Bob, we continually find installations (and I've been around in this country...) with below spec electrical installations. To the extent that we do not extend a warranty on any piece of electronic equipment, unless we've certified the electrical installation. I think perhaps we've seen it all, or most of it. I do live with an electrical and electronics engineer - and we have lived in many places in the world.... So, I'm not a total novice.
I've also observed as example, Rocky, during an outage (remember, an outage can be anything from 3 hours, to three days to three weeks here) ... and seen him balance his supply and demand so finely, that it is ludicrous to watch him. And while watching, my thoughts were, yes, that is exactly what we do back in our office. None of us may have specified and installed for beer gardens or whatever in our lives and none of us profess to be electrical engineers. I just know that we cope, learn and survive under possibly some of the most extreme conditions, and keep our businesses and our homes running.
And then someone that knows nothing, tells us that the argument is bogus. Well, let him survive and live here for a few years, and then tell me that it is bogus. We are not dealing with bogus problems here. The problems are real. It is well reported in the press that, was it something like 40% of supply gets lots because of bad infrastructure.... No North American electrical engineer can tell me anything about keeping an installation running, keeping computers running, keeping supply and demand balanced at a cost that I can afford, unless they've done it. And this may seem quite hysterical... Well, if you are in the situation, most will agree, it is hysterical.
I'm not talking simply about bad wiring, wrongly sized whatevers, substandard wire sizings, and making jokes about the direction of the flow of the electrons - as I'm truly too experienced to do that.... I'm talking about having to deal with the wider infrastructure even if your office or house or premise may be installed quite correctly. You still have the wider electrical environment to deal with - the supply side. Sometimes there is some, sometimes not, sometimes it is what is required, sometimes it is more, and sometimes quite a bit less.
I'm talking about being busy making dinner at home, and hearing and seeing the fans go faster and faster and seeing the lightbulbs go brighter and brighter until everything explodes ... all in the space of a few seconds. The electrical company sometimes simply pumps out 220 or more down the 110 line. And then there is the case of my UPS crying and crying, but, yes, it is on. Why is it crying? Well today, whatever comes in, is just not sufficient. So, one takes the meters and checks... and see that today we only getting about 80 instead of 110.
So, it is an environmental thing. And anyone can tell me what they want .... if they cannot show me success in our conditions, they are talking nonsense and bogus braggadocio.
And those who have seen the lighbulbs explode will agree with me.
Special enough to know what I am talking about in a real and practical way. Gary, when you are able to keep something running here and can demonstrate that you know local conditions, I'll pay attention to you. For the rest, keep it high level and don't jump to conclusions like the 5kw that you offered the poster initially. I'd still like to know 5kw what? And a few other questions that you have not answered.
