Does low line voltage damage PC?

[Mucho]

Would running a computer at line voltage lower than 115 Vac, (90 to 100 V) damage the motherboard and hard drive. Someone had three HD and two MB damaged in less than two years.

 

[thorin]

If it's a steady 100V it may not be as big a deal vs if it was up and down between 90V and 115V all the time. Is the system(s) in question using a UPS? If not it should be, or at least a high quality surge supressor.

Thorin

 

[markuskidd]

Be careful, I don't have proof but I have reason to believe this nuked my motherboard and one CD-ROM drive, possibly also some RAM

 

[dszd0g]

Most power supplies are rated down to 90V before they should turn off. As others have said if the voltage is fluctuating it would be a prime situation for a UPS. If it is steady, then a good power supply should just draw more current to counter the lower voltage. On a cheap power supply it may not, have you tried going into the BIOS and seeing what the power rails are at? That is a good indication, if they are at good steady levels it probably isn't affecting anything. If the power rails are low or if they are fluctuating, then you have a problem.

 

[MWink]

Get a line conditioner or a Line-Interactive UPS.