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Dirty Power?

W

woo.Designs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2005
Messages
456
Hey guys,

I've been having tons of problems and I was referred to the Power Supplies forum to get help with my dirty power. Check out the original thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=893144

If dirty power is truly the problem, what can I do to fix it (beside getting a new house)? Would a good UPS cure this? If so, what do you recommend for one?

Thanks
 
Huh! Two different PC's same problem?

I can see where dirty power would be a concern.

PSU's work like the rest of your computer: Garbage in, garbage out.

The filters in a SMPS can only filter so much.

Will a UPS help? ABSOLUTELY. But get a decent one. One that has Line interactive AVR.
 
I've also had three cards die on me in a similar fashion, and I've noted my rails are somewhat low and my system is no longer 100% rock solid (more like 90% now, but I had to underclock :( ). Is it possible for prolonged voltage shortage can damage a card that way, or do I have 'dirty power' as well? I'm a little disinclined towards dirty power as the dorm I am in now is the same one I was in last year, and I encountered no problems last year (though granted my system was less of a power drain then.) In any case, I am going to be replacing my PSU so hopefully I won't have any more casualties either.
 
No. Yours just sounds like a power supply on it's way out. ;)
 
I've never owned a UPS. Can you give me some reputable names and models that I could check out?
 
The first thing to figure out is what size do you need. What all are you going to plug into it?

If it's only going to be one PC and a 21" CRT or smaller, a 1000VA is more than enough. You can get a good one from TrippLite, APC, UltraProducts or CyberPower that will foot the bill.

Try to stay away from those surge/strip/UPS deals. They're good in a pinch, or good for your scanner or printer, etc. But I wouldn't run a whole PC off of one.
 
Im no expert but i belive APC is the industry leader in battery backups (UPS) and their "Smart UPS" line (although expencive) cleans up dirty power. That and a decent powersupply and you have ruled out dirty power.
A nifty feature is the high end Smart UPS's give readings as to the quality of the houses power.
 
warmace said:
Im no expert but i belive APC is the industry leader in battery backups (UPS) and their "Smart UPS" line (although expencive) cleans up dirty power. That and a decent powersupply and you have ruled out dirty power.
A nifty feature is the high end Smart UPS's give readings as to the quality of the houses power.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Smart-Ups clean up dirty mains and is a better UPS then an APC Back-Ups... But any other UPS that has Line interactive AVR will clean up dirty mains. I guess it's all in what your budget allows, but I'd rather spend a couple hundred on a UPS, then a thousand on a replacement PC! ;)

I'm also curious as to which model you speak of, with the "readings" that analyze the quality of the mains. Even the $1000 Smart-Ups "only" has "battery life" and "load status" LED graphs on them. Must be a pretty high end model! :eek:
 
most surges in a house are from appliance motors starting up
refrigerator compressors being a big one as they are always off and on
even with the UPS you might consider mapping the various circuits
and testing the grounds possibly going as far as an isolated ground plug

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=761954
 
Having a PC on the same circuit as the refrigerator?

I shudder at the thought. :p
 
woo.Designs said:
Okay, i've picked one out.

http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/SUA1000XLI?mv_pc=pricegrabber#buy

What do you think? Will this fix my issue?

Edit.. wrong voltage i think :-/

Also, I have a lot of fuses in my room and I have to replace my bulbs a lot. Could this be evidence that my power is f'ed?
Click to expand...

Nice for back up and probably will help your noise problem a bit. 320 Joules is not a lot of protection however. If I were going that route I'd add a really good surge protector just to be safe. I use the "clean powers" from Monster. No, I don't work for them ;)
 
woo.Designs said:
Also, I have a lot of fuses in my room and I have to replace my bulbs a lot. Could this be evidence that my power is f'ed?
Click to expand...


Yep. I have the same problem. That's why EVERYTHING in my house has a UPS with AVR. ;)
 
I will not go without a UPS now and good PSU.

The UPS will provider cleaner, steady power to the PSU, so the PSU wont have to work as hard at all, kepping it cooler annd stability of your computer much better (from a power stand point)
 
Yes, but what would be significant for VA? Also, what do you think about those Tripp Lite systems?
 
what do you guys think about this:

woo.D contacted me a few weeks ago because he was having trouble w/ his ipod. 3G 15GB.

he said that one time, when it was syncing, the ipod began to have a burning smell. to this day it has never been able to sync/come up as a hdd or ipod on a computer. its not recognized when plugged in.

the ipod was connect via firewire at the time. do you guys think there may have been a spike or something else dealing w/ dirty power that couldve caused the firewire to get a spike and fry the ipod?

for the record, the ipod funtions, its just incapable of transfering music. basically, the dock connector doesnt funtion. otherwise, the ipod works fine.

your thoughts?
 
woo.Designs said:
Yes, but what would be significant for VA? Also, what do you think about those Tripp Lite systems?
Click to expand...

Even 420VA would be enough. It just depends on how long you want to run the system. And Tripp-Lite is very good as well. Just look for enough VA and AVR and if you can get true Sine within your budget, you're good to go. ;)

TSS Modder said:
do you guys think there may have been a spike or something else dealing w/ dirty power that couldve caused the firewire to get a spike and fry the ipod?
Click to expand...

Not likely. Firewire is not even powered directly from the power supply. The controller regulates it's own power. I would think a failure on the PC power supply end of a Firewire controller would be more catistrpohic to the Firewire controller itself then merely frying the device plugged into it.

A very common incident with Firewire is the shorting of power and ground wires. This is so common of a problem that the Firewire controller and device have self-resetting fuses. The fuse in the i-Pod likely just failed during one such short, and this may have fried the device (hot to ground is not usually a good thing.)
 
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