- Jul 11, 2001
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I bought it at Newegg last February (i.e. about 9 months ago), and after playing with it a bit, plugged it into a power strip and plugged my computer system's surge protector into the Kill-a-Watt. So, that's where it's been since March, I guess. When the computer was on, the juice pulled through the Kill-a-Watt averaged 180 watts. Average at least once a day, I turned the surge suppressor off, making the juice Zero. A few days ago I glanced at it and the LCD was blank (while the computer was on). Usually it read somewhere between 120 watts and maybe as high as 225 watts. I doubt there was ever a draw over 350 watts or even 300 watts.
I figure my mistake was leaving this thing working the whole time. My computer's not on all the time, at most 20% of the time, but maybe this thing isn't designed to last if it's used a lot.
I found the instructions last night which included the warranty info: 6 months but in some states there can be no time limitation (I'm in CA), call the company for details (N.Y. number). The instructions say "To reset, remove power from unit momentarily." This morning I tested it some more, still nothing on the LCD. There are 3 very small screws holding the back on, and I opened it up, and saw no fuse. Drat. I looked over the internals -- a couple of circuit boards, various electronic components including capacitors (they look OK), IC's, etc. I decided to put it back together and call the company. After putting the screws back in I test it again and now it's evidently working! When opening it up, I didn't disconnect anything. That should have had absolutely no effect. Weird.
I figure my mistake was leaving this thing working the whole time. My computer's not on all the time, at most 20% of the time, but maybe this thing isn't designed to last if it's used a lot.
I found the instructions last night which included the warranty info: 6 months but in some states there can be no time limitation (I'm in CA), call the company for details (N.Y. number). The instructions say "To reset, remove power from unit momentarily." This morning I tested it some more, still nothing on the LCD. There are 3 very small screws holding the back on, and I opened it up, and saw no fuse. Drat. I looked over the internals -- a couple of circuit boards, various electronic components including capacitors (they look OK), IC's, etc. I decided to put it back together and call the company. After putting the screws back in I test it again and now it's evidently working! When opening it up, I didn't disconnect anything. That should have had absolutely no effect. Weird.
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