UPS MAINTENANCE
LEO CRAIG, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RIELLO UPS IRELAND, OUTLINES THE KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK TO GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR UPS MAINTENANCE PLAN… Maximising your UPS maintenance
Leo Craig, Managing Director of Riello UPS Ireland.
Do your due diligence However, not all UPS maintenance contracts are created equally. Too many are riddled with get-out clauses, caveats and confusing terms and conditions. Before you sign on the dotted line, you need to do your due diligence. To start with, how quickly will they really respond to an emergency? Most UPS maintenance companies will claim to
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and their batteries are a vital safety net in many electrical installations, reducing the risk of damaging downtime, but UPS are complex machines in their own right. Wear and tear is inevitable and how well you maintain a UPS has a significant impact on its reliability, performance and lifespan. While a new UPS is covered by warranty – much of Riello UPS Ireland’s
if they’re hundreds of miles away. While we’re considering spares, establish what is covered – and what isn’t – under any maintenance contract. Consumables like batteries and capacitors tend to come at an added cost, but for parts such as fans, it’ll come down to the particular provider. Competence is key Finally, you need to know the engineers you’re trusting to service and potentially fix your UPS are up to the task. While you don’t necessarily need to go straight to the UPS manufacturer for maintenance, you do need to be sure any engineer is fully trained and competent to work on your specific model. General maintenance or electrical engineers are unlikely to have sufficient product-specific knowledge. Getting clarity regarding response times, spare parts and engineer competence will go some way to helping you make an informed decision about who is best placed to maintain your vital UPS systems. T: +353 (0)1 6917 601 - www.riello-ups.ie
offer 24/7 coverage with an emergency response time ranging from 12 working hours down to four hours. But what is this ‘response’? Is it a trained engineer on site fixing the fault? A phone call
“Before you sign on the dotted line, you need to do your due diligence.”
range comes with a five- year warranty as standard – that warranty only offers a ‘best endeavour’ response if something goes wrong. It is no guarantee of a speedy solution. That’s why critical sites often
with tech support? Or is it just an automated response acknowledging that you’ve reported the issue? A speedy response doesn’t guarantee a quick fix either, and that leads us to our next key question. Does your maintenance provider have immediate access to spares and, if so, where are they held? It’s no good to you if the necessary components aren’t in stock or
opt for the additional safeguard of an ongoing maintenance agreement, spelling out the emergency response time it’ll take for engineers to attend site when there’s a fault. Contracts also set out whether parts and labour are included, and they’ll also contain provision for at least one preventive maintenance visit a year.
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