[GTALUG] computer hardware testing tools.

[Karen Lewellen]

The feedback  term was provided by one of the folks helping me 
troubleshoot.
How I am tracking this is  based on what happens to my  reading edge, 
which has its own set of diagnostic tools.
The errors are serial port related, sudden sparks in speech, garbled text 
sent to  my synthesizer, which seem to coincide with say someone  making 
a power change upstairs.
I am on my second computer experiencing the problem,  with the edge itself 
perfectly fine.
Since power flow is the only factor I can influence, and I am having other 
power issues elsewhere in the space, I want to address that first to the 
best of my ability.
So, let me translate this into short term or mid term options.
Keeping in mind that I must install any choice myself are there say on 
amazon Canada,
1. a UPS unit less than $100 that  is small, just for my office stuff 
that I can simply plug in, without knowing anything about the circuits?  or
B, a better quality surge protector  / power bar, that might help short 
term, again below $100?
thanks,
Kare



On Tue, 18 Jul 2023, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:

> I'm not sure what you mean by "electrical feedback".
>
> Air conditioners (and fridges and freezers) have compressor motors that
> might well cause voltage sag when they start up.  I would hope that the
> sag doesn't take the voltage outside of the specified range for power.
> You might see lights dim a bit.
>
> Space heaters are often designed to be 1500 Watts which is only a little
> bit below the limit for most circuits in a home.  In this case, a
> circuit includes all the things connected to one breaker or fuse on the
> panel.  So if you put another heavy load (eg. toaster) on the same
> circuit, and run them both at the same time, the breaker will likely pop
> or the fuse will blow.
>
> You might be able to tell if you have breakers or fuses by how loudly the
> landlord swears. Resetting a breaker is easy: just flip the switch back.
> Replacing a fuse is worse because you have to have a spare fuse and buy
> some more when you run low.
>
> It isn't easy to remember what things are on each circuit.  Some heavy
> loads (eg. stoves) should be on their own circuit.  Everyone knows you
> should have an inventory but that takes more discipline than most people
> have.
>
> I forget which Fibe service your landlord has: VDSL-based or FTTH (Fiber
> To The Home).  I don't think that either system's modem takes significant
> power.
>
> Most modern electronics isn't too sensitive to power supply voltage
> problems.  The switching power supplies don't blink an eye when they are
> fed 220V.  I just looked at the label of one just now and it said AC
> 100-240V.  I think that they are (accidentally) fairly immune a bunch of
> noise too.
>
> Summary:
>
> - yes, you might be getting surges/drooping from the air conditioner(s).
>  I would think that they should be on their own circuits but that may
>  well not be the case.
>
> - yes, a space heater can blow a fuse if there are significant other
>  loads on the same circuit.
>
> - not many devices are sensitive to those droops unless they are severe
>
> - Questions: what problems are you actually observing?  What device?
>  What symptoms?
>
>
> | From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
>
> | such a terrific question!
> | The problem is in the house.
> | what I  suspect is that, because outlets on my floor share circuits with
> | outlets on the upper floors, when  power changes up there, I get electrical
> | feedback, or slight surges down here.
> | I do know that at least one outlet down  here shares circuits with items
> | upstairs because when the space heater provided by my landlord caused a fuse
> | to blow, he  experienced the problem upstairs.
> | I suspect that outlets in my family room share circuits with outlets upstairs
> | because there are long windows of time  when, after again a change upstairs,
> | outlets down here, or items connected to them do not work.
> | I suspect, but cannot prove  as I am unsure how Fibe for home draws power,
> | that it is slightly possible what is happening is that Fibe is drawing hydro
> | to manage those upstairs outlets impacting mine.
> | Lastly, given all this largely started when  upstairs changed to air
> | conditioning, I suspect  some of those surges  come from that change.
> | does all this resonate?
> | Thanks for providing a rich way for me to think this through.
> | Kare
> |
> |
> |
> | On Tue, 18 Jul 2023, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> |
> | > If you don't know the source of the problem, it is kind of hard to be
> | > sure where you need to fix it.
> | >
> | > I imagine that a whole house conditioner would be meant to address
> | > problems with power coming into the house.  If the problem is inside
> | > the house, it probably isn't the best solution.
> | >
> | > As far as I remember you don't know where the problem originates and
> | > you don't actually know the nature of the problem.
> | >
> | > What do you actually know and what do you suspect?
> | >
> | > As far as I remember:
> | >
> | > - You fixed one problem by replacing a serial cable connecting your
> | >  computer and your reader (DB9 to DB25).  It is very unlikely that
> | >  that this cable problem was caused by a power problem
> | >
> | > - you suspect that something in the power supply may have damaged
> | >  something else in your computer.  Do you know of any symptoms?
> | >
> | > - one of your devices (I forget which) spontaneously shut off.
> | >  I don't remember whether this was a single event
> | >
> | > Are there any other symptoms of power problems?
> | >
> | > (I too suffer a problem that might be power-related.  My home office
> | > seems to burn out LED lightbulbs more quickly than it should.  I don't
> | > know where to start on that one.  It might even be heat related rather
> | > than power-related.)
> | >
> | > | From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
> | >
> | > | My landlord has offered to give me a dedicated line in my living room, not
> | > | sure how that would impact my office as I shared I believe.
> | > | Least complex, but most impactive solution  will likely be the one he
> | > | embraces, he keeps saying that the prior tenet never complained..while
> | > | having
> | > | o idea  how they managed power.
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