View Full Version : Episode 86 - You Need Surge Protectors! Free Photo Mosaic Tools, Lincoln MKS... Tech?
chuckles
04-30-2009, 11:48 PM
Nintendo DSi, Save Plants with the EasyBloom Plant Sensor, Send A Telegram, GetGlue "the network that sticks to you!" Heat Your Home with PCs: Your Answers.
Watch and download here (http://revision3.com/tekzilla/flowers/).
I like the new segment "Gadget of the week" i look forward to more :)
also I haz a bukkett! Nice song Veronica! ;)
veronicazilla
05-01-2009, 12:41 AM
I like the new segment "Gadget of the week" i look forward to more :)
also I haz a bukkett! Nice song Veronica! ;)
I should have known that was going to make it in!! *blush*
chuckles
05-01-2009, 01:05 AM
I should have known that was going to make it in!! *blush*
I cannot get the song out of my head.... feeling a lot like George Costanza and his obsession with "Master of the House"
-chuckles-
rvissers
05-01-2009, 03:08 AM
Please somebody remix that bucket song....it's got potential
fishtoprecords
05-01-2009, 03:36 AM
Wow, more than a shoutout.
Patrick is partially right about the efficiency question, if the computer is not using/drawing the power then the actual draw from the wall will be less. Modern multi-core CPUs usually shut down one or more when they are not working -- doing your folding at home, etc.
Its likely that a gamer system that is idling may draw only a small fraction of the numbers on the power supply.
But if the watts are drawn, then they are energy, and the energy has to go somewhere. Conservation of energy, laws of thermodynamics, etc. Some energy could come out in sound or light, but that is usually not measurable. The real power goes into heat. At the 3.41 BTU per watt ratio. (I can't remember more than that, the guy who said it was 3.413 is probably right).
Disk drives get hot on their own, they have motors and waste energy there, servos to move the heads, and of course, electronics for the "controller" function.
Pretty catchy song about bukkets
caesar-amadeus
05-01-2009, 05:25 AM
Ok, I'm sorry but Patrick is correct,
I've got an Electrical Engineer and a Computer Engineer, to back me up on this, (I'm an Agricultural and Bioresource engineer, not my area of expertise). If the processors had 100% electrical efficiency then no heat would be released; however, due the fact nothing can be 100% efficient, (stupid laws of thermodynamics), they release excess heat. A good idea to get an idea of this is to measure the power draw on a 1000W powersupply when 1000W's are actually being drawn, the powersupply will have to pull more than 1kW to output 1kW as it won't be 100% efficient.
But if you determined how much energy is being released as heat, then you could calculate how many processors you'd need, 2nd, this could be calculated perhaps using the mineral water PC, insulate the case, turn the computer on, and measure the power being used, and then also measure the increase in temperature. You should be able to build your own home build calorimeter and use that lovely Q=mc∆T equation.
amon91
05-01-2009, 09:51 AM
The episode was awesome, and I think you guys finally got the right balance between content and questions. Gadget of the Week was awesome too.
You guys should really keep this format, it'll make Tekzilla my favorite show on the web.
computoman
05-01-2009, 10:41 AM
On vaulable equipment, I would prefer a ups even if the equipment is not on all the time. Brownouts and or power outages can be just as bad as power surges. In fact brownouts can cause power surges (when all the equpment comes back on all at once) after a brown out. Most surge protectors will not defend against it. Because of all the weather issues and competing power companies, brownouts have become a common occurance where I live. Except for kitchen appliances and a thirty year old tv, we have all all electronics on ups's when in use.
As for a computer furnace, why not take a bunch of old cpu's and add voltage from a walwart to heat them up and then put a foil heat reflector and fan behind them for blowing the warm air to heat you up. Might be a tiny bit more efficient. You can get old cpus for free even non working ones should do the job..
davmoo
05-01-2009, 01:50 PM
Coupleacomments...
