Computer Failures

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

Computer Failures

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Sounds like you need a good surge protector. You can get whole home systems or just a power bar with a surge protector for your equipment.

poncho62 · Poncho Master!

You've got me thinking. My wife's 6 month old desktop kept shutting down last week. It's under warranty, so it's in the shop........but, I think a good surge protector might be in order when it gets back.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

My wife is a computer guru and she has a neat device with several 110 outlets. You plug your sensitive computer equipment etc into those outlets and it protects from both surges and "brown outs" which apparently can also do a bunch of damage. We use it when we are on the generator as the output from a generator can be "dirty" - full of spikes etc. I remember using it a couple of years ago and the generator got some dirt in the carb. It would almost die and then spring back to life. This device would cut the power altogether if the line voltage dropped below a certain point.

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

Will a surge protector help me if the problem is a low-voltage issue? I've always though surge protectors help if the problem is a high voltage spike, but if I'm only getting say 200 volts instead of 240 volts, I'm not sure the surge protectors would do anything. That's why I've been thinking that a UPS might be needed.

I would like to be able to record the L1 and L2 voltages for a week or so, just to see if there is fluctuation.

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

Todd You posted as I was typing. That sounds like what I need. Was it a battery back-up, UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply)? Or is there something else out there that does this?

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

more info on surge protectors and what's recommended for 2019

https://www.techhive.com/article/3172540/best-surge-protector.html

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

Good write-up on surge protectors. Thanks! Ill check to see if mine is still providing protection. And, it seems a surge protector isnt going to protect against brown-outs.

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have been running a UPS battery backup with surge protection since 2001. I actually noticed surfing was a little faster due possibly to cleaner, less noisy power. I just replaced it this year. Prior to running the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) I had the power drop & a spike that damaged the power supply on my computer which in turn blew the motherboard. I didn't want that again. I highly recommend a UPS.

Also I do recall that while power bars generally claim to offer surge protection, some provide a bit of protection while others when tested actually made the spikes worse. Do your homework and don't get a cheap one!

seventy2plus2 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Re UPS's, there are various types.

The cheaper ones just provide battery backup when power is lost, they do nothing with the incoming power.

The more expensive ones actually rectify your incoming ac power to DC, run it across the batteries, then invert it back to ac to power your devices.

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Never really knew much about UPS , this site explained a lot..... like Clint says between cheap and better.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-uninterruptible-power-supply-ups/

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I've had my computers powered through UPSs for years, never had a hardware problem caused by power. And, I've never lost my work because the power glitched for a second - well worth it IMHO.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Last time i had a computer failure, i spilled some water on my seven year old lap top. $I,000 later problem solved and no more water. cry

66 Beau · Poncho Master!

I finally managed to get mine to boot up after trying everything I could think of. Seems the monitor got fried and so did the graphics card. Theres something else going on too since I got a no boot device found error. All the diagnostics scans come back clean but obviously something isnt right. It does boot up and seems to run so well see.
I see a couple UPSs in my future - power was out for 8 hours again last night.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Maybe your hard drive bit the dust?

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
Maybe your hard drive bit the dust?

Not a computer expert by any means,but I'm told

Solid State hard drives are the way to go.......and prices have dropped

considerably over the last few years.

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/sandisk-ultra-3d-1tb-sata-iii-internal-solid-state-drive-sdssdh3-1t02-g25/12869342

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Yes, but something I just found out recently is these SSD's only have a finite number of "writes" before they are useless. Tesla uses a similar system in their cars and now older models are having module failures. Tesla logs so much data to these memory chips they are now wearing out and the cost to fix is huge. Now for the average guy with a laptop it may take years for a solid state drive to fail. My wife converted her older laptop to one and it does work very well and it much quicker loading files than the old hard drive.
Tesla article: www.businessinsider.com/older-teslas-reportedly-having-issues-charging-screen-not-working-memory-2019-10

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
Yes, but something I just found out recently is these SSD's only have a finite number of "writes" before they are useless. Tesla uses a similar system in their cars and now older models are having module failures. Tesla logs so much data to these memory chips they are now wearing out and the cost to fix is huge. Now for the average guy with a laptop it may take years for a solid state drive to fail. My wife converted her older laptop to one and it does work very well and it much quicker loading files than the old hard drive.
Tesla article: www.businessinsider.com/older-teslas-reportedly-having-issues-charging-screen-not-working-memory-2019-10

I updated my three month old lap top to SSD and it was worth 10 times what i spent to do so. Now everything i do takes a second, i mean literally a second. I never thought in my wildest dreams that it would be that much of an improvement in speed. I would recommend the up grade to anyone.

1965CS · Guru

For my Being fairly computer savvy, I heavily task my PC regularly using video and image editing programs. I've had SS drives for years using 4 internals, and had no issues so far. Basically the read-write capacity is in the hundreds per day for decades before they die, equating to multi millions of times.

Anyway, best thing to do is NEVER keep files on the desktop by using short cuts to store on secondary drive, and ALWAYS back up everything. In my case I even back up the back up to a flash and store it.

-- Edited by 1965CS on Monday 9th of December 2019 08:29:26 AM