Top Tip A word of warning

To all those who think that the UKs (or any other country) power system is without its problems then think again.

Exactly what am i referring to you may ask, what i'm referring to is power spikes and brownouts . This evening for the second time the national grid in my area experienced another massive power spike followed by a brown out.

What this means is than my Gigablue 800se and my Amiko Alien 2 are no more as they weren't on a surge protector as i hadn't got round to replacing the last ones when the same thing happened a few weeks ago.

The PSU on the Amiko is burnt out and the Gigablue even with a new external PSU just hangs on boot and does nothing else.

Fortunately my TM5402hd, TM 3/5F and nBox was disconnected from the mains and my Xtrend ET9500 and DM7000 were on surge protectors with reset switches.

If you like your equipment get a surge protector or a bigger credit limit on your credit card ( to replace your boxes) is the best advice i can give to anybody.

Nano
 
Surge suppressors do nothing for brown outs, the only good protection for any type of AC power service problems is a good UPS system.

The ones I use from Triplite have attached equipment warranty, any equipment (once registered with them) that is damaged due to a power problem is replaced.
 
Shame about the boxes Nano.
 
Sorry to hear that, surely there must be some method of compensation for residents?
 
When we had this happen, the power grid company came around the following day and replaced everything that was damaged by the spike, including replacing the boiler's circuit board.

Worth getting in touch with them.
 
Unfortunately It was the power spike that got them Terryl, The psus are usually ok with a brown out as the power doesn't normally drop down any lower than 220v in the UK, which most psus handle without any problems.

I get my Electric from Scottish and Southern, no chance of getting anything from them, i've tried before and to be honest the problem would have been caused by the National Grid rather than the individual power companies.

Still the way i look at it, i wasn't that fond of the Amiko box anyway and the Gigablue was getting on a bit. Its a big big shame that i will have to go out and treat myself to at least one new box to go with the Xtrend box i purchased from WOS last week :D

Me being the awkward so and so i am i won't be going for a Vu+ box or something else along those lines, i want to try something different, unfortunately theres nothing else at WOS at the moment that takes my fancy even though its my preferred retailer for satellite stuff.

Nano
 
Contact your local grid distributor (dunno what it is there, round here it's Northern Powergrid), and demand to speak to someone about compensation, after all, it's their responsibility to supply regular power, not send spikes down the lines and blow your stuff up... o_O

And I'll second Terryl, get some decent UPS units (I too have a couple of Tripp-Lite UPS units, plus a Trust and a Schuko-socketed Belkin), preferably ones with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) that can compensate for brownouts and surges, they're worth the money, even though mine are second hand units, with new batteries they work perfect... :)
 
Woo Hoo, a friend has fixed the PSU in the Alien 2 box, replacing a few caps and other things and it now mostly works. Tuner 2 doesn't seem to be able to switch to high band anymore so i've just disabled it, tuner 1 seems ok, flashed OpenATV to it and its behaved itself for the last few hours. Only time will tell if any more damage has been done to it.

I have given up hope on the Gigablue ever working again. I've managed to successfully reflash the bootloader back to it. It then seems to upload the image file until it tries to erase the flash chip, It goes so far and then just hangs with E004 on the display. I think its pretty much foobared.
 
Unfortunately It was the power spike that got them Terryl, The psus are usually ok with a brown out as the power doesn't normally drop down any lower than 220v in the UK, which most psus handle without any problems.

I get my Electric from Scottish and Southern, no chance of getting anything from them, i've tried before and to be honest the problem would have been caused by the National Grid rather than the individual power companies.

Still the way i look at it, i wasn't that fond of the Amiko box anyway and the Gigablue was getting on a bit. Its a big big shame that i will have to go out and treat myself to at least one new box to go with the Xtrend box i purchased from WOS last week :D

Me being the awkward so and so i am i won't be going for a Vu+ box or something else along those lines, i want to try something different, unfortunately theres nothing else at WOS at the moment that takes my fancy even though its my preferred retailer for satellite stuff.

