Decent surge protection

[Mallers]

Hello, had a pc assembled bu a computer shop, who run it powered up for several days to test. Had a new seasoniv vertex gx1200w atx3 psu installed. Got home, few days later pau and home circuit breaker popped. Back to shop, same model, tested for few days at shop no prob. Come home, few days later psu and breaker went pop. Got same model on order from another vendor (neither were OC!) and just had electrician round to check my electrics in case i was the problem. He says all my sockets check out ok.
Any ideas what problem could be, and in case its a surge im going to get a surge protector, any ideas what to look for/get? Open to anything but preference was a single plug unit plugged into wall and pc plugs into that opposed to a trailing gang. Mu idea was that i only wanted the pc plugged into a socket, nothing else. Ironically to protect against electrical problems but clearly thats secondary now!
Should add old pc and everything else in that room worked fine for last 17 yrs. so new pc blows, thoughts are its pc or psu thats the problem, but they work fine on shop test bench so thoughts are its my electrics thats the problem, but theyve not been before and a sparky says fine. So im stumped.

 

[Glanza]

Belkin surge protector has been my go to for 5 years now, though it sounds like you may want a UPS instead.

What's the spec of your PC, it's possible it's pulling too much power for your circuit to keep up with.

 

[Quartz]

Got home, few days later pau and home circuit breaker popped.

What else is on the circuit? A heater or fridge, perhaps? Modern high-end PCs are more power-hungry than before. Your 14900kf in particular (253W max) and add in 250W (maybe more) for your 980Ti and 100W for the motherboard and peripherals and you're over 600W. And then there's your monitor. Have you tried the PC on another circuit? Have you tried another power cable?

and in case its a surge im going to get a surge protector, any ideas what to look for/get?

Don't faff around: get yourself a proper line-interactive UPS. I use Cyberpower VP1600 and BR700 UPSs. You'll thank me when you come to do a BIOS update and don't sit in fear of a power cut.

 

[Mallers]

Belkin surge protector has been my go to for 5 years now, though it sounds like you may want a UPS instead.

What's the spec of your PC, it's possible it's pulling too much power for your circuit to keep up with.

Hi, gpu is an old 980ti, cpu i9 14900kf, mobo is msi meg ace. Its plugged directly into wall, ie not through a trailing plug, but may rethink that!

 

[Mallers]

What else is on the circuit? A heater or fridge, perhaps? Modern high-end PCs are more power-hungry than before. Your 14900kf in particular (253W max) and add in 250W (maybe more) for your 980Ti and 100W for the motherboard and peripherals and you're over 600W. And then there's your monitor. Have you tried the PC on another circuit? Have you tried another power cable?



Don't faff around: get yourself a proper line-interactive UPS. I use Cyberpower VP1600 and BR700 UPSs. You'll thank me when you come to do a BIOS update and don't sit in fear of a power cut.

Hi, ah, electrician checked thay today so i know the answer! Circuit its on is just plugs., and all of them are same circuit so diff plug wont change circuit. Had electrician not checked i could have tried in case the actual socket was a problem. This does include fridge freezer. All heaters are on a separate circuit. Been tried on 2 sockets so far in same room, none in any other room. Will check USPs thx!

 

[Tetras]

Hello, had a pc assembled bu a computer shop, who run it powered up for several days to test. Had a new seasoniv vertex gx1200w atx3 psu installed. Got home, few days later pau and home circuit breaker popped. Back to shop, same model, tested for few days at shop no prob. Come home, few days later psu and breaker went pop. Got same model on order from another vendor (neither were OC!) and just had electrician round to check my electrics in case i was the problem. He says all my sockets check out ok.

It might be that it was a coincidence and the PSU was just intermittently faulty.

 

[K.C. Leblanc]

I doubt a surge protector will help with your particular problem (although they're still a good idea). They're purpose it to protect your equipment if the mains voltages rises due to a supply fault.

Do you know what the electrician actually tested when they visited? My guess is either there's a fault with the PSU and there's an excessive amount of inrush current, or something in your house is leaking power to earth and the extra earth leakage from the PC is enough to tip it over the edge.

 

[Mallers]

Hm, i watched him but didnt ask. What he told me was that the sockets were fine, he had a machine about the footprint and half the height of a car battery with lcd display on top. Tested they (sockets) were connected properly. I assumed but dont think he specifically said, that would include earthing ok. This machine also was capable of overloading the circuit, deliberately, and the circuit breaker for my flat tripped when it was meant to. He did say theres nothing wrong with my electrics, but if it is a problem with my electrics, it could just be an intermittent thing. I like the idea of the UPS, although need to wait for a payday first. Either way as was only a tenner i bought a belkin surge protected trailing plug. Will see if that helps! Also bought, awaiting delivery, thrid psu. Same model but different vendor in case its a batch issue, but its a seasonic, im given to understand theyre rock solid

 

[LuckyBenski]

Just to be clear - the PSUs themselves have died each time?

 

[Mallers]

Hi, yes. Audibly popped and first time pc was on and it completely lost power, second time popped when pressed power button on case to turn it in. Both times triggered circuit breaker on my home fusebox. First time it happened and i got a second psu installed, everything else turned on so im hoping havent fried anything internally!

 

[JasonM]

Either way as was only a tenner i bought a belkin surge protected trailing plug.

I presumed you were going to get a UPS, so did not want to say anything before, but as you've just purchased the belkin.

For basic surge protection and also some basic RFI filtering the £40 Tacima CS947's work.

I had a friend who was getting clicks / pops in his HiFi, fitted one of the Tacima's and it stopped the issues. Turned out his house wiring was rubber (his house was built in the 1960's before the change to PVC mains wire) and the rubber was breaking down on the wiring, British Gas Homecare came out and practically condemned the electrics! In the end my mate has his entire house re-wired. I mention this story to show how that basic £40 Tacima's managed to function and provide some protection with his electrics that were starting to short out inside the walls of his house.

BTW Don't use Tacima's on audio gear any more, have something much better, but for computers / TV's things like this they are fine.

 

[aardvark]

£100 ish will get you a perfectly fine ups

 

[Nemesis379]

APC are a decent brand make UPS's etc, they do surge protectors as well, I have a (see below), and a few other smaller ones which have been working flawlessly.

APC PM8 SurgeArrest 8-Outlet 2m Surge Protected Extension Lead​

 

[Mallers]

APC are a decent brand make UPS's etc, they do surge protectors as well, I have a (see below), and a few other smaller ones which have been working flawlessly.

APC PM8 SurgeArrest 8-Outlet 2m Surge Protected Extension Lead​

Out of interest, how do you choose the capacity of a UPS? I know for example for PSU you work out power draw of your components and asd a bit and get that. I did that and went for a 1200 watt psu. Is it the same for a ups, ie only my computer will be connected to it, so ill need at least 1200 watts, or mahbe need to allow a bit more?

 

[Nemesis379]

Out of interest, how do you choose the capacity of a UPS? I know for example for PSU you work out power draw of your components and asd a bit and get that. I did that and went for a 1200 watt psu. Is it the same for an ups, ie only my computer will be connected to it, so ill need at least 1200 watts, or mahbe need to allow a bit more?

Well even though your computer has 1200 watts PSU it’s highly unlikely you will be drawing this amount from the wall.

E.g. if you have 900W UPS and your PC is drawing 900W you’ll get 3mins approx but if your drawing 300w it’ll last for 22min approx (according to APC)

Most UPS websites have calculators etc to give you rough idea for load and what UPS you require but it’s all dependant on how long you want the UPS to last once power has gone out and how much load your pulling.