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Living in developing countries taught me to never plugin expensive computers without a surge protector UPS.
by srik 7mo ago
Living in developing countries taught me to never plugin expensive computers without a surge protector UPS.
- porkloin 7mo agoHonestly even in "developed countries" it's not worth blindly trusting that the power in your house/building is clean. It's cheap and easy enough to just put any expensive hardware on a UPS rather than speculating what's going on behind the walls.
- xandrius 7mo agoDoesn't even sound like a developed country to me. Is that the US or something?
- nerdsniper 7mo agoI work on embedded systems. I can often see whether my A/C or other appliances are running on my oscilloscope signals. They often affect the output of USB power supplies.
- eru 7mo agoEh, if these surges are rare enough, then you are statistical better off just risking your 'expensive' hardware to a one in a trillion possibility rather than spending money on gear you don't need. Do you live in a bunker to protect against artillery shells?
- Onavo 7mo agoDo you still need a UPS if you have one of those household (Powerwall style) battery packs? Also Apple switched mode power supplies are pretty well built. But then again there's horror stories like https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/1maegvb/i_burned_my_mac_mini_m4_due_to_a_voltage_surge/ https://www.reddit.com/r/applehelp/comments/1maegvb/i_burned...
- bob1029 7mo agoYes. The power walls are like cheap UPS topology. You could still get whacked with a transient from the grid before the ATS decides to island the house.
- ianburrell 7mo agoMy understanding is that home batteries are not UPSes, they don't go through the battery. They have a switch between power company, solar, or battery. I think that means would be exposed to surge from power company. You can install a whole house surge protector. Those go in the panel and would protect from different sources.
- kolinko 7mo agoDepends on how they are configured, I think in some regions (where power outages are very rare), they are wired to sync up with external network, and without external network they shut down as well.
- kelipso 7mo agoLightning can mess you up in every country lol. Had to replace a PSU because of that, thankfully it was just that and minor damage to GPU.
- jltsiren 7mo agoLightning damage is mostly an issue if the last-mile power lines are above ground. In my experience, power surges in urban areas with a decent grid are so rare that people generally don't bother protecting their devices.
- assaddayinh 7mo ago[dead]
- lanstin 7mo agoI have lived in the DC metro area inside the beltway or in Sillicon Valley my entire adult life and have only had above ground power wiring. Despite tree ordnances and wind storms and a grid so aged if we see lightning we lose power.
- mcv 7mo agoI've heard that before, that the US apparently loves above ground power lines. In NL it's only the long distance ones that are above ground. Even in most rural areas, I think everything is below ground.
- idiotsecant 7mo agoYes, we love them on account of our country having approximately 230 times the surface area and the Netherlands having approximately 13x the population density. We not only have vastly more line to run, but also many, many fewer people per square mile to absorb the costs. Underground line is expensive.
- 7mo ago
- schiffern 7mo agoCommercial uses layered surge protectors (Type I, II, and III), which is also recommended for other users but rarely followed. In surge prone areas, at a minimum I would have good quality whole-house surge protector (eg Siemens 140 or Eaton 108), and a good quality surge protector strip for any computer/TV/phone charger. I also put surge protectors in front of expensive white goods like the fridge, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and garage door opener. Besides being costly to replace these can contain "sparky" motors and this provides protection in the other direction too. Over time smaller surges can degrade the main surge protector for your computer. Nothing (reasonable) can protect against direct lightning strikes, but for anything less it should provide decent protection.
- david_allison 7mo ago> Nothing (reasonable) can protect against direct lightning strikes Belkin make a number of surge protectors which offer a connected equipment warranty in the UK. Admittedly: financial protection, not data protection, but I felt it was worthwhile for the peace of mind. https://www.belkin.com/id/p/6-outlet-surge-protection-strip-with-2m-power-cord/BSV603vf2M.html https://www.belkin.com/id/p/6-outlet-surge-protection-strip-...
- gruez 7mo ago>Admittedly: financial protection, not data protection You should have data backups regardless, because there are plenty of ways to lose data that don't involve power surges.
- pseudohadamard 7mo agoHave they ever paid out on one of those, or is it like CAs who offer liability protection for their certificates carefully set up in such a way that they never have to pay out.
- gruez 7mo ago>In surge prone areas What areas are surge prone?
- casey2 7mo agoLiving in California taught me this
- burnt-resistor 7mo agoI grew up in San Jose CA in the 80's and 90'd on a street with a perpetually bad transformer. We had UPSes on every computer and proper surge protectors on everything of value.