Brownout & power failure caught on video
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Published 2011-11-23
All Comments (21)
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Even the power socket itself looks worried.
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I think you were speaking too loud and you scared the voltage away
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I've never seen a brown out before once in my life. Thanks for uploading this.
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@wilkes85 Pretty much all modern computers use a "universal" power supply which can accept anything from 90 to 250 volts AC. And I didn't say that the computer stayed on after the power went out -- I just said that it was running OK even with the low voltage. It did, of course, shut off abruptly when the power went out entirely.
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Sorry had my stereo cranked up all the way again
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Most computers use a worldwide power supply rated for an input voltage of anywhere from 90 to 250 volts AC. That way it can run on anything from the 100 volt power in Japan up to the 240 volt power in Africa, with +/-10 volts of extra tolerance.
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I don't have a choice. JCP&L is the power company for my area.
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Thanks for showing this. We had this happen today, slightly differently though. Laptop was working fine but (it's summer here) our aircon and fans went down to half speed, washing machine to half speed and all the lights were dim. We had no outage or flickering of lights but it was quite dark and spooky.
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I haven't experienced a brownout like that, but once several years ago I heard the standby power supply (“UPS”) connected to my computer kick in a time or two, and when I checked the meter the line frequency was erratically fluctuating slightly for a few minutes (though the voltage was more or less normal). I turned on a magnetically-ballasted light and could hear the fluctuation in the ballast hum too. Eventually, the power returned to normal and carried on as if nothing had happened.
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Let me Google that for you: "brownout"
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@themaritimeman Schools and other large buildings typically get three-phase power, and then they do their own conversion to single-phase power for the lights and wall outlets. So if they lost one of the phases coming in, then that would result in a low (but steady) voltage on the single-phase circuits.
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That rapid up and down fluctuation suggests an arcing fault somewhere....perhaps a downed line, a wayward tree branch or even a squirrel that decided to shuffle off the mortal coil in spectacular fashion (the latter usually being a quick event though). The outage is either the protective system deciding it's had enough or a manual shutdown so the crews can replace or repair the affected component. Computers are amazingly tolerant of brownouts around 90V, at least for short periods of time.
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voltage: brownout kill a watt: i don't feel so good
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Best response I've seen. An intentional brownout would result in a constant low voltage (5-10% lower to stay within spec: 108V minimum). Some computers crash switching to UPS during a brownout because the caps are running low and can't ride-through the 4ms+ switchover time. Not a problem with double conversion UPS like Eaton 9130.
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Don't get me started with JCP&L. They pretty much know my neighborhood well, we've called so much. You fart in my neighborhood and the power goes out.
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I have that same Kill A Watt meter on my desk for monitoring the line voltage in Southern Idaho; the voltage stays at 115-118, and outages are rare. I did, however, hear a meaty arc a few years ago coming from the pole pig behind my apartment building. Thankfully, the power was stable when it happened.
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I don't think I've ever had a brownout before, but I've seen a few very interesting power outages. The power at our HS goes out all the time, which for a while I thought was because of transitioning the power from the old buildings to the new one, but it's been over 2 years since we moved into the new building, so I doubt that.
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When i lived in Florida dealt with this regularly.
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@desktopgeek98 Maybe so, but irrelevant in this case. The computer's power supply is regulated, so it will be putting out a constant 5 and 12 volts DC across its entire rated input range of 90 to 250 volts AC.
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@MIKON8ERISBACK If I'm not mistaken, it's used in such situations with beefy electrical equipment (say, an electric motor) being used in something like a heavy load (3-phase industrial electric motor) or something that requires a high-power supply. Industrial, commercial, or multiple large buildings, that sort of stuff.
