Services

Specific Problem Evaluation

Experts agree that 70% or more of the problems affecting your critical business equipment may be Power Quality (PQ) related.  70% or more!  Often, these problems are not easily recognized.  They don’t necessarily appear to be so called “power problems.”  The lights don’t have to go out and you don’t always smell smoke!  The truth is that PQ related problems may cause symptoms that look like “normal” hardware problems or software “bugs”.  For the past 17 years, we have been successfully evaluating power quality problems affecting the operation of sensitive equipment in a variety of business sectors including, but not limited to, data processing, telecommunications, manufacturing, and medical.  We attribute our success in this difficult area to a thorough understanding of the relationship between power quality and electronic equipment performance.  Our approach is simple and effective: First, we evaluate the problem and determine if it is, in fact, power quality related or not.  If it is, we will provide you with recommendations for an appropriate course of action.  If we determine that it is not a PQ related issue, you will have eliminated an important variable in the troubleshooting process. 

The Power Quality Healthcheck™

Preventing problems before they can impact your business makes good sense.  The Power Quality Health Check™ is a proactive service designed to do just that.  Using a combination of visual inspections, interviews with pertinent employees and specific testing, we will evaluate the current condition of your facility’s operating environment.  The objective is to identify weaknesses and deficiencies that can result in premature failures, unscheduled equipment downtime, lost business and unnecessary costs.  The evaluation is completely non-intrusive, which means that no equipment downtime is required.  The deliverable is a written report documenting all findings, conclusions and specific recommendations to solve any problems found and to enhance existing operating conditions. 

Power Monitoring and Data Analyses

While many companies offer power monitoring, not all have the expertise to analyze and interpret the data.  APQS provides comprehensive short- and long-term power monitoring and analyses services for your critical electrical distribution systems.  We will provide a written report detailing the monitoring results and specific recommendations based on our analysis and interpretation of the data.

New Construction and Renovation Plan Review

Has Power Quality been fully considered in your new construction or renovation plans?  Unfortunately, our experience indicates that it has probably not.  Power Quality is a highly specialized area and as such is often neglected during the design phase of the project.  APQS is prepared to represent your long-term interests and work with your design team to ensure that Power Quality issues are fully considered in construction design.  The objective is to ensure that your new or renovated facility will fully support your critical equipment.  The goal is maximum productivity with minimum downtime.

Grounding Electrode System (GES) Evaluation and Testing

The GES is a fundamental component of the facility’s operating environment.  Originally designed for electrical safety, the GES has also become the point of zero voltage reference for all electronic equipment in the facility.  That is an important task and as such requires a degree of attention and management.  APQS offers the following grounding system evaluation and testing services:

1. Four-point fall of potential testing for cellular sites or other critical grounding applications.
2. Soil resistivity testing is necessary for the selection of ideal grounding locations in new construction or for the enhancement of an existing grounding system.
3. General facility GES system evaluation.
4. Signal Reference Ground (SRG) systems evaluation.

The deliverable is a written report detailing all test results, conclusions and specific recommendations as appropriate.

EMI, RFI and ESD Testing and Mapping

Radiated disturbances can be a source of serious problems for certain electronic equipment. 

APQS is prepared to perform complete EMI, RFI and ESD testing and mapping to determine field strength and possible source(s) of these radiated sources of disturbance.  Our written report will include field strength(s), maps of affected area(s), possible source(s) and recommended course of action.