How to make USB ports more zap resistant?

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Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

"NSM" <nowrite@to.me> wrote in message
news:aAUGd.115649$KO5.61871@clgrps13...
>
> "Lee Waun" <leewaun@telus.net> wrote in message
> news:f%IGd.106158$dv1.18162@edtnps89...
> | N
> | >
> | > Wow, -6 degrees. I feel sorry for you folks; must be
> | > terrible! Shall we send emergency aid?
> | >
> | No no need to panic. The cold spell has ended and it is raining and 6
> | degrees out. Luckily the rain is now melting that snow we had. We have
> | bylaws outlawing snow here. Snow is for the rest of the country. We
> don't
> | allow it here.
> |
> | > Come and visit Winnipeg. -29 now (mid afternoon; with -34 forecast
> | > for tonight. And that doesn't include the windchill... with
> | > it it will drop to the mid -40's :
> | >
> | Only fools and my brother and sister live in Winterpeg. There is a
> reason
> it
> | is called winterpeg.
>
> My Grandparents emigrated from Scotland to Brandon, MB, around 1900. It
> was
> so cold there that after a few years they re-emigrated to New Zealand.
>
> N

They made the right choice.
>

 

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Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:27:48 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
wrote:

>
>
>Dave VanHorn wrote:
>>>>Come and visit Winnipeg. -29 now (mid afternoon; with -34 forecast
>>>>for tonight. And that doesn't include the windchill... with
>>>>it it will drop to the mid -40's :
>>
>>
>> Just for grins, how do you handle your plumbing to keep it from freezing?
>>
>
>Hi...
>
>A few of the luckier of us have indoor plumbing nowdays...
>Whatever will they think of next?
>
>Seriously, it's no problem... I froze my water line
>where it enters the house once many many years ago;
>but 'twas my own fault, and easily cured. Finished
>the basement, put R40 insulation on the outer walls.
>Left the water line (where it exits the meter) tight
>against the concrete wall so it was insulated from any
>house heat.
>
>One of my neighbors is in the Caribbean as we speak;
>I go over daily and empty his mail box; go inside and
>turn on one of the cold water taps, flush the toilet
>a couple of times, make sure the furnace is still
>holding the temperature up, and done. No problem.
>
>Come on up and visit

I lived in a mini-home for awhile, and we needed both heat tape and
thick insulation for the water pipe behind the skirting where it left
the ground and entered the house. It froze several times on us, and
once frozen, was quite troublesome to thaw. Had it been a metal pipe
it would've been easier, I suppose.

Tom

Tom

>
>Ken
>

 

[keith]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 21:13:53 +0000, Tom MacIntyre wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:27:48 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>Dave VanHorn wrote:
>>>>>Come and visit Winnipeg. -29 now (mid afternoon; with -34 forecast
>>>>>for tonight. And that doesn't include the windchill... with
>>>>>it it will drop to the mid -40's :
>>>
>>>
>>> Just for grins, how do you handle your plumbing to keep it from freezing?
>>>
>>
>>Hi...
>>
>>A few of the luckier of us have indoor plumbing nowdays...
>>Whatever will they think of next?
>>
>>Seriously, it's no problem... I froze my water line
>>where it enters the house once many many years ago;
>>but 'twas my own fault, and easily cured. Finished
>>the basement, put R40 insulation on the outer walls.
>>Left the water line (where it exits the meter) tight
>>against the concrete wall so it was insulated from any
>>house heat.
>>
>>One of my neighbors is in the Caribbean as we speak;
>>I go over daily and empty his mail box; go inside and
>>turn on one of the cold water taps, flush the toilet
>>a couple of times, make sure the furnace is still
>>holding the temperature up, and done. No problem.
>>
>>Come on up and visit
>
> I lived in a mini-home for awhile, and we needed both heat tape and
> thick insulation for the water pipe behind the skirting where it left
> the ground and entered the house. It froze several times on us, and
> once frozen, was quite troublesome to thaw. Had it been a metal pipe
> it would've been easier, I suppose.

