A testing laboratory in Detroit, Michigan was facing major power related issues that impacted their ability to complete queued jobs on time. The facility suffered from constant voltage drops and brief outages that randomly took their instruments offline. They had to resolve the issues on their own or face relocating to a location with more stable power.
DTE Energy was the local electrical utility company providing power to the facility and unfortunately would not or could not resolve the issues. DTE Energy had a 1.2 out of 5 star customer rating on the Consumer Affairs website at the time of this writing (https://www.consumeraffairs.com/utilities/dte.html).
Battery Backup Power, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA) engineers were able to review the laboratory's complete instrument list and provide a solution to the laboratory. The end solution was a single 15 kVA / 10.5 kW Isolated Battery Backup UPS And Power Conditioner For Sensitive Electronics And Laboratory Instruments which provided backup power to an electrical subpanel that then provided clean, conditioned, real-time backup power to the entire lab (via the existing wall receptacles). The system automatically conditions power in real time preventing large voltage drops from impacting the instruments and has a 0 ms transfer time to internal backup power. The no delay backup power transition paired with pure sine wave output is critical for the attached instruments to operate correctly.
The instruments that are protected by this system are listed below.
Equipment/Instruments On Real-Time Conditioned And Backup Power
-Agilent 7890 Series GC -Agilent 1260 Infinity HPLC -Agilent 1100 HPLC -Mettler Toledo V20 KF Titrator -Mettler Toledo DP70 Melt Point Apparatus -Mettler Toledo Multiparameter Liquid Physics System
There have been no reported issues with the lab, instruments, or power since the system was installed. This is one of the many systems Battery Backup Power, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA) sells routinely on a monthly basis to resolve similar issues for customers.
For assistance with resolving power related issues at your business, data center, laboratory, medical office, or other location, please contact Battery Backup Power, Inc. at engineering@batterybackuppower.com or (855) 330-7799. Our engineering department will ask you questions relating to your building's power, the equipment you would like to resolve power related issues for, desired backup power time, and typically requests photos via text (SMS) or email before recommending a system.
This lab facility was suffering from constant short duration power outages that routinely brought research to a standstill costing time and money. Battery Backup Power, Inc. was selected to configure and install a complete backup power solution. Currently (after the backup system was installed) the lab has surge protection, real-time power conditioning, and approximately 30 minutes of automatic emergency backup power. As demonstrated in the video, a complete power outage (simulated by flipping the electrical breakers off) now has absolutely no effect on the operating instruments in the lab. The instrument workstation closest to the door is off in the video so the cord can be unplugged to show the dual voltage receptacles. The instrument workstation along the back wall is operating and connected to the UPS through the installed receptacles on the wall during the video to demonstrate how it is not impacted by a complete power failure in the building.
The lab uses 2 separate Thermo Fisher mass spectrometers each with its own 240 volt, NEMA 6-15P (plug). Each mass spectrometer is paired with its own HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) stack and a computer/monitor/printer combination with a 120 volt, NEMA 5-15P (plug). Battery Backup Power, Inc. installed a Leviton 5842-I receptacle (dual 120/240 voltage and dual 15/20 amperage) and a Leviton 8300-I receptacle (120 volts, dual 15/20 amperage) placed in an electrical junction box for each instrument workstation. This provides three 120 volt receptacles and one 240 volt receptacle for each mass spectrometer workstation. Each electrical junction box is on constant real-time power conditioning and backup power provided by its own 10 kVA UPS specifically programmed for dual voltage output. Each 10 kVA UPS is powered by a 208 volt, 50 amp breaker installed in the main electrical panel for the lab. The facility only has 208 volt service available while the instruments require 240 volt service. The UPS powering each workstation is programmed to use 208 volts as the input while providing 120/240 volts as the output.
The two pumps used with each mass spectrometer create a brief inrush current (also known as startup current) of approximately 30 amps at 240 volts or 7,300 watts. The normal operating power consumption of one mass spectrometer, its two pumps, the HPLC stack, and the computer/monitor/printer combination is around 3,000 watts. A pure sinewave, double conversion, 10 kVA UPS with a 0.7 power factor was used for each instrument workstation. The normal maximum power output of each 10 kVA UPS is 7,000 watts with a 10,500 watt 10 second overload protection rating to absorb the inrush current created by the pumps. This ensures that the UPS transformer will not overheat with constant use over a period of years.
