Question:

When designing a power supply system for a machine, why should we consider installing an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS, such as the Omron S8BA?

Answer:

Simply, installing an Omron S8BA UPS in the power supply system for a machine solves the issues associated with power failure and momentary power loss.

Issues with power supply occur across all industries and sectors, and can be caused by a large variety of factors ranging from lightning strikes, high wind, and other natural phenomena through to more industrial causes such as deterioration of infrastructure or high levels of inductive noise.

However the issues with power supply occur, they all tend to result in problems for the machine suffering from them. Some common problems that arise from power supply issues include:

• Lost process data resulting in line stoppages and resetting the manufacturing process.
• Loss of computer data due to improper shutdown procedures.
• Loss of control of devices, potentially causing improper and unexpected operation during restart.
• Loss of imaging data, resulting in a lack of information for traceability.

Notably, a power supply issue does not need to be a traditional, lengthy power loss to cause problems for a machine. Even instantaneous voltage drops or ‘noisy’ power supply characteristics can cause these issues.

An Omron S8BA UPS can protect a machine from these issues by providing near-seamless transition to backup power in the event of a power supply issue. Once the voltage of the power supply falls below a threshold, the S8BA will switch to its battery storage, bringing the voltage back above that threshold in under 4ms, and then continue increasing the voltage until it reaches a standard 24 VDC. Once the power supply issue is resolved, the Omron S8BA UPS will switch off the battery storage, allowing the normal power supply to input to the machine once again, while recharging those batteries.