Safeguard your tech from electrical harm! Use surge protectors, proper grounding, and regular maintenance. Keep your devices powered and protected!
Published on
By Xing Gou
Energy Comparison
Systems and peripherals like PCs, servers, routers, and other computer devices are always at risk from electrical damage. Some examples of electrical issues are improper site wiring, fluctuations in a system’s electrical supply, or lightning strikes.
These issues might lead to data loss or worse unfixable systems and gadgets which you do not want to happen. We don’t know where or when these electrical issues may occur, but, we can help you to prepare your “Tech” to deal with it by precautionary measures.
Let’s define some terms that you will encounter in this article to help you understand more.
Verify electricity levels
Usually, computers are designed to use 120 volts of AC power supplied at 60 Hertz. And, there are times your electricity company can vary from that standard so, the best thing you can do before using new systems is to check the voltage of an AC power outlet using Multimeter before you plug your device.
If baselines vary by 2% or less, use a UPS but if it varies by 3% or more, do not plug your device and contact your electricity company or licensed electrician to correct the errors as both sags and surges can lead to failures and data loss.
You call your electricity distributor to find out more about this.
Confirm that the supply circuit is grounded properly
Surge protectors and UPS are designed to confirm if the electrical outlet isn’t properly grounded while Ground wiring is responsible for diverting most power surges.
Most UPS and surge protector models will light a warning lamp if the outlet isn’t properly grounded. You can buy inexpensive circuit testers that are simply plugged into outlets to confirm if the circuits are properly grounded.
Don’t overload circuits
Desktop computers, servers, and network devices connected to a single circuit can easily overpower the electrical supply. Connecting excessive amounts of power to a circuit can result in power failures, wide variations in available electricity, and even fire hazards as overworked circuits exceed safe operating ranges.
Use a UPS/surge protector
Use surge protectors and UPS devices instead of unprotected power strips as it doesn’t protect connected equipment from sags, surges, and lightning strikes.
Connect all sensitive electronic devices to UPS and surge protectors. Do not forget to bring a surge protector when traveling with laptops.
Remember: A laser printer’s fuse generates strong bursts of electrical consumption that can damage UPS units.
Properly calculate UPS/surge protector capacity
UPS has a power capacity as well so it’s better to carefully calculate the power needed for the systems to ensure that the UPS can power the connected equipment sufficiently. Most UPS manufacturers provide calculators for you to calculate the required power of a system.
When choosing surge protectors and consider models with a sufficient number of protected outlets. Also, ensure your surge protector has lighting protection. It will protect sensitive computer equipment from electrical spikes, resulting in failed hardware and corrupt and lost data.
Replace damaged or faulty UPS/surge protectors
Surge protectors and UPS internal electronics can fail because of the continuous electrical surge. If warning lamp, outlets stop operating or batteries fail, replace the damaged component or the entire UPS or surge protector.
Protect telecommunication links
On purchasing UPS and surge, protector, look for models that protect connected devices from lightning strikes entering the network via data lines. Lightning strikes frequently discharge via cable modems, DSL, and telephone lines. It can destroy everything from network interface cards to motherboards.
Connect a corresponding RJ-11 or RJ-45 cable to the device’s protected output to guard against lightning damage on your network.
Test power supplies
Every time you encountered unexplained reboots, check the power supply’s electrical output using Multimeter to ensure that it’s working properly.
A faulty power supply should be replaced immediately to protect sensitive components such as hard disk motors, memory, video cards, and motherboards as these components can be damaged even by minor fluctuations in a system’s electrical supply.
Maintain proper operating temperatures
Protect your systems and devices against electrical damage resulting from overheating by ensuring that systems receive proper cooling, so Clean all PCs and server exhaust fans and vents regularly and check if they are working properly. Make sure all vents, fan outlets, and UPS are free from debris, boxes, files, and other furniture so, they have ample room to breathe.
Protecting your electronic devices against electrical damage is a good investment. It will free you from paying a “repair fee”. As you well-maintain your equipment, it also increases your safeness in using them with electricity.
For more energy safety tips, visit Econnex.
