According to industry specs, it is not unusual
for these types of units to be able to regulate utility power, even when it drops to 27% below or rises to
33% above normal, all without using their batteries.
From this point, UPSs can be further broken down by inverter types, which determine output. These are:
•
Square wave
.
•
Modified sine wave
(or
quasi sine wave
).
•
Sine wave
.
Most devices with wall-mounted chargers, such as cordless drills or screwdrivers, can behave erratically —
sometimes not allowing the charge circuit to engage at all — when operating with modified sine or square
wave inverters. Small wall-based transformer-style power supplies, similar to those ESI phone systems use,
can experience overheating problems with modified sine or square wave outputs, which occur while some
UPSs are operating in battery mode. This overheating could eventually cause damage to the power supplies;
and, in time, the damage could cause a spike through the phone system — seriously damaging some of the
static-sensitive components inside the casing.
While the
true
sine wave UPS output power curve smoothly increases to its peak, then smoothly
decreases (allowing connected loads and equipment to operate the same as they would from utility supplied
wall power), the
modified
sine wave and square wave UPS output power curve will shoot straight up, level off
at peak voltage and then drop straight down. Additionally troublesome is that the modified sine wave sits at
zero voltage for a short period during the transition to or from batteries — which is the main difference
between it and the square wave output of some UPS. Please note that this short interval during which the
modified sine wave UPS sits at zero voltage can directly affect the transfer time of the UPS and could,
theoretically, be enough to cause the phone equipment to reset or even “freeze.”
Though it is hard to predict exactly when different ESI systems will have problems with modified sine wave or
square waveform UPSs (meaning during a power failure event or the recovery from one), it’s fair to assume
that a problem will eventually arise from the use of such UPSs.
Therefore, ESI recommends that only true
sine wave output UPSs provide backup power to our phone systems and equipment.
