Tools: Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and surge suppressors (Take II)

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

David Neeley provided some additional useful (and important) advice:  
<<Actually, an hour may be quite reasonable if all that blew on the  
grid was a transformer. Such situations are rather spectacular, but  
fairly often it is a "pull & replace" job with little else to do.>>

True, but the response time of the local power authority is... um...  
not always world class. <g> Hence my skepticism.

<<The "garden variety surge suppressors" are often worse than  
useless. Many use very cheap technology that often fails with the  
first voltage spike--but gives no clue that it is gone, still passing  
current that you *think* is being protected when it is not.>>

Good point. I believe these are computer grade, with failure  
indicators, but it's been several years, and since they're installed  
behind things, we're probably overdue for checking them. (Makes a  
note...)

<<One thing most folks don't put decent suppressors on, though, that  
they should--network lines.>>

Good point. Our point of contact with the outside world is a cable  
modem hooked to a router, and both reach our computers via an  
industrial-grade Ethernet hub. I'd hope that one or all three would  
blow before the spike reached our computers, but we shouldn't count  
on that. (Makes a note to look into this...) I should've thought of  
that, since we used to have surge protection for our modems when we  
still used dialup.

<<By the way, a laptop *is* essentially operating on a UPS when it is  
plugged in. Its own switch and battery combination gives it more  
protection than a desktop from the get-go.>>

True, but it's still hooked to the UPS because the UPS is far cheaper  
to replace than a laptop's battery or power system. <g>

<<When you had the monitor attached to unswitched power and plugged  
in through the video cable to your laptop, though, you were taking a  
risk.>>

My bad for not being clear: the monitor is plugged into the UPS for  
surge protection. It's just not plugged into the battery backup part  
of the UPS because if I lose power to the monitor, I can switch to  
the laptop's screen. If I had more battery-backed ports on the UPS  
(something to consider next time we upgrade), the monitor would also  
be plugged in.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
Coming soon:  _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

Now shipping: Help &amp; Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help &amp; Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.