can power conditioners cause lcd displays to malfunction supplier

Whether it’s your dryer tripping a breaker or lighting striking your home, power surges are far too common. Keeping things safe and operating smoothly is the utmost priority, but how much damage can power surges do anyway? Should they be on your list of worries if keeping your TV safe is a priority?

A power surge can damage a TV. The damage can be minimal, such as a single HDMI port no longer working, or it’s possible that it could be completely fried and no longer able to operate. A surge protector is a simple device that will add a layer of protection to any devices connected to it.

The last thing you want is to be in a situation where a little preparation could have saved the day. While protectors are of course important, what causes a power surge anyway? How can you know that a surge is the source of your problems? To find out more about power surges and TVs, read on!

Look, you don’t have to be an electrician to understand that electricity can be dangerous. That’s not just for you either, it can be a real electronics killer if you don’t watch out. So what exactly is happening when you experience a power surge? How does this phenomenon spell disaster for TV?

Also known as transient voltage, power surges are quite simply an increase in voltage. Sometimes this increase is strong enough to damage and destroy the items you have attached to the circuit; which, sadly, includes your TV.

If you’re looking for an exact source, most power surges as caused by items inside the home. Here are some heavy-duty appliances you can usually point your finger at when power surges are a threat:

However, you may also experience an outside power surge. If this is the case, then mother nature is to blame. Things like random lighting strikes are usually the cause of power surges that come from outside. But what actually happens when you experience a power surge?

Well, time to put on your science cap. When an electrical current passes through a device and it happens to exceed the recommended operating range, electrical arcs can destroy the wiring component. Even a small surge can do damage, especially if it happens frequently.

Power surges can be bad news, as you can imagine. While you may not get full device failure, there are some other consequences of power surges that do damage over time rather than all at once. So how can you tell if your TV has experienced a power surge? What should you look out for?

Generally, if a device that was working properly doesn’t anymore, a power surge could be the culprit. If this happens, following a circuit breaker tripping or another electrical event, you can further reduce the possibilities of this happening.

Other than device failure, what else should you look out for? Here are some other signs that you may have experienced a power surge problem in your home:

Device components not working — Check the device’s lights, the clock, or really any other aspect of the TV to see if you can find any abnormalities. This could be a sign of a power surge.

Those are just a quick few things to keep in mind when trying to diagnose a power surge issue yourself. If you are worried or need a second opinion, contact your local electrician. They’ve got the experience you need not only to identify the issue but also to fix it if need be.

Some things are just out of our hands; power surges are one of them. While you can try your best to manage the risks from inside your home, like heavy appliances, you can’t control mother nature. So what should you do to protect your TV from sudden jumps in voltage?

Put quite simply, to protect against power surges, get a surge protector. It’s the only way you can prevent damage from all kinds of power surges, both inside and outside. Without one, you leave yourself open to damage down the road.

A surge protector is a simple device. They help divert voltage spikes safely through the ground, meaning they don’t reach your device but rather go straight toward the earth. The best part? You can get a decent surge protector for very cheap, like this model from Belkin (on Amazon).

However, a cheaper surge protector is not always the best option. Sometimes if your equipment is more expensive or sensitive, then it makes sense to purchase a higher-quality surge protector like the Panamax M8-EX (on Amazon). I’ve been using this model for many years now and never had any issues with it or my devices.

In a perfect world, you’d have surge protectors on every appliance. But that’s just not the case for most people. So what should you do if your TV isn’t working and a power surge seems to be the likely culprit?

The first thing you’ll want to try is performing a power drain. This will make sure that no more residual power is left in your TV and can solve many problems.

This is a great first move and can often be a remedy for even the most troublesome of TV issues. If it still doesn’t work, or your TV is on but acting weird, a factory reset might be the next best option.

Keep in mind that not all TVs will have the same reset process. If you can, use your owner’s manual. You’ll find more specific steps there on how to perform a full factory reset. If neither of these steps fixes your problem, it could be an issue with the power manager for the device. If this is the case, you may need to get external help from a TV repair expert.

When things go south, the first thing you might think of is your insurance. Does homeowner’s insurance typically cover power surges? Since they are so common, many people are asking this question.

In some cases, power surges are protected under homeowner’s insurance if you have protection for personal items. Not all policies will offer this coverage. Get in contact with your local agent for more information on your situation.

Personal Property Coverage is what helps you replace your belongings when they get destroyed by a covered peril. In most cases, a power surge is considered a covered peril. But, there are limits you’ll need to be aware of before calling in a claim.

In almost every situation, the homeowner is responsible for the damage caused by a power surge. Of course, if you have insurance, personal belongings might be covered, but that’s not always the case.

This is why getting proper protection is key to keeping things safe. Look, surge protectors are cheap and can save you thousands on needing to replace your TV outright. Since they usually offer more than one outlet for use, even a single surge protector can help with a whole load of electronics, including your TV. So get some before it’s too late!

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

Power surges are both common and costly. According to IBM, every home or business gets hit every day by at least one surge measuring between 100 and 1,000 volts. The effects of a surge can be subtle or dramatic, depending on the surge’s duration, intensity, and whether the affected devices have adequate protection. Smaller surges destroy internal circuitry slowly, over the course of several months. Larger surges, on the other hand, inflict the same damage, but in less than a millisecond. If the surge is long enough and strong enough, it may even heat up the internal electronic circuits to the point that they catch fire. In addition to the obvious costs needed to replace damaged devices, surges also cause lost productivity (when employees are idle in business environments) and loss of use (when home theater equipment and appliances are idle in home environments).

Surge protectors protect against spikes and surges. They come in many configurations, and most include EMI/RFI filtering to decrease line noise and improve audio/video quality.

A surge protector should be sufficient for devices with lower inrush currents, like TVs and stereos. Their usefulness, however, depends on the protection you need. If your equipment is mission-critical or your facility experiences frequent outages, this might not be the solution for you.

And while surge protectors require less money up front, they often cost more in the long run, because they typically need to be replaced every few years.

