A few thoughts on power

Power - so many think the only way to obtain it is to take it from someone else - when people or businesses do this avoid them - this is a tactic used to distract from that person or businesses lack of substance or inability to perform.



If you run across a person or business who bad mouths another suggest checking out the business they are bad mouthing because there may be some merit however also suggest not doing business wiht the negative firm however that is just a suggestion will leave the decision to you yet I will ask this - if that business had merit would they instead be talking about how they can add value to you instead of trying to devalue another?

What do you think

High Level basics about Power Conditioning

In the last post I dealt with Tape decks, there is more I could deal with and will later but figured I would deal with a topic common to all of Security, Audio, Video, and Technology – Power / Juice / Electricity. (Note: in later posts transition from audio into video and security will also deal with internet fraud scams). 

Regardless of the equipment used today power is required. The U.S. for many things you have 120, 240, or 480 VAC. 120 is not 120 – it is plus or minus 10% meaning it can fluctuate between 110 and 130 normally. Abnormally it can be even greater. 

Let’s do some basic engineering:

• Current (I) is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance - I = V/r
• Power (P) is equal to the voltage multiplied by the current - P = V*I

 

So I = P/V and V = I * R now let’s play

 

Assume R = 10

• 120/10 = 12
• 110/10 = 11
• 130/10 = 13 

What is current – think of it as speed and the faster it flows the greater the heat produced by friction (resistance) thus the more heat produced that has to be removed to keep from damaging the system or another way to look at it is stop one end of a hose sooner or later it will burst from the pressure.. If it is too low them the equipment may starve and shut down not being able to function properly now this of a house or sprinkler with a trickle.  

So let’s look at the proposed solutions

• Surge protector – device to protect from power surges say anything above 130 V for more than three nanoseconds
• Uninterruptible /Universal Power Supply – device to protect from drops below 110 and spikes above 130 by using a battery
• Line (Power) Conditioner – device to improve power quality and remove behaviors that cause losses and disruptions, such as harmonics, reactive power, flicker and resonance in low to high voltage supply lines

Protect your technology investment

A common mistake many people make is not or only partially protecting their computers. Many people buy one and plug it straight into the wall. Problem is 120V AC is not that – it can range from 110 to 130 Volts in normal operation from power company. As you can imagine the further under 120 you get the more of a strain it puts on the PC ironically the higher the voltage much the same though for different reasons. Often (and be happy it does) the power supply will sacrifice itself to protect your system yet allot of good that does in the short term because a PC without a power supply is like a person without a heart – useless. I could get into the math of wattage, heat generation, resistance, however point is either extreme is damaging to your system.

As a stop gap many opt to put a surge protect on it to regulate the upswings which is great because it prevents the sudden surges but does little for down swings. As such if there is a brown out and a power surge, the brown out strains the system but it is protected from the surge thus preventing a current overload situation.

A solution would be a UPS (Universal Power Supply) some of which also act as power conditioners. These devices augment the power if it drops below say 115 Volts and protect the PC if power ever rises above 125 Volts. In some advanced models software is even included that once installed and the device connected via USB or serial port shuts down the PC during a blackout to prevent system damage sue to crashed hard drive heads during an extreme power loss.

Make sure you invest in the proper equipment to protect your system, $25-70 (depending) will save you hundreds in damage and potentially thousands in lost intellectual property. (this post inspired by the PC I am currently replacing power supply in that was killed during a power outage)