Nano


The Triplite UPS system will handle any type of spike, brown out or high/low voltage problems, and no I'm not pushing them, they just work very well, also if you get a big enough one you can still watch that big game when the powers out.

I have one that uses external battery's, I have a big battery bank (using standard car battery's) that will run the UPS I use for the satellite system and entertainment system for about 3 days of normal viewing, it saves on the propane fuel for the standby generator.
 
My two Tripp Lites have clicked on with the odd "brownout" (not uncommon round here, I've seen the power fall to about 210v before the UPSes do anything), but given that most modern equipment has Switch Mode Power Supplies, they can usually go down many volts before they actually have any problems, it's the surges and spikes that are the nasties, but that's what the protection's for, with the UPS units, a surge comes through the line, the UPS detects it, clicks over to battery and cuts off the mains 'til the surge goes away, hopefully the UPS survives, but, better that conking out than the equipment connected... :)
 
..I have a big battery bank (using standard car battery's) that will run the UPS I use for the satellite system and entertainment system for about 3 days of normal viewing...
Just how many batteries? Do you run them all in parallel or have any in series? What Ah do you reckon you have?
 
I have 12 deep cycle battery's setup in two banks in parallel, then the two banks connected in series for the 24 volts needed for the UPS, total Ah is about 500+ for that setup.

How ever if the system is drawn down to about 10 volts, a long time draw down, say about two days or more depending on the load on the UPS, the charging circuit in the UPS can not handle the necessary recharge needed to quickly top it off, so I used an external 24 volt charger, one like this.

IOTA 24-Volt DLS Series Battery Chargers and Power Converters

Just remember, the bigger the battery pile the bigger the charger needs to be.

Also if you do not want a lot of hydrogen gas floating around (the standard car or deep cycle battery give this off when charging) a AGM or sealed battery should be used, my setup is out in the garage away from the water heater and vented to the outside.

And stay away from those full of hype Optima battery's, too expensive and don't last as long as you think.

The choice of battery is what your pocket book can afford.
 
Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck? I persevered with the Gigablue trying different psus and finally managed to get it to flash about 10 minutes ago. Tried the 4 amp psu off my nBox and it finally loaded and flashed the image back to the box. Box is now back up and running with an older HDF image

I will keep it on the bench for the next few hours to see if any damage has been done to it by the spike before trying to flash a newer image to it. Only downside now is that i can't justify buying a new box without getting the wrath of SWMBO.

Just ordered a new PSU for the nBox off Kamsat as I'm keeping the original nBox psu for my Gigablue :D

I'm a very happy bunny indeed at this moment in time.

Nano
 
Only downside now is that i can't justify buying a new box without getting the wrath of SWMBO.
Thats a bummer nano.:)

My Alien2 is always on my house TD88.On 28E I don't use it much. I sometimes think that if it packed up it would be an excuse to get another box.
 
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Only downside now is that i can't justify buying a new box without getting the wrath of SWMBO.

You made the vital mistake of repairing something before the purchase of a new toy... :-rofl2

The rule is, when it breaks and you know you can fix it, put it aside somewhere safe, buy the new one, then a couple of weeks later you just happen to open it up and fix it, that way you get to keep the new toy AND the old one works again... :D
 
Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck? I persevered with the Gigablue trying different psus and finally managed to get it to flash about 10 minutes ago. Tried the 4 amp psu off my nBox and it finally loaded and flashed the image back to the box. Box is now back up and running with an older HDF image

I will keep it on the bench for the next few hours to see if any damage has been done to it by the spike before trying to flash a newer image to it. Only downside now is that i can't justify buying a new box without getting the wrath of SWMBO.


Nano

Tough call! Show how clever you are vs New box :-ohcrap
 
UPS are ideal triple converter, formerly called Online
They have 3 converters.
1.- Alterna => 2.- Charging batteries continuously => 3.-Genera again alternating voltage.

These do not have any problems with fluctuations in the grid.
If you already have an isolation transformer (well connected), we have a neutral and clean earth for our electronic equipment.