Power conditioners not only protect against surges; they protect against brownouts as well. With built-in voltage regulators, they continuously monitor power, then condition it and keep it steady.

What a power conditioner will not provide is EMI/RFI shielding. If you want to improve video quality or decrease line noise, this might not be your best option.

While power conditioners cost more up front than surge protectors, they’re better suited for higher inrush devices like copiers and laser printers. Because they’re designed for devices that need ongoing power regulation, they’re often used in factories and hospitals.

A UPS can do everything a surge protector can do, but its main purpose is to reduce downtime that can cost your business money. And unlike a surge protector, a UPS features battery backup that allows equipment to stay up and running through power failures.

Like power conditioners, many UPS systems have voltage regulators. These models not only provide battery backup, but they also keep voltage at an acceptable level.

For a data center or server room, a UPS is your best option. They come in various configurations for both single- and 3-phase applications. Many also include special features, like LCD panels, hot-swappable batteries and energy-saving operation.

Troubleshooting CRTs versus LCDs begins with similar steps, but diverges due to the differing natures of the two display types. The first troubleshooting steps are similar for either display type: power down the system and display and then power them back up; make sure the power cable is connected and that the outlet has power; verify that the signal cable is connected firmly to both video adapter and display and that there are no bent pins; verify that the video adapter is configured properly for the display; try the problem display on a known-good system, or try a known-good display on the problem system; and so on. Once you"ve tried the "obvious" troubleshooting steps, if the problem persists, the next step you take depends on the type of display. The following sections cover basic troubleshooting for CRTs and LCDs.

CRTs seldom fail outright without obvious signs, such as a loud snap or a strong odor of burning electrical components. Most CRT problems are really problems with the power, video adapter, cable, or hardware/software settings. To eliminate the CRT as a possible cause, connect the suspect CRT to a known-good system, or connect a known-good display to the suspect system. It is worth noting, that older CRTs eventually wear out, and starts dimming. Common signs of a weak CRT are a dim picture, dysfunctional brightness and/or color controls, image smearing at high brightness, and in color CRTs, a tint towards a single color (Red Green Blue)

Even if the CRT is in warranty, the shipping costs may exceed the value of the CRT. For example, shipping a CRT both ways can easily cost $75 or more. If that CRT is a year-old 17" model, you"re probably better off spending $100 to $200 for a new 17" or 19" CRT than paying $75 in shipping to have the old one repaired. CRTs have many components, all of which age together. Fixing one is no guarantee that another won"t fail shortly. In fact, that happens more often than not in our experience.

Never disassemble a CRT. At best, you may destroy the CRT. At worst, it may destroy you. Like televisions, CRTs use extremely high voltages internally, and have large capacitors that store that energy for days or even weeks after the CRT is unplugged. Robert once literally burned a screwdriver in half when working inside a color television that had been unplugged for several days. Also, the large, fragile tube may implode, scattering glass fragments like a hand grenade. People who repair CRTs and televisions for a living treat them with great respect, and so should you. If you must repair a CRT, take it to someone who knows what they are doing. You have been warned.

Check the obvious things first. Verify that the CRT is plugged in (and that the receptacle has power), the video cable is connected to the video card, the computer and CRT are turned on, and the brightness and contrast settings are set to the middle of their range. If none of these steps solves the problem, your CRT, video card, or video cable may be bad. Check the suspect CRT on a known-good system or a known-good CRT on the problem system.

CRTs contain multiple filaments, which can be broken, or gas may have leaked into the vacuum inside the CRT. CRTs damaged this way are unrepairable without specialist equipment. With the display open. check if all three filaments are glowing bright orange. Excessive redness or purple arcing signifies gas has leaked in. There may also be an internal short inside the CRT, which is also unfixable without specialist equipment.

If you have ACPI or APM power management enabled, it may be causing the problem. Some systems simply refuse to wake up once power management puts them to sleep. We have seen such systems survive a hardware reset without restoring power to the CRT. To verify this problem, turn off power to the system and CRT and then turn them back on. If the CRT then displays an image, check the power management settings in your BIOS and operating system and disable them if necessary.

Catastrophic CRT failure is imminent. The noises are caused by high-voltage arcing, and the smell is caused by burning insulation. Unplug the CRT from the wall before it catches fire, literally.

There are two likely causes. First, you may be driving the CRT beyond its design limits. Some CRTs display a usable image at resolutions and/or refresh rates higher than they are designed to use, but under such abuse the expected life of the CRT is shortened dramatically, perhaps to minutes. To correct this problem, change video settings to values that are within the CRT"s design specifications. Second, the power receptacle may be supplying voltage lower than the CRT requires. To correct this problem, connect the CRT to a different circuit or to a UPS or power conditioner that supplies standard voltage regardless of input voltage.

This is usually a minor hardware problem. The most likely cause is that the signal cable is not connected tightly to the CRT and/or video card, causing some pins to make contact intermittently or not at all. Verify that no pins are loose, bent, or missing on the cable or the connectors on the CRT and video card, and then tighten the cable at both ends, If that doesn"t fix the problem, open the computer, remove the video card, and reseat it fully.

In elderly systems, another possible cause is that some hardware DVD decoder cards "steal" one color (usually magenta) and use it to map the DVD video signal onto the standard video signal. Remove the DVD decoder card. If your video adapter includes hardware DVD support, or if you are upgrading to such an adapter, you don"t need a DVD decoder card.

The most likely cause is that the CRT is receiving inadequate power. Connect it to a different circuit or to a backup power supply that provides correct voltage regardless of fluctuations in mains voltage.

The most likely cause is that the refresh rate is set too low. Change the refresh rate to at least 75 Hz. Flicker also results from interaction with fluorescent lights, which operate on 60 Hz AC and can heterodyne visually with the CRT. This can occur at 60 Hz (which is far too low a refresh rate anyway), but can also occur at 120 Hz. If you"re running at 120 Hz refresh and experience flicker, either use incandescent lighting or reset the refresh rate to something other than 120 Hz.

