News from Powervamp Ltd
Powervamp supports Jaguar Land Rover on production line
Products from Powervamp Ltd, one of Britain's leading specialists in professional automotive jump-starting equipment and portable power supplies, are playing a important role on the production line at Jaguar Land Rover, where they are helping assembly technicians to program and test on-board electronic systems cost-effectively.
Already more than 800 of Powervamp's combined battery/power supply units have been delivered, and more are in the pipeline.
The specially modified PS12v-200 power supplies (a derivative of the Powervamp PS100 aviation product) are currently being installed as standard equipment alongside the production line. The PS12v-200 product is no bigger than a pair of laptop computers, and is connected to each car by electrical leads while the cars travel down the production line.
These power supplies ensure that demanding electrical loads such as on-board computers and diagnostic systems on the Range Rover series can be tested during the production process without being reliant on the vehicle's own battery.
The units draw their current from a standard single-phase 240-volt mains electrical supply, delivering up to 200 amps. The nominal output is 12 volts, but this can be varied between 10 and 14.2 volts according to the demands of the on-board equipment.
A high degree of intelligence is built into the Powervamp units. If the battery terminals are connected the wrong way round, this will not cause an electrical short, as would happen with normal automotive batteries. A light comes on to inform the operator of the reverse polarity.
The units are also fitted with a "soft-start" feature, meaning they don't deliver their full output as soon as they are connected, but gradually ramp up the output, preventing sudden surges to the car's sensitive electrical system.
Because technicians need to listen carefully to the sounds made by some on-board electronic items, it was a requirement that the Powervamp units should incorporate a variable-speed cooling fan, which powers down to run in "silent" mode when the unit is not in use or is being run under low load.
During the on-board equipment programming cycle, the Powervamp unit is expected to deliver a high current. To assist with constant monitoring of the output, each unit is fitted with a current probe, which triggers a flashing green light indicating a potential problem if the current should drop to an abnormally low level.
The success of these Powervamp products has already given rise to the development of a spin-off product, which is used to power the built-in conveyors installed inside some of the specialist truck bodies that deliver car parts to Jaguar Land Rover plants.
Mounted at the loading bay, these PS12v-200 derivatives plug into the conveyor when the truck backs up to the dock, saving the need to run the equipment from the truck's own battery. They are rated at 24 volts rather than the 12 volts of the line-side units, and do not require some of the more sophisticated features of their line-side counterparts.
The Powervamp power supplies have already been fitted in various Jaguar Land Rover plants, including those at Solihull and Castle Bromwich, and are set to be installed in the Halewood production line as well in a new £240 million facility in Brazil.
ends
About Powervamp
Powervamp Ltd, a world leader in aviation ground power, specialised in automotive jump-starting equipment and portable power supplies when it was founded more than twenty years ago, and retains a strong presence in this market. Its compact, durable, self-contained hand-portable starter packs remain must-have equipment for car, truck, bus and plant equipment operators and breakdown recovery specialists throughout Britain and abroad.
On the aviation front, Powerwamp's portable power units can start anything from small turbine-powered single-engine aircraft to passenger jets, and can also provide ground power for running on-board systems and avionics. Its products are in wide use throughout the world.
Powervamp is also one of Britain's leading suppliers of power systems for emergency lighting in offices, industrial premises, public buildings and sports stadiums.
Powervamp produces a wide range of ancillary equipment such as power supply units, inverters and portable heating and fuelling systems. A separate division provides airshow, "aircraft on ground" and related services throughout the world.
Powervamp Racing supplies a range of high-performance automotive batteries and related equipment for rally, kit, enthusiast and classic cars.
PLEASE NOTE
Higher-resolution copies of the images to accompany this story are available at this location:
www.wordspreeweb.co.uk/powervamp/JLR
For further information, please contact:
Ed Roller
Powervamp Ltd
22 Bridgwater Court
Oldmixon Crescent
Weston-Super-Mare
BS24 9AY
Tel: +44 (0)1934 643000
info@powervamp.com
www.powervamp.com
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