When I was in college *moons* ago (yes, they had colleges back then) we
owned a "mobile home" (a.k.a. tornado target) in cold country. Pretty
much every year we had the heat-tape burn out underneath the trailer and
had to have someone come out and fix it. It generally took an hour or so
for the tech to get it all back together (and a pot of money no college
student has). The tech carried a spot-welder in the truck and hooked it
to each end of the pipe. Instant thaw! Yeah, metal was easier. ;-)

--
Keith

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 21:13:53 GMT, Tom MacIntyre
<tom__macintyre@hotmail.com> wrote:


>>
>>One of my neighbors is in the Caribbean as we speak;
>>I go over daily and empty his mail box; go inside and
>>turn on one of the cold water taps, flush the toilet
>>a couple of times, make sure the furnace is still
>>holding the temperature up, and done. No problem.
>>
>>Come on up and visit
>
>I lived in a mini-home for awhile, and we needed both heat tape and
>thick insulation for the water pipe behind the skirting where it left
>the ground and entered the house. It froze several times on us, and
>once frozen, was quite troublesome to thaw. Had it been a metal pipe
>it would've been easier, I suppose.

Forgot...I live in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (Atlantic Canada), and it
isn't nearly as cold here as it is in Winnipeg.

Tom

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

Franc Zabkar wrote:

> On 14 Jan 2005 22:19:26 -0800, "larry moe 'n curly"
> <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>
> > Several months ago, a port on an NEC-based USB card failed
> > (a section of its LM3526 power controller & overcurrent
> > protection chip blew), and just recently the same happened
> > to an ALI-based USB card.
>
> Do both cards use the same NS chip?
>
> Is it possible that you have an open ground at your mains
> outlet? This would result in a case potential of half the
> mains voltage.

The ground seems to be OK (120VAC from ground to hot, 0VAC from ground
to neutral), and the ALi card doesn't use a separate
controller/protector chip but has the USB chip tied directly to the
ports.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

Tom MacIntyre wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:27:48 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>Dave VanHorn wrote:
>>
>>>>>Come and visit Winnipeg. -29 now (mid afternoon; with -34 forecast
>>>>>for tonight. And that doesn't include the windchill... with
>>>>>it it will drop to the mid -40's :
>>>
>>>
>>>Just for grins, how do you handle your plumbing to keep it from freezing?
>>>
>>
>>Hi...
>>
>>A few of the luckier of us have indoor plumbing nowdays...
>>Whatever will they think of next?
>>
>>Seriously, it's no problem... I froze my water line
>>where it enters the house once many many years ago;
>>but 'twas my own fault, and easily cured. Finished
>>the basement, put R40 insulation on the outer walls.
>>Left the water line (where it exits the meter) tight
>>against the concrete wall so it was insulated from any
>>house heat.
>>
>>One of my neighbors is in the Caribbean as we speak;
>>I go over daily and empty his mail box; go inside and
>>turn on one of the cold water taps, flush the toilet
>>a couple of times, make sure the furnace is still
>>holding the temperature up, and done. No problem.
>>
>>Come on up and visit
>
>
> I lived in a mini-home for awhile, and we needed both heat tape and
> thick insulation for the water pipe behind the skirting where it left
> the ground and entered the house. It froze several times on us, and
> once frozen, was quite troublesome to thaw. Had it been a metal pipe
> it would've been easier, I suppose.


Hi Tom...

Metal may well have been easier to thaw; just wave a
torch back and forth on it for a while. BIG downside
to metal, though. If it ever freezes solid, it's
going to burst the pipe, and then you have huge
problems to deal with.

Plastic on the other hand has enough give to it that it
doesn't burst.

Ken

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 12:15:51 -0500, "Dave VanHorn"
<dvanhorn@dvanhorn.org> wrote:

>
>>> Come and visit Winnipeg. -29 now (mid afternoon; with -34 forecast
>>> for tonight. And that doesn't include the windchill... with
>>> it it will drop to the mid -40's :
>
>Just for grins, how do you handle your plumbing to keep it from freezing?

That's what long underwear is for! :>

Ohh.. did you mean your house plumbing?

-------------
Tony Hill
hilla <underscore> 20 <at> yahoo <dot> ca

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: sci.electronics.repair,sci.electronics.basics,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips (More info?)

On 14 Jan 2005 22:19:26 -0800, "larry moe 'n curly"
<larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> put finger to keyboard and composed:

>Several months ago, a port on an NEC-based USB card failed (a section
>of its LM3526 power controller & overcurrent protection chip blew), and
>just recently the same happened to an ALI-based USB card.

Do both cards use the same NS chip?

Is it possible that you have an open ground at your mains outlet? This
would result in a case potential of half the mains voltage.


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.