Product

• Lotem^® 400 Fiber Head
• Lotem 400 Xpose
• Lotem 400 Quantum
• Lotem 200K
• Magnus 400
• Magnus 400 Quantum
• ThermoFlex^® Narrow
• ThermoFlex Mid

Symptoms

The critical performance of the platesetter is erratic.

Cause

The performance of the platesetter can be greatly affected by an unstable power supply, for example outages, sags, surges and bad harmonics.

Solution

The problem created by an unstable power supply can be resolved by connecting either a Power Conditioner or an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).

Power Conditioner: Also called a line conditioner, the power conditioner device is located between a power supply (for example a wall outlet) and the platesetter. The power conditioner provides protection against surges in power and also maintains a continuous voltage fed to the platesetter during temporary voltage reductions, such as a brownout. This is referred to as conditioning. Power conditioners can also filter electromagnetic interference (EMI) emanating from a power source and can smooth the rhythmic cycle of alternating current.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS): The UPS device is located between a power supply and the platesetter. The UPS has internal batteries to guarantee that continuous power is provided to the equipment even if the power supply stops providing power. The UPS can provide power for a few minutes, which is often long enough to ride out power company glitches or short outages until an external generator starts up.

UPS devices are more expensive than power conditioners because they must contain enough batteries to support a platesetter for those critical few minutes until the generator takes over.

In addition to the UPS/power conditioner requirements, different Lotem processes require different amounts of Kilo Volts Amps (KVA). For example, more KVA is needed to rotate the drum (high peak) than for exposing plates. KVA requirements for different processes:

Process	KVA
Exposure	3.5
High peak > 100 msec	5 (7 KVA for ThermoFlex Mid)
Standby	0.9

See also

For more information regarding the products' electrical requirements, refer to the product site preparation guidelines.

Technical contact

Lotem 200/400, Magnus 400: Mario Amir
ThermoFlex Mid/Narrow: Viki Arviv

Date submitted

15 Oct 2003