On Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 10:38:48AM -0600, Thomas Cameron wrote: > On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 18:27 +0200, Dotan Cohen wrote: > > Not strictly a Fedora question, but where else will I find a willing > > audience of brains? > > > > A fried lives in the university dorms. She has two electrical outlets > > in her part of the room, both on the same fuse. One has a splitter > > which powers her computer, LCD monitor, printer, cellphone charger, > > speakers, and maybe something else. The other powers the room's > > refrigerator, electric kettle, microwave, and maybe something else. > > Not everything is in use at the same time (the computer is always on) > > and somehow the 10 watt (220 volt) fuse handles it all and even a > > small electric heater to boot. > > > > Here's the question: is there any disadvantage to plugging the heater > > into the computer's electrical outlet splitter, as opposed to the > > other one? As mentioned, they are on the same fuse. I noticed that > > when the heater is started and stopped the speakers make a popping > > sound. Is this harmful to the computer? (fire hazard notwithstanding) > > It's always been my understanding that plugging a computer into the same > circuit as anything that suddenly draws a lot of power (like a laser > printer when it fires up the fuser or a space heater) is a no-no. > > Those devices cause momentary power dips and spikes as the go on and > off, and that can absolutely kill your system. > > If you have any way to condition your power (I believe that some UPSs do > line conditioning as well) you probably should. > Although a heater is much less likely to cause problems than some other loads as it is just about a purely resistive load and won't cause spikes, just dips according to how good the wiring is. The real nasties are things like vacuum cleaners with bigg[ish] electric motors, I'm always very ware of using them in close [electrical] prximity to computers and such. -- Chris Green