If its something like a computer or a late-model TV, I'd rather have a full UPS than just a surge suppressor. There are situations, like during a thunderstorm, where you may have periods of rapid on-off-on-off power cycles on the lines. That can be hard on anything with fancy electronics or moving parts. I also agree that neither a suppressor or a UPS is going to save you from a direct lightning hit. In moist air, like in a storm, it takes maybe 10kv to 12kv to jump one inch. If the bolt of lighting has enough juice to jump all those inches from way up there in the clouds to the side of your house and directly in to your wiring, some tiny little inch-long fuse ain't gonna even slow it down.
I think the Smart Car is highly over rated before one even looks at safety issues. I live in a rural area. The nearest major road is 6 miles away (and its only two lane). I currently drive a 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible. Back when gasoline was $4.35 a gallon here I looked at a Smart Car. My Sebring gets mileage comparable to the Smart Car. If they got the mileage up to 50 mpg or so it be worth it. But without a big (at least 5 to 10 mpg) mileage difference between the two I ain't giving up my nice roomy ragtop to drive around in a soup can with wheels. If I lived in a big city with tiny parking spaces that might make a difference, but that's simply not an issue here.
I also had to chuckle at Veronica talking about growing herbs in her new gizmo. Those would be interesting to use to grow another kind of herb :D
nferno
05-01-2009, 04:06 PM
Ok, I'm sorry but Patrick is correct,
I've got an Electrical Engineer and a Computer Engineer, to back me up on this, (I'm an Agricultural and Bioresource engineer, not my area of expertise). If the processors had 100% electrical efficiency then no heat would be released; however, due the fact nothing can be 100% efficient, (stupid laws of thermodynamics), they release excess heat. A good idea to get an idea of this is to measure the power draw on a 1000W powersupply when 1000W's are actually being drawn, the powersupply will have to pull more than 1kW to output 1kW as it won't be 100% efficient.
But if you determined how much energy is being released as heat, then you could calculate how many processors you'd need, 2nd, this could be calculated perhaps using the mineral water PC, insulate the case, turn the computer on, and measure the power being used, and then also measure the increase in temperature. You should be able to build your own home build calorimeter and use that lovely Q=mc∆T equation.
I already thought something was fishy about the explanation given in the show. I was thinking "Huh, if you're using all of those 1000W, each of those watts contribute to producing heat? That just doesn't sound right. Then what was all this efficiency stuff I learned way back when in secondary school? If a 1000W power supply has one of them 80PLUS labels, doesn't that mean that more than 80% of the input power is useful energy and the remainder is wasted on thermal energy?" Anyhow, Patrick was right and thanks for the explanation Caesar Amadeus. The world now makes sense again. :)
boldfire
05-01-2009, 04:21 PM
Liking Gadget of the week! Would have been nice to have a bit more of a hands on review of it, but I like the segment.
primeone
05-01-2009, 04:44 PM
http://g.imagehost.org/t/0706/Ihasbucket_stealmybucket.jpg (http://g.imagehost.org/view/0706/Ihasbucket_stealmybucket) http://g.imagehost.org/t/0477/funny-pictures-walruses-water-search-party.jpg (http://g.imagehost.org/view/0477/funny-pictures-walruses-water-search-party) http://g.imagehost.org/t/0783/funny-pictures-lolrus-family-bucket-story.jpg (http://g.imagehost.org/view/0783/funny-pictures-lolrus-family-bucket-story)
THEY WANT THEIR BUKKIT!!! BEARONICA!!!
Has no one on the show seen Faulty Towers? It's pronounced Bas-il not Bay-sil.
petroc
05-01-2009, 08:28 PM
Has no one on the show seen Faulty Towers? It's pronounced Bas-il not Bay-sil.
And whats an 'Erb'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN9GW_KO-XA
And whats an 'Erb'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN9GW_KO-XA
Yea that too although I know people in England who say 'erb but still it's HERB!
Liking Gadget of the week! Would have been nice to have a bit more of a hands on review of it, but I like the segment.
