customer spotlight: mt. washington observatory

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Helping capture the world’s worst weather

How Eaton and the Mt. Washington Observatory are working together

to maintain uptime, no matter what the weather conditions are.


The Mt. Washington Observatory (MWO) is a

non-profit scientific and educational institution.

Its mission is to advance understanding of the

natural systems that create the Earth's weather

and climate by maintaining its mountaintop

weather station and conducting research and

educational programs.


Located in New Hampshire, it’s the highest peak in

the Northeast and home to some of the most

unpredictable and dangerous weather in the U.S.


On a clear day, you can see for more than

100 miles from the Mt. Washington summit.


But 60 percent of the

time, it’s enclosed in fog.


And in winter, it’s an ice and

snow palace battered by wind.


Getting to the top is no easy feat either.


Especially in winter with

20-foot snow drifts.


Yet despite the conditions, MWO collects

real-time data 24/7 that feeds into the

National Weather Service’s forecast models.

http://mountwashington.org/


The data also goes into higher summit

forecasts that are broadcast via radio each

morning to Appalachian Mountain Club huts.


Because they get the world’s worst

weather and need to constantly collect

data on it—even during an outage—MWO

purchased an Eaton 9355 with more than

170 minutes of runtime (16 battery strings).

http://powerquality.eaton.com/Products-services/Backup-Power-UPS/9355.aspx?cx=3


Put simply: downtime

just isn’t an option.


With the UPS batteries due to be replaced,

we conducted a power usage study and

determined that MWO only needed 90

minutes of runtime given its generators.

http://powerquality.eaton.com/products-services/Services/Batteries.asp


So a service call was scheduled and

two Eaton field technicians trekked

to the top of Mt. Washington.


The replacement involved

installing four new strings

of batteries and removing

the rest (two full cabinets).


We safely removed 32 trays of

batteries and two cabinets—

about 3,840 pounds of materials.


We helped MWO significantly

consolidate its UPS, saving

valuable space at the summit.

Before After


We also performed

preventive maintenance

as part of a new two-

year service contract.

http://powerquality.eaton.com/products-services/Services/UPS-Services.asp


With the service upgrades, MWO received

eNotify remote monitoring, which makes it

easier to check on the UPS from the valley...

http://powerquality.eaton.com/Products-services/Services/remote-monitoring.asp


…and from our monitoring

center in Raleigh, N.C.


Needless to say, the MWO team

was thrilled with the slimmer

UPS, system updates, and new

environmental monitoring probe.

http://powerquality.eaton.com/Products-services/Power-Management/Connectivity/EMP.asp


This means MWO can

keep its 80-year weather

history intact and capture

as much data as possible

during extreme weather.


Eaton will provide MWO with

UPS after hours and battery

preventive maintenance twice

a year for two years, as well as

an eight-hour response time in

the event of an alarm.


Eaton field technicians have access to the

latest firmware and upgrade kits and an

extensive parts inventory to handle

maintenance and repairs quickly. They’re

also backed by a 24/7 customer support

center and 24/7 parts logistics and remote

monitoring team.


Hear from the Mt. Washington Observatory staff

and see the battery replacement and service in

action at Eaton.com/pqsuccess.

Learn more about Power Quality

products and services at:

Eaton.com/PowerQuality

Eaton.com/UPSservices

customer spotlight: mt. washington observatory

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