Brown Outs
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From: Dededo, Guam
Brown Outs
What causes brown outs? I was sittin here on the computer when i noticed the box fan in the room slowed way down. I walk to the kitchen and the lights were a lot dimmer. The the power came back to full power and the lights were bright and the fan resumed normal speed. My curiosity got the best of me so I pulled out the multimeter and waited for the next time it happened. I wasn't dissapointed, in fact I was shocked. The meter read 93 volts AC. I even saw it spike down to 85 VAC. I know this type of undervoltage condition is not good for most electrical stuff (mainly motors and sensitive electronics). I live in SoCal, maybe the electric company is messing around again, who knows. Anybody know what causes brownouts/undervoltage? I am now hesitant to run the A/C in the house, am I just paranoid? 
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From: Dededo, Guam
I know brown outs are especially hard on compressor motors, for thqat reason I won't run it unless there hasn't been a brown out for a while. But what I am trying to figure out is what cuases brown outs?
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Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Central Kali
I believe that power company drops the voltage to prevent an overload on the system. Have you ever had the lights go out and then come back on briefly 2 or 3 times, then stay out. This is because of a device called a reclosure on the high voltage lines. It trips if a ground fault is detected. It wii reset 2 or 3 times to see if the fault cleared. If not, bye bye lights. 
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From: Live Oak, FL
Brownouts are caused by supply and demand. If the power station can generate lets say 50,000,000 watts and everybody turns on their A/C, microwave, oven, 6 TV's, 4 VCR's etc. at the same time which requires 50,000,001 watts then something has to go. You probably know your big saw, air compressor or welder don't work very good if you hook it up to a long extension cord. The reason is there is a voltage drop from the ac outlet to the saw, etc, do to the resistance in the wire. You can feel the extension cord get hot from the wasted power. Likewise there is a certain amount of voltage drop between your house and the power station. When there is a large load on the system do to everyone turning on everything then this drop becomes noticeable. I have my computers plugged into a UPS (uninteruptable power supply) so if there is a brownout or blackout it switches to battery backup and my computer doesn't care. If there is a power outage and it's apparent the power is not coming right back on then I can shut my computers off so I don't get the dreaded "your computer was not shut down properly" with the accompanying scan disk waste of time.
Last edited by Bubba Shrimp; Oct 7, 2003 at 05:16 PM.
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From: Dededo, Guam
Mike and Bubba, thanks for the info. I was thinking along those lines but wasn't quite sure. Thanks again. 
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From: Southwestern Michigan
I had my voltage fluctuating this year and it turned out the neutral cable coming in to the house was not connected good. This was causing one leg of power to dip real low and the other leg to actually go over voltage...I recorded as high as 150VAC on one leg while the other leg was at 90VAC. I would certainly check the connections or call the power company to check it out.
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From: Twin Cities, MN
i got a backup battery for the pc, I also have another one for a light in the bedroom and the alarm clock. They are nice cause when the voltage drops they maintain the power needed. With some of the units they can be set to turn off your computer in a certain amount of time if power is not restored. I also have a 3rd one in the hall closet for my server pc and cable modem.
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From: Live Oak, FL
The prices on UPSes (UPI?) have come down so much that it really makes sense to have one. I bought a 1200 VA unit for $118.00 and I run two computers off of it.
If you have a laser printer, don't plug it into your UPS. It takes too much power.
If you have a laser printer, don't plug it into your UPS. It takes too much power.
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