Power strips and power supp[ies

While my wife uses  UPS, I only use a power control panel which has surge suppresion.  The panel has the outlets on back, (six) amd a labled set of switches on the front= master, computer, monitor, and two aux functions.  I run computer directly from wall plugs, since I leave the computer on all the time, and likewise my two printers, which are networked, so we can print from  either printer from any of our three computers at any time.

John3M

One of the biggest gripes I have with the little black box with power cable is the lack of identifier names on the box. I have many of these power supplies and hate it when they get moved and piled in with others. I have a policy now I print the name of the device it either charges or powers up on the box with either silver or gold sharpie

 

Yes, I have run into the same problem, it got to the point were I had a basket full of power cables and did not have an idea to what device they belonged to. Now what I do is as soon as a get a device with one of these power cables with the attached transformer, I immediately, using my label maker, make a label with the name of the device it  belongs to and stick it on the transformer.

So far it has worked good.

Joe

John3M

One of the biggest gripes I have with the little black box with power cable is the lack of identifier names on the box. I have many of these power supplies and hate it when they get moved and piled in with others. I have a policy now I print the name of the device it either charges or powers up on the box with either silver or gold sharpie

 

You can also use the voltage and polarity markings on those power supplies if you still end up with a couple of stray ones that you're not sure about.  If they match the markings on the device you want to plug in to, you'll at least know you're not going to damage anything by plugging it in.

One of the biggest gripes I have with the little black box with power cable is the lack of identifier names on the box. I have many of these power supplies and hate it when they get moved and piled in with others. I have a policy now I print the name of the device it either charges or powers up on the box with either silver or gold sharpie

Tojo72

 

 

Having-fun

 

 

Tojo72

I got one of those whole house surge protectors installed right in the electric panel

 

 

 

 

 

The surge protector installed by the utility company only supposedly protects for spikes (when voltage goes to high) or brown outs, ( when voltage goes too low ). Surge protectors, after being hit a few times with ligning and power variations become ineffective and need to be replace. Good look having you power company replace one.

 

Also, if the power fails, your electronics are shutdown hard, some electronic equipment, such as a PC, do not like to have power taken away hard, some of the things that can happens is lost of data and components getting fried.

 

I am a retired network engineer, in my shop we use to have UPS for everything. The cost of the units we had in the shop was in the thousands, but we consider them of a high priority.

 

Joe

 

 

 

 

 

No luck involved,my power company didn't install it.

 

Having a surge protector is better than having nothing, but, may I recommend that you verify that the surge protector is still effective? The electronics designed to stop surges weakens as they stop surges to the point that they become ineffective. I have seeing this happens.

Do a search in google to find more info on these devices and how to check if the device still active.

Joe

Well !

      Someone that has had the same problems I have had. I was sharing a power strip with my lady Friend in our shared workshop. She brought home a ring saw(Used in cutting Glass for Stained glass projects) plugged it in , turned it on, and we promptly had to use the fire extinguisher! I have kept one handy since A safety Class in my Oil Spill Days. Turned out to be the Power strip, Shorted because of a problem with the saw!

      Now, we have dedicated Belkin Power strips(Six Holer)and no more problems. Since acquiring them I have tested and repaired some questionable electrical tools without a problem!

Having-fun

 

 

Tojo72

I got one of those whole house surge protectors installed right in the electric panel

 

 

 

 

 

The surge protector installed by the utility company only supposedly protects for spikes (when voltage goes to high) or brown outs, ( when voltage goes too low ). Surge protectors, after being hit a few times with ligning and power variations become ineffective and need to be replace. Good look having you power company replace one.

 

Also, if the power fails, your electronics are shutdown hard, some electronic equipment, such as a PC, do not like to have power taken away hard, some of the things that can happens is lost of data and components getting fried.

 

I am a retired network engineer, in my shop we use to have UPS for everything. The cost of the units we had in the shop was in the thousands, but we consider them of a high priority.

 

Joe

 

 

No luck involved,my power company didn't install it.

Tojo72

I got one of those whole house surge protectors installed right in the electric panel

 

The surge protector installed by the utility company only supposedly protects for spikes (when voltage goes to high) or brown outs, ( when voltage goes too low ). Surge protectors, after being hit a few times with ligning and power variations become ineffective and need to be replace. Good look having you power company replace one.

Also, if the power fails, your electronics are shutdown hard, some electronic equipment, such as a PC, do not like to have power taken away hard, some of the things that can happens is lost of data and components getting fried.

I am a retired network engineer, in my shop we use to have UPS for everything. The cost of the units we had in the shop was in the thousands, but we consider them of a high priority.

Joe

I got one of those whole house surge protectors installed right in the electric panel.

Guys, power strips are not the answer, the proper way to protect your delicate electronics is to invest in a series of UPSs (Uninterrupted Power Supply), these devices are not cheap, depending of the power needs, they go from $50 bucks (for a single PC ) to over $500 (to power a Home theater system).

In addition to the above prices, their internal batteries most be replace at around 3 years and you need to make sure that the outlet been use to connect these devices can handle the load.

These devices allows you time to power down all the sensitive electronics to prevent damage due to improper shutdown or over voltage when the power returns.

Sorry for the bad news.

Joe

It's a fire hazard/safety issue. While the spacing of receptacles on the power strip may be standard, the size of the plug units on power supplies, etc.  may be larger to limit the number of items which may be plugged into a circuit.  Dont daisy chain plug strips   

For safety, sum the amperage of the items plugged in and make sure that you don't exceed the amp limit of the circuit breaker that the strip is plugged into.  Else fire or tripped breaker may occur (the breaker is doing its job).  

keavdog

Had a power strip melt down and catch fire in my office years ago so I only buy quality power strips - Belkin is my go to.  They make the power strip below that will solve your issues - just under $30.00

 

That is a neat one!  Have to get one.

Thanks for the info guys! It looks great. Think I'll get one ordered.

Stay safe.

Jim 

26.02 with free delivery from Amazon.....see below

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Power-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S

Had a power strip melt down and catch fire in my office years ago so I only buy quality power strips - Belkin is my go to.  They make the power strip below that will solve your issues - just under $30.00

I have a few 6-outlet strips in the workroom because of that problem too. Just can't seem to get more than 3 plugs in each. Good thing they're not all on at the same time or I'd get a heck of an overload and keep tripping breakers. 

Stay safe.

Jim 

I know what you are talking about. However I have not run into this problem yet. But this could be because I use a laptop now and the power supply for a laptop is inline so it has a regular small plug for the wall outlet. Same with my extra monitors.