Me to
computoman
05-01-2009, 10:11 PM
It would be interesting to tweak the interface of the garden tool to control the water sprinkler system for watering and other uses. I would to have one to take apart.
revision3fan
05-02-2009, 04:00 AM
A kidney for your Kindle... and other thoughts:
Can the soaps be made to smell like a freshly opened, shrink-wrapped, and anti-static protected piece of hardware? Similar in concept to the new-car spray scent sold commercially.
The Smart Car crashed into a Mercedes C300 in the video. Would this be considered typical?
The metal-oxide varistors, MOVs, lose their effectiveness over time. Replace all such surge protectors every two years.
ArmpitOfDeath
05-03-2009, 01:05 AM
Yea that too although I know people in England who say 'erb but still it's HERB!
Ooo aar.
(I'm sorry, I don't really do Yorkshire very well)
revision3fan
05-03-2009, 02:50 AM
First:
Watts (W) are units of power, the rate of energy usage. That is, a unit of energy, Joule, divided by a unit of time, second. 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second.
BTU, British Thermal Unit, is another unit of energy like the Joule. 1BTU ~ 1055 Joules.
Second:
Comparing power and energy is an apples to orange comparison.
Third:
The 1800 W heater must be stating the power consumed from the wall. Most of which, I assume, will turn to heat.
The computers will at least have to be drawing at least 1800 W from the wall.
Since the computers are more efficient than the heater because they are running the CPU's, clocks, motors, fans and such; the computers will need to pull even more than 1800 W in order to match the contribution of heat to the room.
Suggestion: Place the computers in a circle with power supply fans pointing out in order to distribute the heat better.
voltek
05-03-2009, 08:03 PM
I believe Patrick is right when saying that the heat generated by a power supply or computer component does not equal to the power being supplied to the device. And he is right that the device uses most of the energy to do the work it was intended to do. One easy way to explain this is to consider the transformer based power adapter, or ‘wall-wart.’ Look at the input power versus the output power (the voltage multiplied by the current). The input power is always higher than the output and the difference is how efficient the transformer is and the lost power comes from the current going through the resistance of the wire windings and is dissipated as heat. Therefore, a transformer may have an input of 120volts and 100milliamps(12watts) and output of 9volts at 1amp(9watts.) So you would get 9 watts of usable power and 3 watts of heat. I believe electronic or transistor based power supplies generate even less heat than transformer ones do. The correlation between how much heat is generated from a device versus its power input can only be accurately judged using resistive loads such as hair dryers, portable heaters, incandescent light bulbs, etc. I mean does anybody really think a 1000watt computer power supply puts out as much heat as a hair dryer? Also, since no component inside a computer generates energy, the sum of all the heat a computer gives off is much lower than the power that is fed into the power supply.
The example that Fish Top Records gave citing a typical Washington DC home having a 140K BTU heater is misleading. A heater with that much heat output in a house would be a gas or oil furnace. An electric heater at 41,000watts would draw more than 170amps. Most homes total current supply is not that much.
fishtoprecords
05-07-2009, 05:44 PM
I believe Patrick is right when saying that the heat generated by a power supply or computer component does not equal to the power being supplied to the device.
The example that Fish Top Records gave citing a typical Washington DC home having a 140K BTU heater is misleading. A heater with that much heat output in a house would be a gas or oil furnace. An electric heater at 41,000watts would draw more than 170amps. Most homes total current supply is not that much.
No, the BTU is right, and that is why resistance electric heat is not often used. Most homes in the Washington DC areas are gas or oil, but some are heat pumps. And heat pumps don't work below about 34 degrees, so you go on "emergency heat" which is exactly a giant toaster.
Most electric heat in the US is done at 240V, so the amperage is half what it would be at 120V.
I don't get it, why are people saying that the power drawn is not the power used. It has to be one and the same. Now most PCs have bigger power supply rating than they draw, but that's why the faceplate watt rating is just a maximum.
But if a PC draws 600 watts, then 600 watts is converted to heat. At the standard rate of 3.41 BTU per watt. There is no point in arguing, this is simply by definition of what a watt and what a BTU are.