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Power Protection??

C

Clockwerk

Member
For whatever reason, I get to much power coming into my home. This was verified by an electrician. Anyways, I've lost many a DVD player and such for no apparent reason other than my line-in is getting to much power, or "dirty" power. After recent ice storms and power outages my beloved PC has sh!t itself, hangs on startup, hard drve is clicking and monitor flashes on and off, it was already on a high-quality surge protector. I'm starting a new build and NEED high quaility protection.


Basically, what are my best options for protecting my electronics, namely my PC? A quality UPS, surge protector and line cleaner? Or is there an all-in-one option?? Must be reliable as I'm really getting sick of losing stuff.
 
Sounds like you need an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR). That should protect against overvoltages, undervoltages, noise, and surges. Only the higher-end UPS models have AVR. Even with AVR, be sure that you get a model that protects against both undervoltages AND overvoltages. Not all protect against overvoltages, which are rarer than undervoltage.

Note that some devices don't like the type of power (simulated sine wave) that comes out of most UPS models. Computers don't mind it, but some other electronics might. Some very high-end models offer true sine waves that will work with devices (other than computers) that have problems with the lower-end UPS models.

For examples of the various types of UPS, you can check out http://apc.com

You can also get whole-house protection against many common power problems. This is more expensive, but may be worthwhile if your power is as bad as you've been told. Have you talked to your power company?

BTW...don't hook a laser printer up to a UPS. Most won't be able to handle the load.
 
There are Line Filters for the overvoltage situation. My house is quite close to a power company transformer station where the high voltage is converted to power for the area, and we often see 130 v at the socket. I buy quite a few products that are especially rated for the high voltage (incandescent bulbs last a matter of mere weeks before blowing, and those cute, but too expensive coiled fluorescents can't reach the end of a year, unless they are designed for the higher voltages.

I really suspect that the neighborhood gets a higher share of lightning strikes than it should, also. I have individual filtered power for anything sensitive to it, and UPSes for the digital hardware. I wish I could get a large, mainline filter for the entire house, but it's my understanding that total rewiring would be part of that, and the cost would be beyond what I can afford.
 
AVR is the lower end protection, and only protects against brownouts and spikes... which in your case, may help. But if you want line conditioning and actually cleaning the lines, you'll need a higher end UPS like a SmartUPS from APC.
 
I just got one of these yesterday. Tripp lite

I mostly just wanted it so I had constant 120 v so my stereo sounds better (and it does).

"Reliable transformer-based voltage correction circuits maintain 120V nominal output during voltage fluctuations between 89 and 147V"

Also conditions the line from EMI/RFI noise.

$25,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance for connected equipment
 
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