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New System 3000 Thermal Management System from PAPST Provides a Complete Modular Solution for Equipment Cooling

Equipment cooling specialists PAPST have developed a new Thermal Management solution called System 3000 which the company claims is the most comprehensive system available for cost effective thermal monitoring and control of a wide variety of electronic, telecoms, computer and control equipment.

The new System 3000 is a general purpose modular system that consists of a monitor module and a control module which can be used separately or together. When both modules are used together, they form a comprehensive and fully integrated thermal management and control system including fan speed control, monitoring and status display for the most demanding applications. PAPST can also supply fully assembled systems including complete fan tray assemblies with multiple fans, fully wired, configured and ready to install in the end equipment.

The stand-alone Switch Mode Control Module provides temperature dependent speed control for any number of PAPST fans or blowers including complete fan trays up to a maximum power rating of 65W. The module controls fan speed from half to full speed depending on the highest temperature detected on any one of up to 4 thermistors, usually placed at the most critical parts of the equipment. When the equipment is cool i.e. below pre-selectable temperature T1, the fans run at half speed, reducing noise and fan wear resulting in quieter, longer life operation. As the temperature rises, the fans speed up linearly to reach full speed at temperature T2. If the temperature continues to increase beyond T2, a dual alarm output can be used to alert operators locally or remotely via LEDs, lamps, buzzers or other signals that temperature limits are being exceeded and initiate shutdown if required. Users have a choice of several pre-set T1 and T2 temperatures designed to suit most common applications. If any thermistor fails, another dual alarm is triggered and all fans run at full speed as a fail-safe measure. A standby mode is also available for use with equipment exposed to very cold conditions such as remote base stations, roadside cabinets etc.

The stand alone System 3000 Monitor Module allows the status of up to 6 PAPST DC fans to be individually monitored via open collector outputs capable of driving LED's in a display panel. If any fan speed falls below a user selectable threshold, a dual 'fan failing' alarm is activated for remote indication that any one fan has failed, and locally to warn the user exactly which fan is failing. This allows remedial action to be taken even before the fan has actually failed, helping reduce equipment down time and damage through over-heating.

The System 3000 is available for use with 12, 24 and 48V PAPST DC fans and is very easy to integrate into the end equipment. Alarm outputs are via single pole voltage free relay contacts and additional open collector outputs are provided to drive LEDs or external logic if required.

PAPST is the world market leader in equipment cooling fans and thermal management producing over 70,000 products per day covering a wide range of AC and DC fans including intelligent VARIOFANS as well as accessories and motors. The company was founded in 1945 and today has a worldwide turnover of some £85million with over 1,000 people in its manufacturing operations alone. The UK operation of PAPST plc is located in a modern facility in Andover which provides assembly, sales and technical support services including the use of sophisticated design and test facilities which customers can use to test fan performance, noise and so on under a wide variety of operating conditions.