The video card settings are likely outside the range supported by the CRT, particularly if you have just installed the CRT or have just changed video settings. To verify this, restart the system in Safe Mode (press F8 during boot to display the Windows boot menu and choose Safe Mode). If the system displays a VGA image properly, change your display settings to something supported by the CRT.

Most modern CRTs can display signals at many different scan frequencies, but this doesn"t mean that the CRT will necessarily automatically display different signals full-screen and properly aligned. Use the CRT controls to adjust the size and alignment of the image.

Depending on the CRT, video card, and video settings, this may be normal behavior, adjustable using the CRT controls. If the distortion is beyond the ability of the controls to correct, the problem may be with the video card, the CRT, or the driver. First try changing video settings. If the problem persists at several settings, move that CRT to a different system (or use a different video card) to determine whether the problem is caused by the CRT or video card. Repair or replace the faulty component.

This is usually caused by RF interference from another electrical or electronic device, particularly one that contains a motor. Make sure such devices are at least three feet from the CRT. Note that such interference can sometimes penetrate typical residential and office walls, so if the CRT is close to a wall, check the other side. Such image problems can also be caused by interference carried by the power line or by voltage variations in the AC power supply. To eliminate interference, plug the CRT into a surge protector. Better still, plug it into a UPS or power conditioner that supplies clean power at a constant voltage.

This problem may also be caused by using a video cable that is too long or of poor quality or by using a poor-quality KVM switch (keyboard/video/mouse switch). Manual KVM switches are particularly problematic.

The CRT may need to be degaussed. A CRT that sits in one position for months or years can be affected even by the earth"s very weak magnetic field, causing distortion and other display problems. Exposing a CRT to a strong magnetic field, such as unshielded speakers, can cause more extreme image problems. Many modern CRTs degauss themselves automatically each time you cycle the power, but some have a manual degauss button that you must remember to use. If your CRT has a manual degauss button, use it every month or two. The degaussing circuitry in some CRTs has limited power. We have seen CRTs that were accidentally exposed to strong magnetic fields, resulting in a badly distorted image. Built-in degaussing did little or nothing. In that case, you can sometimes fix the problem by using a separate degaussing coil, available at RadioShack and similar stores for a few dollars. We have, however, seen CRTs that were so badly "magnet burned" that even a standalone degaussing coil could not completely eliminate the problem. The moral is to keep magnets away from your CRT, including those in speakers that are not video-shielded.

An incorrect yoke may have been attached to the CRT. Unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands, this is usually not worth fixing. Replace the display.

You may have a weak picture tube. Without specialist equipment, this is usually unfixable. You could try a CRT rejuvenator as a last resort, but this may fix or kill your CRT permanently.

If your LCD displays no image at all and you are certain that it is receiving power and video signal, first adjust the brightness and contrast settings to higher values. If that doesn"t work, turn off the system and LCD, disconnect the LCD signal cable from the computer, and turn on the LCD by itself. It should display some sort of initialization screen, if only perhaps a "No video signal" message. If nothing lights up and no message is displayed, contact technical support for your LCD manufacturer. If your LCD supports multiple inputs, you may need to press a button to cycle through the inputs and set it to the correct one.

Unlike CRTs, where increasing the refresh rate always reduces flicker, LCDs have an optimal refresh rate that may be lower than the highest refresh rate supported. For example, a 17" LCD operating in analog mode may support 60 Hz and 75 Hz refresh. Although it sounds counterintuitive to anyone whose experience has been with CRTs, reducing the refresh rate from 75 Hz to 60 Hz may improve image stability. Check the manual to determine the optimum refresh rate for your LCD, and set your video adapter to use that rate.

First, try setting the optimal refresh rate as described above. If that doesn"t solve the problem and you are using an analog interface, there are several possible causes, most of which are due to poor synchronization between the video adapter clock and the display clock, or to phase problems. If your LCD has an auto-adjust, auto-setup, or auto-synchronize option, try using that first. If not, try adjusting the phase and/or clock settings manually until you have a usable image. If you are using an extension or longer than standard video cable, try connecting the standard video cable that was supplied with the display. Long analog video cables exacerbate sync problems. Also, if you are using a KVM switch, particularly a manual model, try instead connecting the LCD directly to the video adapter. Many LCDs are difficult or impossible to synchronize if you use a KVM switch. If you are unable to achieve proper synchronization, try connecting the LCD to a different computer. If you are unable to achieve synchronization on the second computer, the LCD may be defective. Finally, note that some models of video adapter simply don"t function well with some models of LCD.

If the screen is displaying a full, stable image, but that image is of poor quality, first verify that the display is not connected through a KVM switch or using an extension cable. If so, connect the display directly to the video adapter using the standard cable. If that is already the case, adjust the brightness, contrast, and focus controls. If you are unable to get a proper image using these controls, the problem is most likely a clock or phase mismatch, which you can cure by taking the steps described in the preceding item.

The best way to adjust clock and phase is to use auto-adjust first. Check the utility and driver CD that came with the monitor. It may have a wizard or at least the appropriate background screens to use while adjusting phase and clock settings. If not, go to the Windows Start menu and select Shutdown. When the screen goes gray and the Windows Shutdown dialog appears, leave that dialog onscreen, but ignore it. Use the gray screen to adjust clock and phase manually. Any problems with clock and phase and any changes you make to the clock and phase settings are clearly evident on the gray screen.

Always adjust clock first. Clock is usually not a problem if you have used the auto-adjust feature of your monitor, but if you do have clock problems they will be evident as large vertical bars on your screen. Tweak the clock setting until those bars disappear. Then adjust phase. Phase problems are evident as thin black lines running horizontally across the screen. Adjust phase until the lines disappear or are minimized.

Not all analog video cards synchronize perfectly with flat panels. The gray Shutdown screen exaggerates the problem, so don"t worry if very tiny movements are visible after you"ve adjusted clock and phase as well as possible. After you"ve set the clock and phase controls for the best image possible on the gray screen, cancel Shutdown and the image should be optimized.

