On Jan 16, 2004, at 8:23 AM, chris wrote:
Have these all died at the same location?
I had a similar track record at one of my offices. Computers would last 4
months, monitors one or two before up and dying for no apparent reason.
Turned out to be a bad building transformer. As stores shut off their power at night, the transformer would begin to spike as less and less load was on it. Eventually, it would move beyond "acceptable" fault and push into the 130+ volt range.
It seems this is low enough that the surge protectors being used didn't
notice it, but high enough that repeated occurances eventually burned out
equipment (and not always the power supply, in many cases the surge was
passed on to other parts, so the 130 volts on the power supply would
translate to 15 volts on a 12 volt line inside the computer).
Great advice. The constant failure does indeed sound like a line problem. Another reason for a good battery back up/ UPS system. I once lived in an area with very poor electrical distribution and continual line power fluctuations. The only thing that saved us from continually replacing equipment was going to an UPS system (APC) with line conditioning.
Finally Mother Nature intervened with a heavy, wet snow storm that took out hundreds of power poles in the region. When the electric company did the repairs they upgraded the distribution system and all was well with line power, however, I am now a firm believer in the benefits of power conditioning.
You suggestion is a great place to start with that kind of failure history.
Jack Russell
-- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Think Different Store
http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
