Page 58 - Security Today, May 2018

“Everything today is data driven and networked,” said Erron Spalsbury, Inside Sales Manager for 3xLOGIC in Westminster, CO. “So if the power drops out it, takes a moment to bring the system back up. Cameras have to reconnect, network switches have to turn back on, and in the 20 to 30 seconds it takes to bring everything back on line you could miss something.”
Solving the Problem
Security devices can repeatedly go down for no identifiable or repro- ducible reason, known in the security industry as “ghosts.” Most of the resellers often throw new hardware at the problem, replacing card readers, IP cameras, DVRs and even PIR and other intrusion sensors in an effort to stop the problem, or they blame the software as being “glitchy.” Yet, the problems persist.
“There have been vain attempts where people swap out equipment thinking it’s the electronics rather than the power supplied,” Spals- bury said. “For example, digital video recorders can be bothered by blips in the power, causing the unit to reboot, but replacing it won’t fix the power issues.”
To protect these systems, resellers often install a UPS.
By definition, these units kick in automatically to provide bat- tery back-up for a certain period of time in the event of power out- ages and/or significant voltage drops. Since most of today’s systems are IP-based, if the central computer goes down or reboots, then the entire system is down. Such black-outs account for an estimated 30 percent of security system failures.
In addition, many of today’s UPS are marketed as providing “power conditioning” or “power filtration.” The majority, though, are simply offering surge suppression that addresses only the largest power fluctuations, such as those caused by lightning strikes, that ac- count for two percent of failures.
Do the math, a UPS with surge suppression covers only 36 per- cent of power-related problems. This claim, then, can be downright misleading.
The bulk of false alarm reboots, black-field cameras, unlocked doors and software malfunctions are caused by low-voltage drops and surges, according to studies by well-known manufacturers, like Bell Labs and IBM and independent labs. These cause “logic confu- sion” in sensitive electronic systems which create many different types of errors.
The only solution for this type of power fluctuation comes in the form of true power conditioning by traditional isolation transform- ers or newer, more sophisticated electronic power conditioners.
If you have ever seen a large, bulky UPS with a built in isolation transformer, the reason is that it incorporates more traditional tech- nology. So-called “isolation transformers” are capable of suppress- ing smaller voltage spikes, but by design are prohibitively expensive, large, and heavy.
True Power Conditioning + UPS
The latest electronic power conditioning devices, however, can pro- vide “computer grade” power—a clean, level, voltage supply with minimal noise—at a fraction of the cost, size and weight of tradi- tional transformers and with additional features.
When incorporated within a UPS unit, electronic power condi- tioning devices provide full coverage over the myriad of power-relat- ed spikes and surges.
Driving this functionality is transformer based filtering (TBF) technology pioneered by Houston-based Smart Power Systems, an innovator and manufacturer of high-performance power quality products. The company offers a UPS with built-in TBF and auto- matic voltage regulator.
TBF-equipped UPS units not only provide the necessary protec- tion against massive lighting strikes up to 6,000 volts, but more im- portantly, they also address the more common smaller voltage spikes
and power dropouts that usually stem from internal sources such as an air conditioner compressor or elevator motor.
“We had a dealer with an installation that had everything under the sun on the same terminal as the recording system: the refrigerator compressor, A/C unit, the building lighting,” Spalsbury said. “When the A/C compressor would kick in, the lights would momentarily dim, dropping power, and the system would have to reboot. So, we put one of the Smart Power electronic power conditioners in there and that fixed the power issue to the DVR.”
The digital circuitry in TBF electronic power conditioner also filters out induced noise (EMI and RFI), from outside sources, as well as from unmatched ground loop current. In effect, all the risks are covered.
The use of an internal automatic voltage regulator prevents mo- mentary sags that can cause the UPS to activate, slowly draining the battery. Without this feature, UPS battery back-up life can run down to mere minutes, or drain completely.
TBF-equipped UPS units go one step further by notifying admin- istrators or others when the battery capacity drops low via text or email. Similar systems only notify when the battery is dead.
Another advantage of the UPS-TBF is that it could take place on a network-wide basis, so that several UPS can be monitored through one administrative link.
At such time that a battery does need replacement, it is “hot swap- pable” with no interruption.
“When you’re recording important security data, you want to make sure that all those frames get into the hard
drive by using the cleanest power possible, with-
out any interruptions,” says Spalsbury. “We put
in an electronic power line conditioner and sure enough the power issue goes away.”
Vincent DeMaio is an inside support team special- ist at Smart Power Systems.
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SYSTEM PROTECTION
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