Your video card is supplying a video signal at a bandwidth that is above or below the ability of your LCD to display. Reset your video parameters to be within the range supported by the LCD. If necessary, temporarily connect a different display or start Windows in Safe Mode and choose standard VGA in order to change video settings.

This occurs when you run an LCD at other than its native resolution. For example, if you have a 19" LCD with native 1280x1024 resolution but have your display adapter set to 1024x768, your LCD attempts to display those 1024x768 pixels at full screen size, which physically corresponds to 1280x1024 pixels. The pixel extrapolation needed to fill the screen with the smaller image results in artifacts such as blocky or poorly rendered text, jaggy lines, and so on. Either set your video adapter to display the native resolution of the LCD, or set your LCD to display the lower-resolution image without stretching the display (a feature sometimes referred to as display expansion), so that pixels are displayed 1:1, which results in the lower resolution using less than the entire screen.

This is a characteristic of LCDs, particularly older and inexpensive models, caused by defective pixels. Manufacturers set a threshold number below which they consider a display acceptable. That number varies with the manufacturer, the model, and the size of the display, but is typically in the range of 5 to 10 pixels. (Better LCDs nowadays usually have zero dead pixels.) Nothing can be done to fix defective pixels. Manufacturers will not replace LCDs under warranty unless the number of defective pixels exceeds the threshold number.

Some people claim that leaving the unit powered off for a day or two will "erase" a persistent after-image. Others suggest leaving a neutral gray screen (like the one used for phase adjustment) up on the screen to "equalize" the display. I dunno. FWIW, I"ve seen this problem on older Samsung panels but never on the Sony or NEC/LaCie panels I use.

Again, this is a characteristic of LCDs, particularly older and inexpensive models. The after-image occurs when the display has had the same image in one place for a long time. The after-image may persist even after you turn the display off.

Transistor-based pixels in an LCD respond more slowly than the phosphors in a CRT. The least-expensive LCDs exhibit this problem even with slow image movement, as when you drag a window. Better LCDs handle moderately fast image movement without ghosting, but exhibit the problem on fast-motion video. The best LCDs handle even fast-motion video and 3D gaming very well. The only solution to this problem is to upgrade to an LCD with faster response time.

Use the brightness control to increase image brightness. If you have set brightness to maximum and the image is still too dim, contact the display manufacturer. The CCRTs used to backlight the screen have a finite lifetime and may begin to dim as they near the end of their life.

If one or more horizontal and/or vertical lines appear on the display, first power-reset the computer and display. If the lines persist, run the auto-setup function of your display. If that does not solve the problem, power the system and display down, remove the video cable, and verify that the video plugs and jacks on both computer and display ends do not have broken or bent pins. Even if all appears correct, try a different video cable. If the problem persists, contact the display manufacturer.

Can you recommend products suitable for the European power grid that can be used to clean up the power signal and ground loops? I am experiencing both ground loops and a generally dodgy power signal. A lot of people recommend that I use some sort of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), but I don"t need the functionality they provide, and I would rather spend money on better power conditioning and filtering equipment. Your advice will be greatly appreciated!

PC music specialist Martin Walker replies: In my opinion it"s only worth "cleaning up the power signal" if it"s dirty, and a huge number of background noise problems are caused not by mucky mains, but by audio wiring that results in ground loops. This is the source of lots of unwanted nasties that sneak into your audio signals, and removing them often requires no dedicated products at all. Problems range from straightforward "hums" (which normally include various levels of the mains harmonics, such as 50Hz, 100Hz, 150Hz, and so on in the UK, or 60Hz and higher multiples in the US), to a wide range of scratches, ticking, buzzing and other digital gremlins that are often associated with computer activities such as graphic redraws, mouse movements, and hard-drive activity.

If you"re experiencing any of these ground-loop problems, you won"t solve them by installing a power conditioner or an Uninterruptible Power Supply, so before you even think of spending money on either of these options you should examine your basic wiring. Temporarily unplug all the audio cables from your setup, and if you"ve got gear bolted into a rack, it may also be worth disconnecting the mains cables of this other gear to rule out problems with several metal cases touching each other and causing yet more ground loops.

As tempting as it might seem, short cuts such as leaving the cables plugged in and just switching off the connected gear at the mains won"t work, since the mains cables and any resulting ground loops will still be in place. Unplugging one cable can therefore make the background noises better or worse, depending on how this affects the remaining ground loops. Only by removing every audio cable and working through your studio item by item can you totally eradicate ground-loop problems.

You should now hopefully hear silence from your loudspeakers or headphones, apart from a little hiss and possibly a tiny amount of hum or buzz if you turn the amplifier right up and place your ears nearby (be very careful when doing this, since an unexpected signal at this point could damage your ears or blow up your speakers). If there"s still more hum than you expect, it might be due to a nearby "line-lump" power supply, in which case, you should move this as far as possible from audio cables, and at the very least try rotating it to find the "quietest" position. If you"re still unhappy with the levels of hum and noise from your amp/speakers you may need to get them checked out by a technician — remember that hum levels of both solid-state and valve amps can increase over time, due to deteriorating capacitors or valves.

If your amp has balanced inputs and your mixer/interface has balanced outputs, the cure is to connect the two via balanced audio cables (twin core plus screen). If not, you may be able to achieve the same results by disconnecting the screen of an unbalanced cable at one end (in the case of soldered cables you can do this inside the plug, normally at the destination end). Similarly, if the amp has a balanced input, but your mixer/interface only provides an unbalanced output, you can make up a pseudo-balanced cable, as I described in "Computer Audio Problems" in SOS November 2004. Here, one end of the balanced cable is wired to a balanced jack or XLR as normal, while the other end is wired to an unbalanced jack with the screen disconnected or, preferably, connected via a resistor. These cost only a few pence more to make than unbalanced cables, yet provide an ideal solution for connecting any unbalanced source to a balanced destination. I"ve got such cables wired between all my hardware synths and mixer, and background noise levels are considerably reduced as a result.

