Mexico. Short circuits, fires and electrocutions, are accidents that inevitably occur in businesses, industries or offices, not having an adequate electrical installation.
According to the latest statistics made in this area by the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) during 2016 there were 1,205 fires caused by short circuits or problems in the electricity supply, with a value of 665,367,541.79 million pesos.
"Some of the most frequent errors that we have detected that occur are, from inserting coins and wires in the installation of the power supply, to using the wrong caliber in the cables and connectors or not properly sizing the load of the energy that is consumed in each connection when connecting several devices in a contact bar, since this causes overheating that generates short circuits or fires that can cause even death and the loss of all the heritage" explained Miguel Monterrosas, Director of Technical Support Tripp Lite.
According to the executive, despite the fact that large industries or factories review their electrical installation with experts or with energy verification units in order to verify or certify that the electrical installation complies with the Official Mexican Standard, the main mistake they make incurs in not properly sizing the load of the energy consumed by their technological equipment and machinery through each plug, and especially of each electricity supply line they receive from CFE, which also increases their electricity consumption.
"This severely affects the life or operation of measuring equipment such as spectrometers, aerometers, density meters, for example, as well as temperature and humidity sensors, surveillance devices, audio and video, among many more," Monterrosas explained.
That is why it is essential to use power distribution units "PDU's" for its acronym in English Power Distribution Units, which serve to distribute the appropriate electrical energy from the No Break or the main power supply of the electric current to the technological equipment. According to each need, these are the main options:
PDU with integrated digital current meter: Allows you to verify with the naked eye, through your meter, the consumption of a single contact and / or the total consumption of all contacts. It incorporates breakers that protect the connected equipment against dangerous overloads.
Two-phase PDUs: It allows to review and balance, through a digital current meter, the electricity loads between the two lines or phases of electricity supply that arrive from CFE.
Three-phase PDUs: They are recommended for large industries or factories, as they have the ability to balance the electricity loads of three power lines or phases.
Likewise, it is advisable to use monitorable PDUs that integrate a network card, capable of notifying the administrator's email account, the monitoring of the electrical network, whether they are the load levels and the consumption of electrical energy, among other information.
You can also use monitorable and controllable PDUs that in addition to notifying the administrator about any irregularity in terms of power supply, allows you to turn on or off the contacts remotely.
It should be noted that for critical applications it is recommended to use PDUs with ATS technology (automatic transfer switch), which allows you to connect two UPS systems of different brands or capacity to generate power redundancy and ensure a stable power supply.
