Why a Falcon On-line UPS?
An offline UPS is the most basic type of uninterruptible power supply. It offers minimal surge
protection and power filtration while providing some battery backup. It would be more accurate to
call it a standby power supply rather than an uninterruptible power supply. It is commonly used with
desktops both at home and at the office.
In contrast a double conversion online UPS provides complete surge protection, voltage regulation
and power filtering while providing whatever battery backup is necessary as iterated below. They
tend to be used with mission critical electronic applications.
Provides Total Power Solution – A true double conversion Online UPS converts the incoming AC
current to DC, and then back to AC again. This process combined with large capacitors eradicates power
anomalies such as surges, noise and harmonic distortions. The result is output power that is constant
and clean. Standby power supplies only provide basic surge protection, some filtering and battery
backup.
Provide Superior Voltage Regulation – The first issue for standby power supplies is that they must
engage when sensing a drop in voltage and therefore have a time lag to their reaction. An online UPS
is always active. Also while an standby power supply will produce a sine wave output under normal
conditions when actively regulating voltage they create a quasi-sine wave, a square wave, or a modified
square wave for the output instead of a pure sine wave. While electronics can function on such waves
they can be damaged by them over time. That also assumes the standby power supply provides voltage
regulation which many do not.
Eliminate Brownouts – A standby power supply usually cannot sustain the power demands in the event
of a brownout, quickly draining their batteries leading to shutdown of the power supply, turning off all
connected equipment. An online UPS provides sustained power during brownout conditions by virtue of
its tightly regulated, recently converted DC power in conjunction with another set of capacitors. These
capacitors can provide additional run through time in the event of a longer brownout condition.
Limited Battery Backup Time – Standby power supplies are fixed in terms of the internal battery
capacity while Falcon Online UPS’s allow for additional battery packs to provide extended backup time.
Extend Battery Life – If the standby power supply provides voltage regulation, it relies on its batteries
heavily during the process, reducing their longevity. That is no small concern when you add up the cost
of battery replacement (or unit replacement). The design of the Falcon Online UPS is such that it “sips”
the battery during the voltage regulation process preferring to rely upon its tightly regulated DC power
being converted to AC.