Computers that have the type AVR are off-line and while you do not have a power, is not in operation the converter.
While working normally, works "as" an old autotransformer electronically controlled, but has a very slow response, it is only valid for normal fluctuations, but the peaks and troughs of fast voltage or the smells, eats them all, just have a good point, now worth 1/2 a triple-converter of the same power.
A customer who declined to place a triple-converter (10,000 € with isolation transformer including necessary for its problems in central trasnformación) and put an interactive (as they call these devices commercially), had many peaks in the network that disconnected to protect and performed a bypass network equipment with 2 eggs, the equipment in question was worth almost 5,000 € uros (5000VA / 4000W) with batteries 15 minutes.
If you want more time, extending the batteries as indicated by the partner, with external charger, solved.
------------------------------------------
La SAI ideales son las de tripe conversor, antiguamente llamados on-line
Tienen 3 conversores.
1.-Alterna =>2.- Carga baterías en continua => 3.-Genera de nuevo tensión Alterna.

Con estas no tienen ningún tipo de problema con las fluctuaciones de la red eléctrica.
Si ya tiene transformador de aislamiento (bien conectado), tendremos un neutro y tierra limpio para nuestros equipos electrónicos.

Los equipos que tienen AVR son del tipo off-line y mientras no tengas un corte de energía, no entra en funcionamiento su convertidor.
Estando funcionando normalmente, funciona “como” un viejo autotransformador controlado electrónicamente, pero tiene una respuesta muy lenta, solo es válido para las fluctuaciones normales, pero los picos y caídas de tensión rápidas, ni las huele, se las come todas, solo tienen un punto bueno, valen 1/2 que una online de triple-conversor de la misma potencia.
Un cliente que no quiso poner una con triple-conversor (10.000€ con transformador de aislamiento incluido necesario por sus problemas en el centro de trasnformacion) y puso una interactiva (como se llaman estos equipos comercialmente), tenían tantos picos en la red que se desconecto para protegerse y realizo un By-pass de la red al equipo, con 2 huevos, el equipo en cuestión valía casi 5.000€uros (5000VA/4000W) con baterías de 15 minutos.
Si quieres mas tiempo, ampliando las baterias como indica el compañero, con cargador externo, solucionado.

I am a sufferer of these problems, especially with the summer lightning storms in the Sierra de Madrid.
A metal water tank tower of 20 meters in the urbanization (ground lightning arrester), since downloading storms throughout the area/urbanization.
---------
Soy un sufridor de estos problemas, en verano sobre todo con las tormentas electricas en la sierra de Madrid.
Se quito un deposito metalico de agua en torre de 20 metros en la urbanizacion (descargador de rayos a tierra), desde entonces las tormentas descargan en toda la zona/urbanizacion.

On the farm (area cut and lightning, the last 2 rays 70 meters from the house.
3 UPS triple converter and transformer insulation and extra batteries (2x1'2KW and 1'4KW), lighters and lightning arrester on the telephone line and light company.
------------------
En la finca (zona de cortes y rayos, los 2 ultimos rayos a 70 metros de la casa.
3 SAI con triple convertidor y transformador de aislamiento y baterias extras (2x1'2KW y 1'4KW), chisperos y descargadores de rayos en la linea telefonica y luz de compania.

PS:
a6777.gif
 
Who says Friday the 13th is bad luck? I persevered with the Gigablue trying different psus and finally managed to get it to flash about 10 minutes ago. Tried the 4 amp psu off my nBox and it finally loaded and flashed the image back to the box. Box is now back up and running with an older HDF image

I will keep it on the bench for the next few hours to see if any damage has been done to it by the spike before trying to flash a newer image to it. Only downside now is that i can't justify buying a new box without getting the wrath of SWMBO.

Just ordered a new PSU for the nBox off Kamsat as I'm keeping the original nBox psu for my Gigablue :D

I'm a very happy bunny indeed at this moment in time.

Nano

Great to see that your getting things sorted again, Friday the 13th not so bad after all
 
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