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From: johnim@euler.Berkeley.EDU (John Im)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Power Problems
Message-ID: <28368@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 1 Oct 90 08:58:14 GMT
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: johnim@euler.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (John Im)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 27

Okay.  This is my first time posting, so please excuse any and all
irregularities.

My problem is that there seems to be only one power line feeding all the rooms
(3 of them) in the section of the house I'm in.  What this means, is that 
whenever a space heater is turned on, the line voltage drops.  I measured it
this weekend, with two space heaters on (in different rooms), and the line
voltage dropped by 15-20 V.  Surprisingly, my Mac was still functioning as
usual.  I had it printing a document and a few other things to see if
anything would be affected, but everything was fine.

So what's the problem, you ask?  Well, I'm wondering if this is causing any
undue strain on the power supply.  I'd sure hate to have to replace it (I just
bought the Mac this summer).

By the way, someone suggested I buy a UPS, but that is not an option.  Since
the heaters stay on for 5-15 min periods, depending on how cold it is, I'd run
down the battery on a 500VA UPS pretty fast.  Now, there are some with a
step-up transformer that will keep the voltage at a steady 120V, but they are
a bit out of my price range right now.

So can anyone tell me if this'll burn out my power supply or something?
Anyone from Apple out there?

Thanks.

- John