such a thing as not enough voltage to turn on the PC?

[GoodEnough]

Home's power was out, but restored. But, my home's lights seem dimmer than normal, so I think I'm not on full power. Not full power? Or is home elec. all or nothing?

Can there be such a thing as not enough voltage to turn on the PC?
It's got a 300W PS

I tried plugging in my old PC that's been in the closet.
It also does not power up.
This makes me hesitate to order a new PS.

Ideas?
I'll probably wait until tomorrow, and see if power is fully restored.

 

[TemjinGold]

Have you tried a different AC outlet?

 

[country2]

Home's power was out, but restored. But, my home's lights seem dimmer than normal, so I think I'm not on full power. Not full power? Or is home elec. all or nothing?

Can there be such a thing as not enough voltage to turn on the PC?
It's got a 300W PS

I tried plugging in my old PC that's been in the closet.
It also does not power up.
This makes me hesitate to order a new PS.

Ideas?
I'll probably wait until tomorrow, and see if power is fully restored.

I'd call up the power company and tell them and see if they can come out and check. Low voltage can cause issues with many house hold appliances.

Anyway to get a hold of a volt meter and check?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Had that problem once at a place I stayed at. It turned out to be corrosion in the meter, one leg of the 240V going into the house was at a very low voltage. When it happened, the lights were dim in one part of the house, and the powered garage door wouldn't work.

I would get that checked out. It could be dangerous.

 

[GoodEnough]

This is absolutely related to the snowstorm and power outage.
My lights do not do to full power.
The microwave barely turns on.
I am running on some sort of partial power.
This is a brown out, I think
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_(electricity)

I am certain it's not my PC b/c both PC's don't power up.

 

[lehtv]

From the wiki page:

A switching power supply which has a regulated output, will be affected. As the input voltage falls, the current draw will increase to maintain the same output voltage and current, until such a point that the switching power supply malfunctions.

To me this sounds like powering up a computer during a brownout isn't the best idea. I mean the PC is likely safe as long as the PSU protections work, but better safe than sorry

 

[GoodEnough]

Power is back, and so is the PC! I ordered a 4000 jules surge protector today, just to avoid an actual problem in the future.

 

[fffblackmage]

Huh? The surge protector will protect you from surges, not brownouts or blackouts....

 

[GoodEnough]

Well, just in case there is a surge in the future, I might as well be protected. This wasn't a problem this time, but it made it think about it when I thought my PC was dead.

 

[alfa147x]

is a phase out?

 

[GoodEnough]

What is a phase out? Huh?

 

[BoomerD]

What is a phase out? Huh?

http://www.powertogo.ca/phases.htm


Even though (In the USA) the power delivered to your house is single-phase, the power delivered to the transformers that services your house/street/neighborhood MAY be three-phase.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_...ies_get_turned_into_single-phase_for_home_use

 

[alfa147x]

http://www.powertogo.ca/phases.htm


Even though (In the USA) the power delivered to your house is single-phase, the power delivered to the transformers that services your house/street/neighborhood MAY be three-phase.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_...ies_get_turned_into_single-phase_for_home_use

This. My parent's lost a phase somehow and half the stuff in the house wouldn't work.