[wellylug] OT: 4.6V on the 5V rail is indicative of....?

Eugene Van Wyk Eugene.VanWyk at 4rf.com
Mon Mar 29 12:01:10 NZST 2004


Hi Peter

I don't' know what the laws are here, but in a "previous life" we had
similar problems with the power distribution in a small town. (This was
in SA.)  We rented a powerline analyser, recorded the brownouts, spikes
etc. and then threatened to sue for any future damage.  That got results
quick.

A steady 210V won't be a serious issue except if you are running at
absolute maximum limit.  The nasties happen when you have high level
spikes and rapid fluctuations.  This really stresses the HV circuitry on
the SMPS.


Eugene van Wyk
Test Development Engineer
4RF Communications Ltd
26 Glover St
Ngauranga
Wellington
New  Zealand
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Jones [mailto:PeterJ at indeserve.co.nz] 
Sent: Monday, 29 March 2004 10:36 a.m.
To: 'wellylug at lists.naos.co.nz'
Subject: RE: [wellylug] OT: 4.6V on the 5V rail is indicative of....?

Don't know, I'm pretty ignorant of how SMPS work. As long as the smoke
stays
inside, I'm happy :-)

I do know that appliances in our house have a pretty short lifespan,
light
bulbs especially, but I would put that down to over voltage, rather than
under.
I took it up with the power co (Energy Direct at the time), they seemed
pretty uninterested, even though I had a printout from the Fluke showing
the
peaks and troughs

-----Original Message-----
From: Damon Lynch [mailto:damon at photo.geek.nz]
Sent: Monday, 29 March 2004 10:20 a.m.
To: wellylug at lists.naos.co.nz
Subject: RE: [wellylug] OT: 4.6V on the 5V rail is indicative of....?


On Mon, 2004-03-29 at 08:38, Peter Jones wrote:
> In my experience power supplies are pretty tolerant of mains input
level
(my
> own house varies between 210 and 255 as measured with a Fluke power
monitor,
> but the kids PCs keep running (MY pcs, the important ones, live behind
a
UPS
> ;-) )

That's interesting.  Do you think it could shorten the life of a PSU if
it is running off 210?

> The power level can only be one of two things, either the PSU is
failing
to
> deliver, or something in the PC is pulling the voltage down.
> What is the claimed wattage of the PC, how many devices in the PCs
leeching
> off it?

Please see my reply to Brent, it's nothing significant.

Thanks

Damon


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