Occasionally the only way to cure a ground-loop problem is to install a line-level DI (Direct Injection) box between the mixer and amp, to "galvanically separate" the two circuits, commonly by using a transformer to transfer the signal — the audio gets through perfectly, but there"s no direct connection at all between the input and output cables inside the DI box. This is sometimes the only way to cure some laptop-related ground-loop problems, but in my experience, most others can be dealt with by cable modifications.

Once your mixer, amp, and speaker chain have an acceptably low level of background noise, plug each remaining item of gear into your mixer in turn and power it up, listening at each stage for unwanted noises. As soon as you hear any, you know you"ve either got a faulty piece of gear or a ground-loop problem, and can sort it out in exactly the same way as before. If it"s rack gear, you may need to temporarily unbolt it from the rack to check that the problem isn"t due to its case touching other earthed metalwork and creating a further ground loop (if it is, use nylon rack bolts or "Humfrees" to isolate it). Alternatively, low-level circuitry such as mic preamps can pick up mains interference from the mains transformer inside a nearby rack unit. This systematic approach is the only way to deal with ground-loop problems. It may be tedious, but you only have to do it once, and the benefits can be enormous!

If, after solving your ground-loop problems, you don"t hear any other nasties then you probably don"t need a power conditioner at all, but they can be very useful bolted into a rack for live use, to cope with unexpected "incoming" problems due to stage lighting or grotty wiring in unfamiliar venues. However, if your mains power is "generally dodgy" it may pay you to have an electrician check your house wiring, and contact the local electricity board to have your incoming mains checked for quality. If, for instance, you live in a remote rural location or close to an industrial estate, you may suffer from occasional but unavoidable interference problems that will benefit from a studio-based power conditioner, although I"ve never personally found the need for one (perhaps I"ve been lucky).

A UPS will, in addition, cope with "brownouts" (occasional severe drop in mains voltage, generally for a few seconds only), plus the more severe "blackouts" (complete loss of mains power), in exactly the same way as a laptop computer carries on running on battery power if you pull its mains plug. Even if you only use the UPS to power your desktop computer rather than the whole studio (generally a far cheaper approach), it can prove invaluable if you have paying clients in your studio, to avoid your computer rebooting in the middle of a session, and can give you a vital few extra minutes to save the current project before the UPS backup power runs out.

If you have questions before you buy, or need to find a reseller with stock on hand, we can help. Please contact us using the form below. If you need immediate assistance, call +1 (773) 869-1776.

We tailor our advice to your needs, including your level of knowledge and experience. If you"re already an expert, we won"t waste your time. We"ll deliver the essential facts so you can move forward with your project. If you"re new to 3-phase, we"ll give you all the help you need.

We tailor our advice to your needs, including your level of knowledge and experience. If you"re already an expert, we won"t waste your time. We"ll deliver the essential facts so you can move forward with your project. If you"re new to healthcare infrastructure planning, we"ll give you all the help you need.

Our factory-trained technicians provide a range of on-site services, including commissioning, maintenance and repairs, to help ensure your 3-phase UPS systems maintain peak performance over their entire operational life.

Our factory-trained technicians provide a range of services, including commissioning, maintenance and repairs, to help ensure your Eaton Tripp Lite products maintain peak performance over their entire operational life.

The Cisco Compatible logo signifies that Eaton Tripp Lite"s product has undergone interoperability testing by Eaton Tripp Lite together with Cisco and a third-party test house based on testing criteria set by Cisco. Eaton Tripp Lite is solely responsible for the support and warranty of its product. Cisco makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to Eaton Tripp Lite"s product or its interoperation with the listed Cisco product(s) and disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular use, or against infringement.

Maintains usable 120V nominal output to sensitive electronics during severe brownouts and overvoltages. Prevents surges and spikes from damaging circuitry. Filters out potentially disruptive line noise.

The LC1200 1200W 120V Line Conditioner - Automatic Voltage Regulator adjusts under- and overvoltages to provide safe, computer-grade AC power that meets ANSI C84.1 specifications. The automatic voltage regulation (AVR) offers three levels of voltage stabilization that corrects undervoltages as low as 89V and overvoltages as high as 147V back to regulated 120V nominal power. Providing optimum voltage conditions not only extends the life of your equipment, but also keeps your equipment working through brownouts and prolonged overvoltage conditions.

Just connect the space-saving NEMA 5-15P right-angle plug with 7-ft. (2.13 m) cord to an AC power source, and plug up to four devices into the NEMA 5-15R outlets. You can monitor AC power, incoming voltage level and AC line status using the seven diagnostic LEDs on the front panel. The compact LC1200 fits comfortably into your computer or home theater setup.

Extended Warranty and Technical Support for Select Tripp Lite Products – DC Power Supplies; Keyspan Products; KVM Switches; PDUs; Power Inverters; Power Management; UPS Systems

Extended Warranty and Technical Support for Select Tripp Lite Products – DC Power Supplies; Keyspan Products; KVM Switches; PDUs; Inverters; Power Management; UPS Systems

In the United States, National Electric Code article 210-19 FPN No. 4. suggests a 5% maximum combined voltage drop on the feeder and branch circuits to the furthest outlet "will provide reasonable efficiency of operation." The Canadian electrical code also requires no more than a 5% drop between the meter and outlet. Applying the 5% tolerance gives a nominal 120V range of 114V to 126V.

Yes, a power conditioner will stabilize the voltage from a generator. However, it will not convert the modified sine wave produced by some generators to pure sine wave, making those generators unsuitable for sensitive electronics.

Yes, but not with the printer itself. Printers and copiers use a hot roller called a fuser unit to bind ink toner to the paper as it passes through the printer. Periodically, the printer needs to reheat the fuser unit to the required temperature, and this requires a lot of electricity. To prevent a power sag (under-voltage) from impacting computers and other sensitive equipment on the same circuit as the printer, use a power conditioner with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR).