Battery Backup Power, Inc. configures, distributes, and installs backup power solutions for most applications including, but not limited to server rooms, labs, traffic control boxes, and specialty electrical equipment. https://www.backupbatterypower.com (855) 330-7799
This video shows wiring a 6k, 10k, 15k, or 20k Battery Backup Power UPS with output to a sub-panel instead of directly to equipment. Input in this case is 208 volts (2 hots, line to line) with output set to 240 volts (1 hot and 1 neutral, line to neutral). Input can be 208/220/230/240 volts while output can be 120/208/220/230/240 volts.
A separate commercial distribution transformer (not shown in video) is required if running backup power to a 120/240 split phase electrical panel. The commercial distribution transformer takes the 240 volt line to neutral output from the UPS and converts it to 240 volts line to line with a neutral wire for your three connections to the electrical panel (see diagram at end of page).
The Hammond Power Solutions Fortress series commercial distribution transformer is the transformer of choice as the series has been tested and verified by Battery Backup Power, Inc. to work in this configuration. Battery Backup Power, Inc. sells complete kits that include the UPS, commercial distribution transformer, and eyelet connections for termination on the UPS. Contact us for more information.
If running the UPS output to a purely 120 volt electrical panel or to 120 volt or 240 volt outlets directly, a separate commercial distribution transformer is not required.
This particular Battery Backup Power UPS is paired with a manual transfer switch as per the customer. The Battery Backup Power UPS is placed in "Generator Mode" so that it will accept either grid power or generator power as the input power source.
In this setup, either grid/utility power (208 volts) or generator power provided by a Generac GP17500 portable generator (240 volts) will be the input power source for the Battery Backup Power UPS. The customer decided to use a manual transfer switch instead of an automatic transfer switch in this installation.
No matter what the input power source is, the critical loads (servers, computers, workstations, phones, and network stack) will be unaffected because they are always on real-time conditioned backup power provided by the UPS.
16 separate power outages ranging from milliseconds to 7 minutes in duration were recorded between May 5th, 2017 to May 9th, 2017 in Costa Mesa, CA. The electric utility serving the surrounding area is SCE (Southern California Edison) which is normally fairly reliable. These outages may have been caused by a variety of factors including the recent thunder storms in the area, road construction on Red Hill Ave., grid distribution transformer capacity issues, etc.
Setting up email notifications for power related events with Gmail is easy using any of Battery Backup Power’s UPS systems and its included UPSMON PRO for Windows 2.0 (see below screenshot for email notification settings). As long as your modem, router, and computer with the software installed are on backup power, the Battery Backup UPS will send you a notification when a power event occurs.
Battery Backup Power, Inc. has recently rolled out its equipment rental program due to popular demand. Although Battery Backup Power, Inc. sells its products worldwide, the equipment rental program is initially limited to Southern California.
Equipment rental contracts come in 24, 36, 48, and 60 month options. They include delivery, maintenance, battery replacement (if required during service period), standard installation, disconnect, and removal at the end of the contract.
The hardwired UPS systems (6 kVA, 10 kVA, 15 kVA, and 20 kVA) include standard installation by an electrician as long as there is space in the breaker box for an additional 2 pole breaker and the correct voltage/amperage is already available at the building (see below service chart). Existing wall receptacles are used as the Battery Backup Power, Inc. UPS is placed between the breaker box and the existing wall receptacles line conditioned backup power is required at.
UPS Model:
Input Voltage Required:
Minimum Input Amperage Required:
BBP-6000-PSW-ONL (6 kVA)
208 / 240
30 / 25
BBP-10000-PSW-ONL (10 kVA)
208 / 240
50 / 45
BBP-15000-PSW-ONL (15 kVA)
208 / 240
75 / 65
BBP-20000-PSW-ONL (20 kVA)
208 / 240
100 / 85
Southern California Battery Backup UPS Equipment Rental Rate Schedule:
The "NFPA 110: Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems" dictates that certain fire protection and prevention equipment be placed on an "Emergency Power Supply (EPS)".
The "Classifications of Emergency Power Supply Systems (EPSSs)" are outlined in the the code which can be purchased or viewed online at http://www.nfpa.org/.
