Seven common causes of ups failure
The most common causes of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) failure include: 1) Power outages exceeding battery autonomy, leading the UPS to die without stored power. 2) Lack of service and maintenance contracts or infrequent servicing. 3) Incorrect placement in bypass and blown fuses. 4) Overloading the UPS with a load greater than it can provide during grid power failure. 5) Old or unmaintained batteries that fail to provide power during outages. Other factors include under-loading, failed battery chargers, AC and DC capacitor failures, IGBT failures, aging equipment, dust buildup, fan failures, water damage, overheating from lack of air conditioning, uneven load distribution, rectifier issues, and inverter failures.
UPS failure most common causes are:
- 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.
- Secondly, the UPS has never been serviced or only randomly serviced. NO maintenance contract in place – Been living on hope not serviced.
- UPS Placed in correctly into bypass and fuses have been blown.
- 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.
- 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.
These occur when the UPS is grossly under loaded. For example a 100kVA UPS has only a 10kVA load.
UPS battery charger has failed and has not been re-charging the batteries- No one noticed.
AC capacitors have failed –AC capacitors require replacement regularly. Refer to manufacturers specifications. Every 5 -7 years as a rule of thumb.
DC capacitors have failed –DC capacitors require replacement regularly. Refer to manufacturers specifications. Every 5 -7 years as a rule of thumb.
IGBT’s failed. Electrical components fail over years of use. Without regular replacement they will fail.
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.
Dust built up inside the UPS has causing components to overheat and fail.
Fans have failed and cause the UPS to shut down.
Water damage – Internal components have shorted out.
NO air conditioning and the UPS has overheated and shut down.
UPS has the load all on a single phase leaving the other two phases without load. Eventually this causes internal issues within the UPS.
Rectifier failure or rectifier fuses have blown.
Inverter failure or inverter fuses have blown.