Connecting a printer to a line conditioner may prevent the printer from getting the voltage it needs. A better approach would be to have a qualified electrician check the capacity of the existing line and add a separate circuit for the printer if necessary.

A power or voltage spike is a sudden increase in voltage, ranging from a few hundred volts to tens of thousands and lasting between 1 and 30 microseconds. A power surge is like a spike but lasts longer. Voltage fluctuations are normal and do not typically harm equipment connected to an outlet. Over- or under-voltages occur when the voltage reaching powered devices falls out of the normal service range.

As a power conditioner corrects high or low input voltage, it will make a gentle clicking sound. The frequency of the clicking will depend on the quality of the utility power in your area. The clicking is normal, and no action is required on your part.

A power conditioner can potentially improve sound quality by providing a cleaner and more stable power supply to audio equipment. Power fluctuations and electrical noise can interfere with the performance of audio equipment, leading to degradation in sound quality. By conditioning the power, a power conditioner can reduce the amount of electrical noise and provide a stable voltage, which can result in improved sound quality.

However, it is important to note that the effect of a power conditioner on sound quality can vary depending on the equipment and the specific electrical problems being addressed. In some cases, the improvement in sound quality may be minimal or not noticeable, while in other cases it can be significant.

A power conditioner is an electrical device that improves the quality of the power supplied to an electrical load by regulating voltage, reducing noise, and filtering out electrical disturbances. The goal of a power conditioner is to protect sensitive electronic equipment from damage caused by power fluctuations and electrical noise.

A surge protector, on the other hand, is specifically designed to protect electronic equipment from damage caused by power surges and spikes. It accomplishes this by diverting excess voltage away from connected equipment.

Some power conditioners include surge protection as part of their functionality, effectively combining the two functions into a single device. In these cases, the power conditioner can improve the quality of the power supply while also providing protection against power surges and spikes.

If improved sound quality is your primary goal, an isolation transformer is the best choice. Microphones, instruments and amplifiers can pick up unwanted hums or buzzes if they are plugged into the same circuit as items such as fluorescent lights, air conditioners and dimmer switches. If your band is playing in a bar, even the bartender"s blender is a potential source of interference!

An isolation transformer uses two coils of copper wire, wound so that the primary coil connected to incoming AC power induces a current in the secondary coil powering connected devices. Since there is no direct connection between the coils, musical instruments and recording equipment attached to the secondary coil are isolated from audio frequency noise on the power line.

With your ever-growing collection of electronic devices, perhaps it seems your home never has enough power outlets. Power strips and their more elaborate siblings, surge protectors, offer an easy solution: one plug in the wall, many outlets for your devices. But wait! There"s more to these simple-seeming products than meets the eye.

Adding additional AC outlets and USB charging ports is incredibly useful, and often vital. Don"t waste money on the wrong one, however. Here"s everything you need to know about power strips and surge protectors.

Typically, power strips are cheap, multioutlet products that are merely an expansion of a wall outlet. They"re usually small and thin, sometimes fitting directly onto the outlet itself. They usually have a circuit breaker (on/off switch) of some sort, but most don"t offer any real "protection" from electrical issues. Some might have the barest level of protection, but they"re all pretty much just like plugging into the wall directly.

Surge protectors are relatively cheap too, but unlike power strips they offer some level of protection. As their name suggests, surge protectors protect your products from power surges at the expense of itself. But more on that in a moment. How much they do this, and how well varies considerably. They"re usually a bit more elaborate, and often bigger, than a simple power strip, though not always.

Surge protectors offer protection in units called joules. Generally, the more joules the better, as this means the device can handle one large surge, or multiple smaller surges, before your gear is in danger. Over time, the parts inside the protector wear down, reducing its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, there"s no way to know how much protection a device has left, or if the initial rating is even accurate. Buying from a reputable company, and one that includes a warranty, is a good idea.

Some surge protectors offer a warranty (up to a certain amount) on the gear connected to the protector. For example, in the US, certain Belkin models have up to $300,000 in connected equipment warranty, and states: "Belkin Components will repair or replace, at its option, any equipment which is damaged by a transient voltage surge/spike or lightning strike, (an "Occurrence"), while properly connected through a Belkin Surge Protector to a properly wired AC power line with protective ground."

You"ll probably never need it, but it certainly doesn"t hurt to have it. Keep in mind, however, that just because the warranty exists doesn"t mean you"ll ever see a dime from it. Note in that Belkin quote the term "at its option." That means they"ll come up with any reason not to cover your claim. So don"t use this as a replacement for home or renter"s insurance.

You"re always going to need more outlets. You"ll undoubtedly add more gear, without necessarily getting rid of your current gear. I"m not saying that if you think you need four outlets, you should get 12 -- but at least six is probably a good investment.

Most modern devices use "wall warts" -- plugs that convert AC power into DC power and look like little boxes with electrical prongs sticking out. Consider getting a surge protector with wider spacing between sockets, or sockets that can be rotated or moved, to accommodate chunky plugs.

Many surge protectors come with USB connections, so you can charge your mobile devices without having to use their wall warts. Handy, for sure, but check what the output amp rating is. Generally, this is either 1 or 2 amps (often labeled 1A or 2A). This is how much flow you can get through the pipe, so to speak. You"ll want at least 2 amps for quicker charging.

Most modern phones have the ability to fast-charge, but you"ll need to use their wall warts for that. If you don"t need to quickly charge them, though, these lower power ports will work just fine.

While not offering much protection, a portable power strip might prevent marital friction, and/or invoke bliss from travel companions. Most hotels and hostels have few accessible outlets, yet everyone has multiple devices that need recharging. Most portable power strips add two to three additional outlets, plus offer direct USB charging (see No. 8, above).