Battery Backup Power, Inc. double conversion (active backup power) systems can be scaled by adding or removing extra external battery packs to meet the following NFPA classes: class 0.083 (5 minutes), class 0.25 (15 minutes), class 2 (2 hours), class 6 (6 hours), class 48 (48 hours), or class x (other time).
Battery Backup Power, Inc. double conversion (active backup power) systems meet the most stringent "Type U" designation by the NFPA which means they are continuous, automatic, and provide completely uninterrupted power to the attached fire protection/prevention equipment during a power failure.
For assistance finding the correct size, capacity, and scaled backup time, please contact us at:
Engineering Department Battery Backup Power, Inc. 3183-F Airway Ave. Suite #114 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (949) 955-2889 Local (855) 330-7799 Toll Free www.batterybackuppower.com engineering@batterybackuppower.com
For self help or if you already know the maximum electrical load created by the equipment you need to place on backup power, please view the following video and use the following tool/calculator to match your specific backup time requirement to existing backup power product configurations.
This video explains how to calculate your approximate battery backup time for certain Battery Backup Power, Inc. UPS systems in 2 easy steps.
Step 1: Enter your electrical load in watts.
Step 2: Use the drop down menu to browse the estimated backup time for the watt load you entered on Step 1 on different UPS models.
The calculator (see below) used in the video takes into account factors such as battery voltage, amp hour rating of batteries, DC BUS voltage, inverter efficiency, power factor, number of batteries, power consumed by the Battery Backup UPS while operating, and many other variables so you don't have to.
When cheap UPS systems intended for home computers are purchased and used with lab instruments or sensitive electronics, the results can be disastrous. As outlined in the letter at the end of this page, the UPS and/or the attached instrument can fail catastrophically if the wrong type or capacity UPS is used.
Battery Backup Power, Inc. keeps up with product bulletins, tech notes, white papers, and general compatibility for all major lab instrument manufacturers. Recently, we were asked why we recommend larger capacity UPS systems for certain instruments when compared to other UPS companies as well as why our systems are more expensive on average.
The answer has multiple parts.
1. Certain electronic devices create non-linear or varying loads that can fatigue a transformer sized 1:1 or even 2:1 with the maximum load. A larger capacity UPS will be able to better handle these variations and prolong the life of the UPS and its attached devices. This is sometimes referred to as derating and/or over-sizing the UPS and/or transformer to ensure compatibility, longevity, and performance.
2. Rapid variations in the load (as seen in many lab instruments) can build up heat in the transformer which needs to be dissipated. Battery Backup Power, Inc. UPS systems have one or many (depending on the model) active ball bearing fans that consistently run to ensure heat build up is quickly dealt with. Due to the high performance of the fan(s) and internal cooling systems, our UPS systems can be noisier than comparable units.
3. Our larger 6 kVA to 20 kVA single phase UPS systems have internal transformers with an approximate K Factor of 4. K Factor rated transformers have larger air gaps built in to help dissipate heat build up (referred to as harmonics). K Factor transformers are more expensive than standard transformers.
4. We DO NOT use ferroresonant transformers in our UPS systems like some other UPS manufacturers do (see below Agilent letter in regards to UPS/instrument compatibility).
5. Our company policy is to decline to sell or cancel any order for a UPS that does not meet our recommended minimum capacity safety margin for any electronic device with known capacity and/or operating requirements.
Below is an example letter from an instrument manufacturer describing some of the compatibility issues created when pairing an instrument to the wrong type of UPS, power conditioner, isolation device, or transformer.
For more information or to request a kit including the 10 kVA UPS, cord, and receptacle, please contact Battery Backup Power, Inc. at (855) 330-7799 or by email at engineering@batterybackuppower.com.
In almost every school, there is a public announcement system that controls the school bells and routine announcements. That system is also critical for notifying the school staff and children about emergencies.
Uninterruptible Power Supply UPS Protecting Laboratory Instrument
In early November 2015, Dave Quilici, Ph.D., of the University of Nevada, Reno Proteomics Center had a problem. His laboratory instruments continually lost power thanks to the lack of reliable power coming from NV Energy (the electric utility service Reno, NV). His Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer from Thermo Fisher Scientific was of particular concern as the voltage fluctuations and electrical noise could eventually and permanently damage the expensive instrument. He needed a solution.
