kchriste said:
Where I used to work 10yrs ago they had a large UPS backing up the the main paging terminal. There were 600Ah of batteries connected externally to boost the run time up to 48hrs in case of a pwr failure. Worked like a charm.
Fine if cost is no object! - but I wouldn't like to think what that cost!.
Funnily enough, I was talking to a rep at work a few years back, and he used to work for a company that supplied UPS's and backup generators. One installation they had done was for 'Demon Internet', one of the first UK Internet suppliers - and they installed a large UPS system, along with an automatic generator. As a major ISP Demon were obviously VERY dependent on the power keeping on, so there was a strict penalty clause written in the contract.
Anyway, there was a MAJOR power outage, and as required by the contract Demon telephoned the company to inform them the generator was on and working fine. The rep I was talking to then realised that the fuel tank on the generator was only of 24 hour capacity - and the major outage was going to last longer then that. So he tried to arrange a diesel tamker to go and refuel it - couldn't be done - it was down a small alley way, with no access for a vehicle. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking down!.
In the end, he hired a van, went to a local cars accessories shop, and bought ALL their fuel cans - and put them in the van. He then drove a few hundred miles to London, filled the cans with diesel, drove to Demon - and carried the cans down the alley way to fuel the generator.
Apparently he got in big trouble with his company for doing this, yet he saved them a major law suite and compensation claim!.