Category: General

Troubleshooting the 18 KVA UPS

One of our clients has or rather had a BEST FERUPS 18 KVA UPS. It has stopped working and I was given the following report:

Radio guy: The power went out, the generator started, then I heard a bang.

Myself: You heard a bang?

RG: Yeah, a big BANG!

Myself: You heard a big bang.

And so he did:

Best FERUPS 18 KVA control board.
Best FERUPS 18 KVA control board.
Best FE18KVA control board, MOV destruction
Best FE18KVA control board, MOV destruction

The primary damage is around two MOV’s mounted on the other side of the board. This is the power sense (voltage sample) input to the board. We have attempted to repair it, but alas, it is not repairable. A replacement board runs over $1,400.00 from Eaton Powerware. Since this unit also needs a new set of batteries, it is likely best to replace the entire unit.

A few updates

UPDATE: I notice that Radio World has a little star rating system on their articles. According to the rating, twenty-one people think I suck… That is okay, but when I started looking around at all of the other articles on the website, I noticed most have but one or two votes.  It seems odd to me that my little opinion piece would have so many negative votes, especially in light of the e-mails, phone calls, and personal interactions I have received supporting my position. 

Perhaps a few of you could run over there, read the article then objectively decide what you think… Here is the link: AM Efforts Should Include Tech Solutions

I am deeply immersed in all things networking, yet again. I regret the sparse posts, but there are a few things of note:

  1. It appears the WYFR shortwave site in Okeechobee has been sold to the operators of WRMI (Radio Miami International).  This is a good turn of events for shortwave broadcasting.  WRMI was programmed mostly to the Caribbean and was difficult to hear in these parts.
  2. Nielsen Radio, formerly Arbitron, says it will increase the sample size for the PPM program.  This is good, larger sample size means better accuracy and fewer extrapolation-related errors and strange rating spikes.
  3. I published a commentary in Radio World Commentary: AM Efforts Should Include Tech Solutions. What do you think? Should the industry be looking at something other than HD Radio?
  4. Then, from across the pond there is this: