View Full Version : F* over-voltage!
momo stallion
04-08-2009, 11:35 PM
i'm glad i own one of these:
https://www.smart-shop.com/images/shop/product_images/78779/regular_DHMC109096.jpg
not sure wtf happened but for the last hour+ my voltage jumped up to 135V!
3 different power filters around my living room went in protect mode. i don't own a fancy unit for my computer but i guess i'm going to change that now that i know the value. will be adding a conditioner + battery backup.
finally the voltage came down. it's at 125V now. still 3-4 higher than its normal. have to wait till business hours before i can talk to a technician.
the only victim: my router.
NeedleSharp
04-09-2009, 12:36 AM
That's really strange dude. What would cause a random spike like that?
was your router not connected to a power strip?
momo stallion
04-09-2009, 06:34 AM
Not sure. Id understand if it was a quick surge or spike but that was a sustained jump of over an hour. It's like someone plugged a generator into my wall.
The router appears to be working now, no clue what's going on there. It and my computer are plugged into a simple $10 surge protector power strip. They have no filter or protection mode so if they don't get zapped hard the MOVs inside won't disconnect. My computer was on along with lights and appliances and anything not plugged into my better power conditioners. Most electronic devices are fine with 5% voltage swings but this was like 13%.
line-em-up
04-09-2009, 07:28 AM
Maybe the wind was blowing harder and making more power. ;-)
momo stallion
04-09-2009, 09:28 AM
Maybe the wind was blowing harder and making more power. ;-)
damn t boone pickens!
Does that tell you what voltage is coming into that unit? Does it give you a warning or anything that let's you know it's more than 120? Dumb ?, I know...but I've see that type of unit only once at a friends, but never knew what it was for.
momo stallion
04-09-2009, 10:24 AM
Does that tell you what voltage is coming into that unit? Does it give you a warning or anything that let's you know it's more than 120? Dumb ?, I know...but I've see that type of unit only once at a friends, but never knew what it was for.
yea, the display can either tell you the voltage or current of the electricity coming into the unit the same way a multimeter would.
it's fine for the power coming in to move around a bit +/- 5%.
the unit is designed to prevent your devices from seeing that fluctuation by stabilizing the power it outputs.
if it sees abnormal power like that it just cuts the devices off to protect them. the device may function perfectly fine at 135V but it's probably not good for it's longevity. it's supposed to use filters clean power and crap too, but i bought the unit for a good price for my peace of mind and im happy to have it.
Andrew
04-09-2009, 10:48 AM
It all depends on how good the power supply regulation is in your box... the amplifiers will create a positive and negative (sometimes multiple) DC power supply rails. How close did they get to the physical limits of the devices used? How good is their regulation? Those are both good questions to ask to determine whether or not higher AC voltage is an issue and WHERE it becomes an issue.
momo stallion
04-09-2009, 10:52 AM
It all depends on how good the power supply regulation is in your box... the amplifiers will create a positive and negative (sometimes multiple) DC power supply rails. How close did they get to the physical limits of the devices used? How good is their regulation? Those are both good questions to ask to determine whether or not higher AC voltage is an issue and WHERE it becomes an issue.
yea, the devices behind the power units never got anything above 130 which is where monster set their upper limit.
I put in a call to reliant, someone from Oncor will be dispatched to investigate.
Andrew
04-09-2009, 11:44 AM
yea, the devices behind the power units never got anything above 130 which is where monster set their upper limit.
I put in a call to reliant, someone from Oncor will be dispatched to investigate.
Sorry, I was talking about the boxes behind the power regulator you have. I.e. receiver, amplifers, etc.
Some guitar amplifers were modded in the 60's, 70's etc with a variac which essentially was a variable transformer and could make the wall voltage look higher or lower based on whether they wanted more clean headroom or wanted the waveform to more easily distort...
You'd be surprised what gets out on the power grid. There will always be large voltage dips when the outside temperature gets above 95 degress and all the A/C units get cranked on for the first time in the summer. Hell, someone could have been backfeeding power somewhere near by your place and caused what you saw.... Let me know if you want to go to a full out battery backup UPS. I think I can get you a pretty good discount on our smaller single phase stuff. Batteries and monitoring software would never be an issue....;)
www.powerware.com
momo stallion
04-10-2009, 12:46 PM
You'd be surprised what gets out on the power grid. There will always be large voltage dips when the outside temperature gets above 95 degress and all the A/C units get cranked on for the first time in the summer. Hell, someone could have been backfeeding power somewhere near by your place and caused what you saw.... Let me know if you want to go to a full out battery backup UPS. I think I can get you a pretty good discount on our smaller single phase stuff. Batteries and monitoring software would never be an issue....;)
www.powerware.com
ill look up a product for my computer and let ya know!
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