— By Samuel Hammers —
Why it’s important for retailers and restaurants to strengthen their power management.
Summer is the season for relaxation, but it can be a stressful time for retailers and restaurant owners looking to keep the lights on. Electrical disruptions, which tend to be more common during the summer, have potential to bring down critical systems such as HVACs and push customers to seek out greener (or cooler) pastures. A power surge could also take down POS systems and leave a facility unable to process transactions.
Power surges are one of the most common power failure sources, yet they’re often overlooked in many businesses’ power protection plans. The following case study serves as an example for retailers to round out their strategies, exploring how restaurant giant Sonic was able to improve uptime with a surge protection solution.
Cooks in the Kitchen
As an Eaton power quality agent, Power Protection Products (P3) specializes in providing comprehensive power quality solutions customized to fit clients’ individual needs. For more than 10 years, P3 has been overseeing unique industry solutions to resolve various power quality issues for a wide-ranging customer base.
In a similar fashion, electrical contractor TechChefs was in the process of completing one of our programs designed to educate contractors on surge protection concepts and applications. TechChefs specializes in restaurant clients and fast-food applications. During the certification process, one of TechChef’s clients, fast-food industry giant Sonic, began to experience failures at its Fort Worth-area locations.
Identify the Ingredients
Sonic Fort Worth locations were experiencing a number of glitches with a variety of its equipment, including panelboards, subpanels, communications equipment, fire alarms and other sensitive electronics. As a result, power interruptions were becoming increasingly prevalent.
“They were experiencing a lot of downtime,” says Peter Dion, power quality sales engineer at Eaton. Dion also notes that in some instances, the intermittent issues were causing the restaurant’s two-way speakers to fail, impacting customers’ ability to place orders.
“Sensitive equipment was going down and they noticed that it seemed to be particularly bad after storms and lightning,” continues Dion. “So, we suggested attaching protection to the equipment as a starting point.”
A Detailed Menu Guide
Working together, P3 and TechChefs identified one of our surge protectors as the ideal option for Sonic.
The UL 1449 4th edition surge device provides reliable, cost-effective surge protection, with an industry-best 20KA nominal discharge rating.
With the knowledge acquired through the surge certification program, TechChefs completed the installation in several Sonic drive-thru locations. The unit’s compact 50KA-per-phase footprint makes it easy to install on point-of-use locations, control panels, load centers and small distribution panels. In addition, the surge protector is capable of being installed on either the line or load side of the service entrance disconnect.
Available in many common voltages and configurations, the surge protector comes pre-wired with 24 inches of 12-gauge wire and is mounted via the 1/2-inch nipple that is molded into its enclosure. Wall or DIN rail mounting can also be accomplished with the addition of an optional kit.
Taste of Success
With its new surge protection solution, Sonic can stay apprised of power conditions all times by visually accessing protection status, thanks to the unit’s light-emitting diode (LED). The status indicator provides surge protection status at-a-glance, with a blue light indicating when protection is active. Any loss of protection is signaled when the LED extinguishes.
Furthermore, with a compact UV-resistant NEMA 4x enclosure, the surge protection device is made to withstand any environment — both indoor or outdoor. It can also be used as a replacement for devices formerly known as secondary surge arrestors or lightning arrestors, which could not be manufactured after UL 1449 4th edition went into effect.
Having completed multiple orders over the past year and a half, TechChefs has now installed nearly 2,000 of these surge suppression devices in more than 150 Sonic drive-thru locations. “Sonic reports that the devices are doing their job as intended and definitely helping out,” says Dion.
The partnership with P3 and Eaton has also been a success for TechChefs. “Having certified TechChefs as a surge contractor with Eaton, the company was able to put these devices in numerous Sonic locations and they’ve had a lot of success,” Dion adds.
Even more, as TechChefs continues to evolve its relationship with Sonic drive-ins, it appears likely that the chain will request additional power quality solutions. “If issues arise, we have the power quality products to support them,” Dion says. “There’s a real potential for continued growth in this ongoing partnership between Tech Chefs, P3 and Eaton.”
Rewards for Retailers
Thanks to the installation of surge suppressors throughout numerous Sonic locations, the drive-thru restaurants are now able to:
• Mitigate downtime risks with industry-leading surge protection
• Proactively ensure that critical equipment is safeguarded against damaging lightning strikes or other electrical issues
• Easily stay apprised of protection status through LED lighting display
For many restaurants and retailers, there are likely several solutions being evaluated currently to strengthen power management. Technologies like uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) — serving as the critical bridge to generator power in the case of an unforeseen emergency — are an important component with the peak of hurricane season coming in July and August. Businesses should weigh surge protection devices as part of their broader strategies for disaster preparedness, ensuring they have all the right ingredients to maximize uptime through the busy summer season.
— Samuel Hammers serves as the product manager for Eaton’s Surge Protection Device (SPD) product line, based in Pittsburgh. In his role he collaborates across functions to provide technical and commercial support for all SPD offerings.