Hi from a Brit in Italy

[Fean0r]

Hi there... just joined and have a question that's probably best for the DIY forum (as opposed, I think, to the international forum), but I don't seem to have permission to post there yet. So thought I'd say hello here first.

I'll be looking for some advice on mains conditioners vs UPSs... the mains here in Rome is unstable, as can be seen from the lights flickering regularly. I think this is causing my DSL and WiFi routers to be unstable but I'm unsure whether a mains conditioner will help with significant momentary voltage drops (do they have capacitors to deal with this?) or whether I'd need a UPS.

UPSs are expensive though, even for the smaller ones!

 

[shanky887614]

Hi there... just joined and have a question that's probably best for the DIY forum (as opposed, I think, to the international forum), but I don't seem to have permission to post there yet. So thought I'd say hello here first.

I'll be looking for some advice on mains conditioners vs UPSs... the mains here in Rome is unstable, as can be seen from the lights flickering regularly. I think this is causing my DSL and WiFi routers to be unstable but I'm unsure whether a mains conditioner will help with significant momentary voltage drops (do they have capacitors to deal with this?) or whether I'd need a UPS.

UPSs are expensive though, even for the smaller ones!

if you go for a ups make sure its a continuous ups because otherwise it wont kick in till power lost

 

[Richard Burns]

Welcome to the forum.

It really depends on the nature of the instability, is it voltage variance or frequency variance or minor power cuts.
However a UPS would be your best bet as it can supply a deficiency. However if it is just voltage fluctuation the a mains conditioner may work, however I do not know enough about these to provide a good response.

 

[Fean0r]

Good point on a continuous UPS.

I haven't measured the mains but judging from the way the lights sometimes dim I think it's voltage variance. The PC is fine though so maybe the much more advanced power supply in that can deal with these fluctuations better than the router PSUs. I too don't know much about mains conditioners and haven't been able to find much information about them. Maybe though the stability of the PC indicates they'd do the trick.

By the way, are you two admins? Any idea why I can post in most other sections of the forum but not in the DIY section?

 

[shanky887614]

Good point on a continuous UPS.

I haven't measured the mains but judging from the way the lights sometimes dim I think it's voltage variance. The PC is fine though so maybe the much more advanced power supply in that can deal with these fluctuations better than the router PSUs. I too don't know much about mains conditioners and haven't been able to find much information about them. Maybe though the stability of the PC indicates they'd do the trick.

By the way, are you two admins? Any idea why I can post in most other sections of the forum but not in the DIY section?

for some strange reason you have to be given diy powers?.

anyway the reason a pc psu can cope is in effect they never really run at full power and besides all the power usually comes of 2 rails/transformers in effect.

it will surge but it will in turn smooth it out, the decent ones will last while the expensive ones will soon pop.

 

[Fean0r]

Ah OK thanks... any idea how I can go about getting DIY powers?

Yeah my PC's PSU is definitely a good one - when I built the machine back in 06 I made sure I spec'd a high end Enermax one. What I'm thinking though is that if it can smooth the mains voltage drops and keep the PC completely stable then surely a mains conditioner can do the same?

 

[telectrix]

what makes you think a conditioner will work. it didn't work for this guy.

 

[Richard Burns]

Ah OK thanks... any idea how I can go about getting DIY powers?

Private message Marvo or Sintra and ask for access to the DIY forums.