The problem with my rig that'd been eluding me for the last couple of months ... I _think_ I've found it.

Maybe you know the background - I'd been having random slowdowns where my rig worked for about 1 second in 10, I'd also been having lockups so total that even the reset button wouldn't work & I had to turn it off at the mains.

I'd tried reinstalling the OS, blaming different applications in turn & thinking I'd found the cause ... I also started on the hardware - a new modem, a different HD, new IDE cables, & today a new PSU.

My rig has been running now for 16 hours without a problem (this is something of a record, considering I'm on win98 here), so I had a poke about in the old psu - it looks like a couple of resistors in the area of the molex outputs had been overheating: the pcb looked pretty toasted, & a big capacitor next to one of them had got overheated & popped

I'm pretty sceptical that I've actually found the problem ... I've had so many false dawns, but maybe this time I've got it - there was definitely a problem there.

Now I'm wondering what the hell is wrong with the mains supply here - the "old" PSU was an 18 month old Antec 6 pounder, and the psu in my #2 rig (a 350w generic job) died 6 months ago, after only 8 months use.

Thinking about it, the lights here dim quite regularly, & the voltage occasionally drops low enough that my tv crt cuts out - I've also had 2 TVs die recently too.


Anyone got any cheap suggestions for mains smoothing for my more sensitive kit? I can't stretch to a UPS at the moment

Jonny,
Power there ,sounds like power here. I've asked around and a line conditioner is the only answer antone could come up with for me...
I too am anxious to hear of another alternative...

Im not sure if a UPS is going to help you in this situation... I dont think they add supplemental power during low power, only enough to keep the system up long enough to back up your data before shutting down (unless you have serious cash and room to spare) during a complete power loss. A line conditioner MAY help, but they are mostly to guard against power spike increases, not so much decreases. I do know that Monster Cable (yes the same company that does te car audio equipment) makes a top of the line pwr conditioner that will supplement your line during low power issues... I dont know the model number, but youre talking in the range of $2000. You definately also want to add some type of protection to your TVs and other electronics... Most good line conditioners will insure your equipment up to $100,000 and all you need to do is register the product.

Did you try giving the power company a call? Maybe they can do something to fix it... I know, wishful thinking but may be worth a shot.

I take it a "line conditioner" is a synomym for "surge protector" ? I did look at those, but afaik they only help with spikes (increases).

I thought the point of a UPS was that whatever you had plugged into it ran off the UPS, and the mains supply kept the UPS topped up ?

Well, I think I've found the ideal soultion! Check this page & scroll down for the mini power station! Do you think you get the baby Benz free?

A line conditioner does have some capacitors onboard which will help during a small power loss.. maybe a few volts. it also eliminates the sine wave generated through a noisy line (which a nomal surge protector does not do). But the voltage loss you are looking at is more than just 3 volts here or there.

Like I said, Im not 100% sure if a UPS will supply voltage during a power decrease. It may very well. I know our office UPS (which is a fairly expensive unit) does not engage unless there is a complete power loss. During the major grid loss a few months ago, we had a few brownouts before power cut out... the UPS did not signal until total power loss was achieved.

Thanks Shadow' - I'm going to have a quick look at howstuffworks.com ...

edit : http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question28.htm

a line conditioner is an active device that actually looks at the power and has electronics to make up for short brown outs and awkward phase shifts by filling in gaps with power stored in capacitors. hence lince conditioner costing 10 times more than surge protector.
and if you are in the market for a surge protector BUY ONE WITH A METAL HOUSEING. MOVs like to burst into flames when a surge dose happen.

Yup, got a line conditioner myself sitting in storage...... got it at one of my old jobs..... the former IT guy thought it was the same as a UPS.... he learned the hard way..... real hard. It worked great at my last apartment where I was always dealing with brown-outs and surges.

Most of the higher capacity UPS's do have line filtering.... not the small ones, I'm referring to the ones that are half the size of my Antec 1080.