Backup Power: Don’t Be Left in the Dark

Many of these IP communication devices are retrofits. They may not be located at the original phone demarcation point, such as the recent problems with VoIP devices defeating older POTS (Plain Old Telephone Line) RJ-41X line seizure. The challenge is the customer wants continued alarm monitoring service but with little or no extra equipment cost.

Following are some options to provide backup power to these devices:

Existing spare phone cable pairs — Many phone line cables have at least one or two extra cable pairs. These can be used to bring backup 12VDC power from an alarm control backup power supply (assuming the router has the same voltage). Make sure the spare wires circuit is isolated, and you may need to double up the pairs to decrease cable resistance.

Existing spare Ethernet pairs — Typically cables #4, #5, #7 and #8 are left spare on Ethernet cabling for power over Ethernet (PoE) applications. First, you may want to check to see if the IP device you are connecting to has PoE capability. If that is the case, you can power the device accordingly. If the device is older and does not have PoE, you you may still be able to use these spare Category power cables to bring backup power from the alarm panel’s supply to the IP device. You will have to rewire the connector to bring the power out at the IP device by making a splice to an appropriate power adapter plug. While this and the above method takes a little configuring, it is nice to have the IP devices part of the alarm system backup power grid.

External UPS systems — IP devices can be powered by a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system locally at the devices. However, many small inexpensive UPS devices do not offer an extended backup time.

Supplemental backup power systems — Power supply manufacturers such as the ones mentioned in this article have larger external cabinets for chargers and larger 100AH-plus batteries for extended power backup (don’t use car batteries). This would be a good sales upsell option for even small systems in which the customer wants coverage during long power outages.

Solar power sources — Small solar charging application packages from companies such as SunWize Technologies can offer a good long duration power option to alarm customers.

Design for Reduced Consumption

Even typical smaller alarm systems draw standby power in the milliamp range. Thus, considerably larger batteries and expense could be required for power systems during extended power outages lasting weeks or months.

New alarm systems that require power in the microamp range now make it possible for alarm systems to have backup power for several months on the same battery size that current alarm systems now run for only hours. One such micro-power system is the new ElkGuard wireless system from ELK Products Inc.

The conversion to cellular communication devices can also reduce backup power requirements as these devices need very little standby and transmission power.

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