The New AMD Building Thread

Something I never knew about surge protectors, just like Sammy suggested, how in the hell would you know if your still getting protection without a replaceable fuse one.

 

I got a new one! I'm currently running 2 strips, so this will eliminate the need for 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107196


This one will reside on TOP of my desk, that way I'm not constantly bumping it with my feet

 

Sam,
That's why I'm not sure if the high voltage from the feeder line caused the problem. It didn't blow the PSU, and the surge protector didn't blow. The guy from the power company said the the amount of juice that went all the way down the ground leg from the pole, was tied into the Earth ground, but it isn't near deep enough in the ground to be effective, and it's just a hollow pipe. When I used to install X-Ray equipment, the Federal requirement was a 30 foot copper rod, driven into the ground with about a foot sticking out of the ground. The problem with how the do mains here, is that there is only one line that has power, or two for 220v. The other two lines are the neutral and the ground, which are tied together. In my case, there is no way that the Earth ground could take care of that much power, so the power company guy feels that some of that power would bleed back through the neutral from the ground. I can't see any way that it could have been the case here since the PSU is OK. If what he says is true, it should have at least blown the surge protection in the PSU.

There were no strange sounds or smells. No smoke, no nothing! When I did turn it on it acted normal for about 4-5 seconds, and the power shut down. no post, no nothing. If you pull the ATX 2x4 12v plug, it will continue to let the lights and fans run, but the instant you plug it in, it powers down. I had no hint of troubles with either the voltages or heat. It ran flawlessly all night, and shut down normally when I went to sleep. When Russell goes out on a trip, I'm going to stick my CPU in his. His is a 95w motherboard, but I only want to see if the computer posts and shows the CPU. I don't think it is drawing 125w all the time, only under load. I'll let you know later. Just another Speed bump, in the road of life! LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Fred,
The good ones have an indicator light. The cheepo ones with a push button circuit breaker, are all but useless. Most are nothing more than glorified extension cords! Some are even dangerous! When I added surge protection to my 700w GameStream PSU, I incorporated a panel mount fuse holder that uses a special slow-blow 15A fuse. If you use a regular Buss fuse, it will shatter the glass. The surge protector creates a dead short on the mains, which blows the fuse. It's basically the same way GE X-Rays have been doing it for 50 years. Without the fuse, it would have to trip the circuit breaker, and that's not a good thing. Since the fuse and PSU are good, I doubt the power company's feedback theory. It powered up a neighbors Intel quad core rig with no problems.

Best Regards,
Russ


Russ

 

Sad but true...

Exactly. You don't. The ones with breakers can just be flipped back, but I see lots and lots of the cheap ones being used with the fuse blown. They work fine, just no overload protection.

Very nice. Mine looks similar to that but cost a bit more XD

Yep mine has an indicator light and a fuse panel. AFAIK Mine also uses the slow blow fuses as well. I know they're not regular Buss fuses as I had to order them from an electronics service catalog to find ones that matched the original.

 

LOL! I filtered it down to the lowest cost one, with 12 outlets. Thankfully the reviews were very good
I only hope the 250Gb drive I bought for an Xbox is gonna work. Reviews were saying they did it, and it works well. If that's true I shouldn't have a problem. Google and I are good friends

 

Am now worried. My surge protector unit used to have a very dim green light underneath the power switch. It's not been illuminated for the last couple of months. Suppose I ought to go and buy another 6-way!

 

using a surge protector has never crossed my mind till now :S

 

I generally don't worry with good PSU's. But there are multiple devices hooked to my strips

 

Good info here, stuff I never knew about, Russ what do you think about the one Omeg just bought, if you think that's a good one let me know cause I'll order the sucker, after what you guys told us I'm now sure I'm using the crappy one's.

 

hmm, I should probably look into a UPS, all the ones I have now were free so I doubt they're any good lol.

 

Sam,
A surge protector doesn't stop any current from flowing, it's a dead short to the neutral when blown. It's an open circuit until it's blown. It's like a big diode, in that it only passes current one way That's why the need for a fuse. No rocket science here, I installed mine the same way as General Electric does on the xrays. The fuseholder goes between the neutral leg and one side of the surge protector. The big knock on the OCZ Gamestar 700w PSU I bought from Oman7, was no surge protection. It cost me $34 for the parts and about 10 minutes to install it.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Funny the thread turns in this direction...not funny for Russ, but funny that I have regular surge protector but have been eyeing ups/line conditioner such as this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...111050&cm_re=ups_power-_-42-111-050-_-Product
It may seem like a bit much for home applications, but i often have 2 PC's, stereo receiver, studio monitors and other peripherals plugged in at once.

 

My mom would probably buy that one up. She loves those backup systems. It's not uncommon for this area to have brownouts and blackouts

 

VLC has always been problematic for me, is why I use MPC home cinema.

 

I've had no problems with VLC..The newer one now supports MKVs & HD at a much smother play back
Can't understand the problems you guys R havin with it

 

I never had any problems with it. In fact, I'll praise how well it works. But the image quality simply sucks, especially for HD. Doesn't even remotely compare to Media Player Classic. Playing the movies at a 1:1 ratio as well BTW. Not upscaled for a bigger screen and not downscaled for a smaller screen.

 

Creaky,
Now it's directing all posts for this thread to the Afterdawn Home page. I have to go back a few days, so I can get the thread to open on page 84.

Russ