Product

• Lotem^® 800 II Family
• Lotem 800
• Lotem Quantum
• Lotem Quantum Spectrum
• 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, a power conditioner is a device that sits between a power supply (for example a wall outlet) and the platesetter. The power conditioner not only provides protection against surges in power but it 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 is a device that sits 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 while, albeit a few minutes, but that 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.

The table below describes the UPS / power conditioner and main circuit breakers requirements:

Component	Requirement
Main circuit breaker	4x20 Amp (3P+N)
Power conditioner	5 KVA or higher
UPS	5 KVA or higher

Note: The values above include the multi-cassette unit.

In addition to the various 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.

 

Process	KVA
Exposure	3.5
High peak > 100 msec	5
Standby	0.9

See also

For more information regarding a Lotem's electrical requirements, see the Lotem 800 Family Site Preparation Guidelines.

Technical contact

Itai Peperovich

Date submitted

23 Jul 2003