Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!umigw!mthvax.cs.miami.edu!wb8foz
From: wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Disaster Planning
Message-ID: <931@umigw.MIAMI.EDU>
Date: 27 Oct 89 23:46:29 GMT
References: <103@farcomp.UUCP> <1989Oct27.163853.5927@utzoo.uucp>
Sender: news@umigw.MIAMI.EDU
Reply-To: wb8foz@Mthvax.Miami.Edu (David Lesher)
Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers
Lines: 29

# >... Often, power gets knocked down, and the local telco
# >must fall back on their own, limited battery resources to run the phone
# >system.
# 
# The telcos have about as much faith in the power company as in the Easter
# bunny.  The battery resources are indeed limited, but they are backed up
# by emergency generators capable of running the system for days.  

A telco friend told several standby power horror stories. One was
their first Solar turbine installation. The (somewhat
knowledgeable) employee freaked out when he saw the actual RPM on
the tach, figured it was running away (a diesel problem that
can be VERY bad news) and pulled all the emergency stops.
Solution was to change the tach to say "% of rated speed".
Second was the religiously tested diesel that ran for only 3
minutes when needed. You see, the 110v fuel pump was (need I say
it?) not an emergency load. My favorite was the one they
couldn't turn off, and the office building elevators that
couldn't run with it on. It was MANY floors of stairs to get
to the roof to quell the beast.

After Don's stories, when I go to a building to observe a
standby power test, I DEMAND the real thing. Pull the mains,
and then show me everything that runs. Saves grief later.
--
A host is a host & from coast to coast...wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu 
no one will talk to a host that's close..............(305) 255-RTFM
Unless the host (that isn't close)......................pob 570-335
is busy, hung or dead....................................33257-0335