UPS Failure – Common Causes

UPS failure most common causes are:

1. Firstly, power outage lasted LONGER than the battery autonomy of the UPS,
   hence the UPS died as it had run out of battery stored power
2. Secondly, the UPS has never been serviced or only randomly serviced.
   NO maintenance contract in place – Been living on hope not serviced.
3. UPS Placed in correctly into bypass and fuses have been blown
4. The UPS is overloaded. When the GRID power failed the amount of
   power required was MORE then the UPS could provide, so the UPS
   went into internal bypass. As there was NO GRID power the UPS died.
5. Old batteries had not been replaced when the power outage occurred
   so the UPS had no stored power to rely on- The UPS died
   immediately that it switched to the batteries for power
6. UPS has frequency issues-
   These occur when the UPS is grossly under loaded. For example a
   100kVA UPS has only a 10kVA load.
7. UPS battery charger has failed and has not been re-charging the
   batteries- No one noticed.
8. AC capacitors have failed –AC capacitors require replacement
   regularly. Refer to manufacturers specifications. Every 5 -7 years as a
   rule of thumb
9. DC capacitors have failed –DC capacitors require replacement
   regularly. Refer to manufacturers specifications. Every 5 -7 years as a
   rule of thumb
10. IGBT’s failed. Electrical components fail over years of use. Without
    regular replacement they will fail
11. The UPS is old ; beyond it’s sell by date. As a result, electrical components fail
    over years of use. Without regular replacement they will fail
12. Dust built up inside the UPS has causing components to overheat and
    fail
13. Fans have failed and cause the UPS to shut down
14. Water damage – Internal components have shorted out
15. NO air conditioning and the UPS has overheated and shut down
16. UPS has the load all on a single phase leaving the other two phases
    without load. Eventually this causes internal issues within the UPS
17. Rectifier failure or rectifier fuses have blown
18. Inverter failure or inverter fuses have blown

Better to service your UPS regularly – Get a service Contract!

Call Power Continuity on 0845 055 8455
for UPS Systems service