altoid
I donated for the custom title. Suck it.
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2010
- Messages
- 2,332
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Car(s)
- ‘14 Mazderp3, ‘22 Checkpoint SL 5
The problem: I now live in an old 2nd-story apartment with not a single freakin' grounded outlet and I don't know anything about electricity.
I've got a few electrical devices of non-trivial value: fApple MacBook Pro Retina, ARRIS/Motorola SurfBoard SB6141, Asus RT-N56U, Raspberry Pi, and a brand new Hunter 90400 table fan. The modem, router, and RPi are all near each other, the laptop can be charged wherever, and the table fan should ideally be movable, but doesn't have to. At some point in the future I'll be adding an older MacBook Pro, TV, fApple TV, and some other gizmos, most likely.
The fan, however, explicitly requires a grounded outlet (according to the manual). Getting the building to redo the wiring isn't gonna' happen, so I just spent some time trying to figure out if there's something I can do, and my options seem to be:
The problem with option 1 is that it seems most UPSes rely on the grounding for their surge protection capabilities, which means I'm not gonna' get a whole lot out of 'em. I can get just a decent surge protector for far less if the benefits are comparable. (I also already have one of these, but it's operating at a temperature far higher than before, making me wonder if it's time to replace it.)
So, my questions are:
Halp. And thanks a bunch!
Moving isn't an option, so let's not waste keystrokes on that.
I've got a few electrical devices of non-trivial value: fApple MacBook Pro Retina, ARRIS/Motorola SurfBoard SB6141, Asus RT-N56U, Raspberry Pi, and a brand new Hunter 90400 table fan. The modem, router, and RPi are all near each other, the laptop can be charged wherever, and the table fan should ideally be movable, but doesn't have to. At some point in the future I'll be adding an older MacBook Pro, TV, fApple TV, and some other gizmos, most likely.
The fan, however, explicitly requires a grounded outlet (according to the manual). Getting the building to redo the wiring isn't gonna' happen, so I just spent some time trying to figure out if there's something I can do, and my options seem to be:
- Get a UPS (liek dis) and plug all the devices in.
- Roll with a plain ol' surge protector.
- dealwithit.gif
The problem with option 1 is that it seems most UPSes rely on the grounding for their surge protection capabilities, which means I'm not gonna' get a whole lot out of 'em. I can get just a decent surge protector for far less if the benefits are comparable. (I also already have one of these, but it's operating at a temperature far higher than before, making me wonder if it's time to replace it.)
So, my questions are:
- Would I benefit enough from a UPS for there to be a point in buying one over a regular surge protector, given that neither would be grounded? (I don't care about running on battery power ? I just don't want my shit to burn the fuck out.)
- If I'm sticking with a surge protector, is the higher operating temperature of mine a reason for concern, or is that normal?
- When the manual for a device like the table fan explicitly states ground is required, how required is it really?
- Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
Halp. And thanks a bunch!
Moving isn't an option, so let's not waste keystrokes on that.