C
CES
Guest
Electronics and the Dominican power grid aren't the best of friends, basically it's a love, hate relationship. Brownouts, blackouts, and transient spikes well take a toll on all things electric. I've collected together some my 'ramblings' on DR electricity and the importance of providing a "warm & fuzzy place" ("conditioned power") for your PC and other electric devices to work and play.
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The following is a quote:
Although quality surge suppressors provide hardware protection from lightning and spikes, they provide no protection for your data, which is often more valuable than your hardware. The American Power Conversion Line-R 600 automatically corrects brownouts and overvoltages by constantly regulating the incoming line voltage. Continuous power conditioning keeps you working through *** extended *** brownouts and overvoltages.
That being said, and if you really want to have a peaceful nites sleep you need to use some type of protection . . . (power conditioning) for your PC and other electronics. If you want and/ or need other types of protection I'll defer to Dr. ECH, if you catch my drift.
My ramblings from threads of another time. . .
You should ALWAYS check an unknown outlet before using it with equip. that requires a reliable ground, (earth/ tierra) such as PCs, laptops and other electronics. Computers being used with a modem should always have a >***grounded**< surge protection device. A good way to check the outlet is with a 'receptacle tester' (about US$4.00 at Radio Shack, or a hardware store) that simply plugs in. Neon lights, on the tester, indicate good or fault, such as; open ground, open neutral, open hot, hot/ ground reversed, hot/ neutral reversed, and correct. The tester is about the size of a 3 wire cord cap that you'd find on a medium duty extension cord.
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Your main concern will be electronic devices that require a grounded outlet to accommodate a surge protection device. Computers and laptops operating with a modem should *** ALWAYS *** be used with a surge protection device (the surge protector should accommodate the modem and computer at the same time). In some cases (check with a reliable electrician) equipment with three wire cords are safe to use on a 2 wire outlet. If you are using an appliance or electronic device that requires grounding, you also have to be aware of polarization; the hot wire, and the neutral (or white wire), *** WHICH Should be Grounded *** at the building electrical service entrance device (circuit breaker box. If your appliance doesn't require grounding (consult an electrician), or a polarized outlet, then as suggested, the 2 to 3 wire adapters should be fine.
*Note* }Some{ Dominican electricians do not understand the importance of a polarized and grounded system.
The reason the 'GFI' (ground fault interrupter), or 'earth leakage device', did not trip is because the ground fault path can not be completed in a 'floating system' (ungrounded neutral). The 'GFI' detects current flow from the hot wire to (through) anything that is electrically grounded (YOU! as part of the path), or a short circuited wire.
~ {:} ~
Now I'll go away, but just one last thing: Jim's information is very good and covers things I missed in my original posts. . .
. . . CES
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ {:} ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The following is a quote:
Although quality surge suppressors provide hardware protection from lightning and spikes, they provide no protection for your data, which is often more valuable than your hardware. The American Power Conversion Line-R 600 automatically corrects brownouts and overvoltages by constantly regulating the incoming line voltage. Continuous power conditioning keeps you working through *** extended *** brownouts and overvoltages.
That being said, and if you really want to have a peaceful nites sleep you need to use some type of protection . . . (power conditioning) for your PC and other electronics. If you want and/ or need other types of protection I'll defer to Dr. ECH, if you catch my drift.
My ramblings from threads of another time. . .
You should ALWAYS check an unknown outlet before using it with equip. that requires a reliable ground, (earth/ tierra) such as PCs, laptops and other electronics. Computers being used with a modem should always have a >***grounded**< surge protection device. A good way to check the outlet is with a 'receptacle tester' (about US$4.00 at Radio Shack, or a hardware store) that simply plugs in. Neon lights, on the tester, indicate good or fault, such as; open ground, open neutral, open hot, hot/ ground reversed, hot/ neutral reversed, and correct. The tester is about the size of a 3 wire cord cap that you'd find on a medium duty extension cord.
~ {:} ~
Your main concern will be electronic devices that require a grounded outlet to accommodate a surge protection device. Computers and laptops operating with a modem should *** ALWAYS *** be used with a surge protection device (the surge protector should accommodate the modem and computer at the same time). In some cases (check with a reliable electrician) equipment with three wire cords are safe to use on a 2 wire outlet. If you are using an appliance or electronic device that requires grounding, you also have to be aware of polarization; the hot wire, and the neutral (or white wire), *** WHICH Should be Grounded *** at the building electrical service entrance device (circuit breaker box. If your appliance doesn't require grounding (consult an electrician), or a polarized outlet, then as suggested, the 2 to 3 wire adapters should be fine.
*Note* }Some{ Dominican electricians do not understand the importance of a polarized and grounded system.
The reason the 'GFI' (ground fault interrupter), or 'earth leakage device', did not trip is because the ground fault path can not be completed in a 'floating system' (ungrounded neutral). The 'GFI' detects current flow from the hot wire to (through) anything that is electrically grounded (YOU! as part of the path), or a short circuited wire.
~ {:} ~
Now I'll go away, but just one last thing: Jim's information is very good and covers things I missed in my original posts. . .
. . . CES