Remember the joule rating we discussed earlier? This is just the initial rating. This gets lower over time. In other words, surge protectors wear out. Some will give you a warning or shut off when their protection drops below a safe level. Many will just keep working, without protection, and you won"t know it until a power spike damages your gear. If you know you"ve had a serious electrical event (like lightning blew out a transformer down the street), it"s probably worth replacing your surge protector just in case.

Most companies that sell surge protectors say they need to be replaced every three to five years. Sure, they"re motivated to have you buy them more often, but with many models under $50, this isn"t an extreme cost.

There is no reason not to get a surge protector over a simple power strip. If you live in an area with lots of thunderstorms, your gear is probably more likely to experience power surges. Even if you live in the desert, your AC or refrigerator could kick power spikes back down the lines to your AV gear. Either way, some extra protection for your gear is absolutely worth the small difference in price between simple power strips and surge protectors.

As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000 mile road trips, and more. Check out Tech Treks for all his tours and adventures.

He wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and his YouTube channel.

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers a simple solution: it’s a battery in a box with enough capacity to run devices plugged in via its AC outlets for minutes to hours, depending on your needs and the mix of hardware. This might let you keep internet service active during an extended power outage, give you the five minutes necessary for your desktop computer with a hard drive to perform an automatic shutdown and avoid lost work (or in a worst case scenario, running disk repair software).

In terms of entertainment, it could give you enough time to save your game after a blackout or—perhaps more importantly—give notice to others in a team-based multiplayer game that you need to exit, so you’re not assessed an early-quit penalty.

A UPS also doubles as a surge protector and aids your equipment and uptime by buoying temporary sags in voltage and other vagaries of electrical power networks, some of which have the potential to damage computer power supplies. For from about $80 to $200 for most systems, a UPS can provide a remarkable amount of peace of mind coupled with additional uptime and less loss.

UPSes aren’t new. They date back decades. But the cost has never been lower and the profusion of options never larger. In this introduction, I help you understand what a UPS can offer, sort out your needs, and make preliminary recommendations for purchase. Later this year, TechHive will offer reviews of UPS models appropriate for home and small offices from which you can make informed choices.

The UPS emerged in an era when electronics were fragile and drives were easily thrown off kilter. They were designed to provide continuous—or “uninterruptible”—power to prevent a host of a problems. They were first found in server racks and used with network equipment until the price and format dropped to make them usable with home and small-office equipment.

Any device you owned that suddenly lost power and had a hard disk inside it might wind up with a corrupted directory or even physical damage from a drive head smashing into another part of the mechanism. Other equipment that loaded its firmware off chips and ran using volatile storage could also wind up losing valuable caches of information and require some time to re-assemble it.

Hard drives evolved to better manage power failures (and acceleration in laptops), and all portable devices and most new computers moved to movement-free solid state drives (SSDs) that don’t have internal spindles and read/write heads. Embedded devices—from modems and routers to smart devices and DVRs—became more resilient and faster at booting. Most devices sold today have an SSD or flash memory or cards.

It’s still possible if your battery-free desktop computer suddenly loses power that it may be left in a state that leaves a document corrupted, loses a spreadsheet’s latest state, or happens at such an inopportune moment you must recover your drive or reinstall the operating system. Avoiding those possibilities, especially if you regularly encounter minor power issues at home, can save you at least the time of re-creating lost work and potentially the cost of drive-rebuilding software, even if your hardware remains intact.

A more common problem can arise from networking equipment that has modest power requirements. Losing power means losing access to the internet, even when your cable, DSL, or fiber line remains powered or active from the ISP’s physical plant or a neighborhood interconnection point, rather than a transformer on your building or block. A UPS can keep your network up and running while the power company restores the juice, even if that takes hours.

When power cuts out, the UPS’s battery kicks in. It delivers expected amounts over all connected devices until the battery’s power is exhausted. A modern UPS can also signal to a computer a number of factors, including remaining time or trigger a shutdown through built-in software (as with Energy Saver in macOS) or installed software.

One of the key differentiators among UPSes intended for homes and individual devices in an office is battery capacity. You can buy units across a huge range of battery sizes, and the higher-capacity the battery, the longer runtime you will get or more equipment you can support with a single UPS. In some cases, it may make sense to purchase two or more UPSes to cover all the necessary equipment you have, each matched to the right capacity.

Batteries do need to be replaced, although it can be after a very long period. A UPS typically has a light or will use a sound to indicate a battery that needs to be replaced, and it might indicate this via software running on the computer to which it’s connected.

UPSes for consumer and small-business purposes come in standby and line interactive versions. Standby units keep their battery ready for on-demand, automatic use, but it’s otherwise on standby, as its name indicates. A line interactive version feeds power through an inverter from the wall to connected devices while also charging the battery. It can condition power, smoothing out highs and lows, and switch over to the battery within a few milliseconds. (Other flavors are much more expensive or intended for critical systems and higher power consumption.)

A few years ago, the price differential was high enough that you had to really balance the need for particular features against cost. Now, you may want to opt for a line interaction UPS because of its advantages, which include less wear and tear of the battery, extending its lifetime. Batteries are relatively expensive to replace, at a good fraction of the original item’s purchase price, so keeping them in fit condition longer reduces your overall cost of ownership.

Surges: Utilities sometimes have brief jumps in electrical power, which can affect electronics, sometimes burning out a power supply or frying the entire device. Surge protection effectively shaves off voltage above a certain safe range.

Sags: Your home or office can have a momentary voltage sag when something with a big motor kicks on, like a clothes dryer or a heat pump—sometimes even in an adjacent apartment, house, or building.

Undervoltage (“brownouts”): In some cases with high electrical usage across an area, a utility might reduce voltage for an extended period to avoid a total blackout. This can mess with motor-driven industrial and home equipment—many appliances have motors, often driving a compressor, as in a refrigerator or freezer. With electronics, extended undervoltage has the potential damage some power supplies.

A standby model typically relies on dealing with excess voltage by having inline metal-oxide varistors (MOVs), just as in standalone surge protectors. These MOVs shift power to ground, but eventually burn out after extensive use. At that point, all the UPS models I checked stop passing power through. (That’s as opposed to most surge protectors, which extinguish a “protected” LED on their front, but continue to pass power.)

