The other day while working in a very large data center installing some routers I noticed that one company had installed a little gadget on their AC lines. A closer look and what I found was a device I was not familiar with, but was immediately interested in.
The device is manufactured by Zonit, those guys that make all the great locking cables for AC, and it was the smallest AC transfer switch I had ever seen. The data centers I work in are huge, generally a city block in size, and are fully protected against everything but an atomic blast. AC, DC, lighting, data, everything on a redundant path. So, my mind asked why use these small transfer switches at all. That was until I looked past the switch.
In my daytime world every rack will have multiple 30 - 50 amp circuits powering it, however, every device, especially smaller devices, will not have multiple redundant power supplies. Losing the power supply in the device will obviously result in that device going down, but, how many times is the circuit lost resulting in device failure?
I spoke with the guys using the devices and was told they work perfectly, there have been no failures, and they appear to be built like a brick shit house. My immediate reaction was that I should buy some for all of those devices I own that don't have dual power supplies, starting with my mixer, sound modules, and DSP.
I can picture a lot of uses for these puppies, and they're made by the same company that make those incredible locking cable, and the zDPS.
μATSTM Operational LED Indicators
The μATSTM has five LED indicators: green, blue, orange, yellow and red. It also
has an audible alarm. They are used as follows to indicate the operational
state of the μATSTM:
Green LED lit: The μATSTM is operating normally and drawing power from the
A power source.
Orange LED lit: The μATSTM is detecting an over-voltage condition on the
A power source and has disconnected from that source. It is drawing on
the B power source (where over-voltage is not monitored). The μATSTM will
continue to monitor the voltage on the A source and switch back to the A
source once the over-voltage condition is corrected.
Red LED lit: The μATSTM has had its 8A capacity limit exceeded and
activated the Virtual Circuit Breaker, disconnecting from both power
sources. An audible alarm will be generated. To reset the μATSTM after
correcting the overload condition the reset button on the rear of the unit
must be pressed or the A power source must be shut off and restored
(cycled).
Yellow LED lit: The μATSTM is operating normally, however the current draw
is approaching 8A. The user should review if current draws will exceed 8A in
cold start scenarios, which could trip the Virtual Circuit Breaker.
Blue LED lit: The μATSTM is operating normally and drawing power from the
B power source. The primary source is offl ine and not available or in an
under-voltage or over-voltage condition.
No LEDs lit: The μATSTM is not receiving power from the A or B sources, has
experienced an overload while on the B side with the A side unavailable, or
it has blown its internal protective overload fuses. If the fuses are blown,
the unit must be returned to Zonit for service. To determine if the unit has
overloaded while on the B side when the A side was unavailable, plug the A
side input plug into a known good power source and the unit will reset if it
is working properly.
Important Note: The μATSTM continues to connect the A source to the C13
outlet, even if the internal circuit board fails, which could result in no LEDs
being lit. The automatic transfer switch function will not work, but the unit
will continue to pass power from the A source to the C13 outlet.
http://www.zonit.com/home/