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Constant Brown outs

A

Aolish

Senior member
I've just about had it with the constant brown outs at where I live. Right down to the point just how serious are these brown outs to most pcs. Can they really do any sort of damage to them? I'm guessing yes, the last brown out I had just today had my HDs wheezing and my monitor going berzerk on me. I am now seriously thinking about getting a UPS but I'm not familar with this area. Newegg members seems to like the OPTI-UPSs, anyone can recommend a great ups by them or by any other brands? thx in advance for any help.
 
www.apc.com --> refurb outlet == 1/2 price certified refurbished UPS from manufacturer

And yes, brown out do destroy hardware. I lost a couple hard drives and possibly various other hardware due to them before I got my UPS.

techfuzz
 
bx510: a brown out is like a black out except brown outs is when the power doesn't go off entirely. I'm sure you seen it but you probably haven't noticed. Do you sometimes see your lights dim on and off? like a slight dim of the light going dark then bright again. If the power fluctuates far down enough it can shutdown appliances or breifly shut them down then turn them back on immediately since power goes back to normal right away. Its a little hard to explain perhaps others will explain it better.
 
Actually, brown-outs are worse than blackouts - especially for anything with a motor. Basically, it is a dropping in the line voltage. If it is normally 110, a drop to 90 would be a brown out. Some UPS's do have voltage stabilization - many do not. Years ago, we lived in Costa Rica, and a drop in line voltage was endemic where we lived. So, we had step up transformers on all appliances. Basically they are line voltage conditioners.
 
Originally posted by: corkyg
Actually, brown-outs are wrose than blackouts - especially for anything with a motor. Basically, it is a dropping in the line voltage. If it is normally 110, a drop to 90 would be a brown out. Some UPS's do have voltage stabilization - many do not. Years ago, we lived in Costa Rica, and a drop in line voltage was endemic where we lived. So, we has step up transformers on all appliances. Basically they are line voltage conditioners.
Click to expand...


That's the beauty of the ferroresonant UPS. It can buck or boost the voltage continually and maintain 120VAC out with input voltages down to 85VAC! That really saves on the batts as the cheap offshore boxes will be clicking over the battery.

To recap: Brownout = drop or sag in voltage. Can last for hours and most people don't know it. If severe, air conditioner compressors will overheat triggering O/H protection (if so equipped and a Klixxon doesn't always trip - those are safeguard against short cycle where a single phase PSC motor has little starting torque against high head pressures).

Blackout = That's simple. Total loss of power. Takes only a fraction of a second to cause your PC to reboot.
 
Brownout = drop in voltage. Not only can they ruin or eventually ruin your hardware, but also data corruption and reboot issues (loss of data). I solved that problem by hooking up my three PCs with Belkin UPS's with AVR (automatic voltage regulation). My main rig can go for months without shutdown. It's nice when you can choose WHEN to reboot.
 
ya, brownouts are bad for your hardware as everyone else said the only time i see the lights dim is when somone in my family turns on the vacuum
 
Hi, Most PSUs have always been rated from about 90 volts to 150 VAC. Brown outs will probably go below that. Usually no real damage is done unless a drive is being written to and then only to the file that was being written. Of course anything is possible. My engineers always said "Electronics is capable of 1,000,000 errors per milisecond. The UPS is a real good idea!

Good Luck, Jim
 
I would recommend APC first and Belkin second when it comes to UPS purchases.

And yes, brown outs can cause havok in certain electronics if the circumstance is right. A brown out destroyed my VCR like 5 years ago, and I am sure in the right situation could hurt a computer. That brown out sent about 60VAC to my entire house for like 15 minutes (the converter on my street was on fire... interesting sight). Anyways, a normal brown-out might not destroy any components in a computer most of the time, but it is possible.
 
Ms Dawn's reply is excellent - and, in case you wonder what "ferroresonance" is, here is a further tutorial - also by a "Dawn." 🙂

TB
 
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