For power sags and undervoltage, a standby model will tap the battery. If it happens frequently or in quick succession, your UPS might not be up to the task and provide enough delay that a desktop system or hard drive loses power long enough to halt its operating system or crash.

A line interactive UPS continuously feeds power through a conditioner that charges the battery and regulates power. This automatic voltage regulation, known as AVR, can convert voltage as needed to provide clean power to attached outlets without relying on the battery. With a line interactive model, the battery is used only as a last resort.

There’s one final power characteristic of a UPS that can be found in both standby and line interactive models: the smoothness of the alternating current generation produced by the model from the direct current output by its battery. Alternating current reverses its power flow smoothly 60 times each second, and a UPS must simulate that flow, which can be represented as an undulating sine wave.

A UPS might produce a pure sine wave, which adds to cost, or a stairstepped one, in which power shifts more abruptly up and down as it alternates. A rough simulated sine wave can be a showstopper for certain kinds of computer power supplies, which have components that interact poorly with the voltage changes. It could cause premature wear on components or cause them to outright shut down or cause additional damage.

If your device has active power factor correction (PFC) or incorporates fragile or sensitive electronics, especially for audio recording, you likely need a pure sine wave. It’s not always easy to figure out if your device has active PFC; when in doubt, opt for a pure sine wave—the additional cost has come way down.

Even for equipment that isn’t susceptible to power-supply problems, a stepped sine wave can cause a power supply to emit a high-pitched whine when it’s on battery power.

One final UPS feature that may also be helpful: less-expensive models have one or more LEDs to indicate certain status elements, like working from backup power or the internal battery needing to be replaced. Others have an LCD screen (sometimes backlit) that provides a variety of information, sometimes an excessive amount, which may be viewable through software installed on a connected computer.

Most of us have two main scenarios to plan for: keep the network up, and prevent our AC-powered computers from abruptly shutting down. These involve very different choices in hardware and configuration.

One common element between both, however: having enough outlets spaced correctly to plug all your items directly in. Most UPSes feature both battery-backed outlets and surge-protected outlets that aren’t wired into the battery. You need to study quantity and position, as it is strongly recommended you don’t plug a power strip or other extensions into either kind of UPS outlet, as it increases the risk of electrical fire.

Examine all the devices that make up your network. That may include a broadband modem, a VoIP adapter for phone calls, one or more Wi-Fi routers, one or more ethernet switches, and/or a smart home hub. Because you may have these spread out across your home or office, you might wind up requiring two or more UPSes to keep the network going.

If you have a modem, router, and switch (plus a VoIP adapter if you need it) all in close proximity, you might be able to live without other parts of your networking operating during an outage. It’s also probable that you already have this hardware plugged into a surge protector. (These devices tend to not benefit from a UPS’s sag/undervoltage assistance, as their DC adapters tend to provide power in a larger range of circumstances.)

You might already have a simple battery backup built into or included with one or more pieces of equipment. Many smart home hubs have built-in battery backups. And since government regulators typically require a multi-hour battery backup for VoIP service, your broadband modem or VoIP adapter might include an internal battery for that reason.

To find out the size of UPS you need, check the specs on all your equipment. This is usually molded in plastic in black-on-black 4-point type on the underside of the gear or on a DC converter that you plug directly into a power outlet or that comes in two parts with a block between the adapter to your device and a standard AC outlet cord. The numbers you are looking for are either DC voltage and amperage, like 12 volts and 1.5 amps, or total wattage, like 18 watts.

Add up these quantities, and that can let you use planning tools to find the right unit. For instance, APC offers an extended runtime chart that lists wattage and runtime for each of its units. You can also use a calculator on the site in which you add devices or watts and it provides a guide to which units to purchase and how much time each could operate at that load.

For most combinations of gear and affordable units, you should be able to keep network equipment running for at least an hour entirely on battery power. Spend more or purchase multiple units, and you could boost that to two to eight hours.

Your goal here is to make sure all your devices that need to continue running have enough power to do so across a short outage and to shut down—preferably automatically—during any outage that lasts more than a few minutes.

There are two separate power issues to consider: the electrical load that devices connected to the UPS’s battery-backed outlets add up to, and the capacity of the internal battery on the UPS, which determines how long power can flow at a given attached load. (The outlets only protected against power surges have a far higher power load limit that computer equipment won’t exceed.)

Start by calculating the total wattage for all the equipment you’re going to connect, just like with network gear. Most hardware will show a single number for watts or a maximum watts consumed; if it only shows amperes (or amps), multiple 120 (for volts) times the amps listed to get watts. In my office, I have an iMac, an external display, a USB hub, and two external hard drives. That adds up to about 250W.

With that number, you can examine the maximum load on a UPS, which is often perplexingly listed using either volt-amperes (VA) and watts or both. Although volts times amps and watts should be equal,

In practice, you can still add up all your devices in watts, and use that as a gauge to find a UPS that exceeds that amount by some margin: you can’t exceed the UPS load factor with your equipment, or it won’t function. (If a UPS is rated only in VA, multiply that number by a power factor of 0.6 or 60% to get the bottom level in watts.)

With that number in hand, you can then look over the runtime available on models that can support your total load, consulting the figures, charts, or calculators noted above that manufacturers provide to estimate how many minutes you get on battery-only power.

With my iMac set up above of 250W, I have several options in the $100 to $150 range that have a power load maximum far above that number and which can provide five or more minutes of runtime.

It’s also critical to pick a UPS model that includes a USB connection to your desktop computer, along with compatible software for your operating system. While macOS and Windows have built in power-management options that can automatically recognize compatible UPS hardware, you might want additional software to tweak UPS settings (like alarm sounds) or to provide detailed reports and charts on power quality and incidents.

The OS power-management tools and software from UPS makers give you options to create safe, automatic shutdown conditions. You can define a