|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
|
|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
In Reply to: Help with dedicated line question posted by Sean H on June 18, 2000 at 16:45:28:
Back in June of 1991, one of my clients suddenly started to have significant problems with a minicomputer that had been 100% stable up until that time. First, an 8 way comm board fried. This was somewhat typical; static electricity from a user's keyboard could toast the controller chip on that particular serial controller.Then a memory card went. At first, we thought that it was a thermal problem: the offices were new, it was the first summer, and the system was in a warmer part of the building. So, we installed air, fans, etc.
Then the CPU card went.
We thought it was the age of the system; it was now 5 years old. Maybe the power supplies were going south and taking components with them. So, we replaced the power supplies.
Then the disk controller card fried.
What the heck: even though the system was plugged in an Orange Hubbel outlet, which in accordance with code means a dedicated circuit, we put a voltage recorder on the circuit for a week.
Low and behold, every day at 10:30A we recorded a series of 15 volt spikes on the ground. We traced the ground a couple hundred feet, and found out that the electrician had "cut corners" at the request of the building owner and simply tied dedicated ground to common ground back at one sub-panel.
We then realized that a brand new, big, industrial microwave oven had been purchased at the end of May, and that the office staff made popcorn every day at about 10:30A. Turns out that microwave was sending that voltage spike over ground...
The moral of the story: dedicated circuits really do need a dedicated ground to be effectual. We forced the landlord/electrician to properly isolate the ground, and the system regained stability.
Oh, by the way, that same minicomputer is still running just fine this very night.
The little voices told me to stay at home and clean the guns today.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - Bob W 19:07:05 06/18/00 (6)
- Re: A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - Glen 12:13:51 06/20/00 (0)
- This echo's the experience i had a while back - Sean 22:58:18 06/19/00 (0)
- Re: A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - Sean H 19:23:11 06/18/00 (3)
- Re: A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - BrianG 21:44:38 06/18/00 (2)
- Re: A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - Glen 17:20:58 06/20/00 (1)
- Re: A long story that probably has no point, but I think will be worth reading... - BrianG 09:03:22 06/21/00 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
