[SOLVED] Old apartment wiring - constant voltage fluctuation. How to protect PC?

[blablaalb]

I live in an old apartment built during the Soviet Era. The wiring has not changed since then and the voltage in the apartment is constantly fluctuating. I'm not an electrician and I don't have a multimeter to measure the intensity of fluctuations but the light bulbs are noticeably dimming. I'm very worried that my pc can be damaged due to those fluctuations and I'm wondering whether it is worth buying a voltage stabilizer. If it is worth buying a stabilizer, which one from those suppliers (this and this) would you recommend me buying. Can this do the trick?
Our neighbor performs welding work using inverter, so the fluctuations are constant and very rapid. Can those stabilizers mentioned above protect the pc?
PC specs:

Operating System​

Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit​

CPU​

AMD Ryzen 5 52 °C​

Pinnacle Ridge 12nm Technology​

RAM​

16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown (20-19-19-43)​

Motherboard​

ASRock B450M Pro4-F (AM4) 41 °C​

Graphics​

HP LA2306 (1920x1080@60Hz)​

4096MB ATI AMD Radeon RX 560 Series (ATI AIB) 36 °C​

Storage​

465GB Seagate ST3500418AS (SATA ) 44 °C​

Optical Drives​

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSD1​

Audio​

AMD High Definition Audio Device​

PSU​

Thermaltake Toughpower GX1 RGB 500W ATX 12V v2.4 and EPS v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Cert​

 

[lvt]

Voltage stabilizer is the way to go, my family had one when I were young to protect the appliances so I know why it's really worth having one.

 

[blablaalb]

I don't know which one should I buy. There're variety of stabilizers, some are expensive some are cheaper. How do I choose which one to buy, based on what parameters? Can this stabilizer manage it? It seems to be less expensive compared the others. I don't know which one should I buy. What's least expensive stabilizer that would do the trick?

 

[lvt]

What is the voltage in your country?

 

[blablaalb]

What is the voltage in your country?

I'm almost sure it's 220v

 

[blablaalb]

I've also watched some videos on YouTube overviewing those stabilizers and it was said that sometimes the outlet voltage reported by the stabilizer doesn't the match the actual voltage. For example stabilizer might report stable 220v, but if one measures it with multimeter it would show fluctuation between 215-220

 

[blablaalb]

In general: How damaging are power fluctuations for pc? Can power supply alone deal with small fluctuations?
Can we call small range power fluctuations to be safe? If yes then what would be the range?
And how effective are stabilizers? Can we be sure that stabilizer always provides stable 220v? (I personally have doubts that the cheap stabilizers are effective, not sure about expensive ones.)

 

[SoumithCS]

Stabilizers are not good for PCs. Because PC PSU has to regulate voltage going to all PC components and stablizers are of two types Active Voltage Regulation(AVR) and Static voltage regulation. I suggest you to buy a UPS from APC or any reputable brand. Because APC PSUs have AVR built in and in case of power outage they can give an extra hour of backup too. In your case you might need to buy a UPS that is rated for 660W output. Hope that I have helped you in this issue.

 

[blablaalb]

Stabilizers are not good for PCs. Because PC PSU has to regulate voltage going to all PC components and stablizers are of two types Active Voltage Regulation(AVR) and Static voltage regulation. I suggest you to buy a UPS from APC or any reputable brand. Because APC PSUs have AVR built in and in case of power outage they can give an extra hour of backup too. In your case you might need to buy a PSU that is rated for 660W output. Hope that I have helped you in this issue.

Thank you for the answer. I've some questions regarding the UPS:

• Do all APC's UPSs have AVR built in or only some specific models?
• In case if the fluctuation is not very big, say 200v-210v instead of 220v, will the PSU stabilize it or it only kicks in when the fluctuation is significant?
• And why would I need 600w PSU? Because of the old apartment wiring the voltage drops below 220v, but I don't think it goes above it.

 

[lvt]

Generally, you only need an UPS when your place frequency has power outages, it would give you the time to properly turn your computer off. While some UPS have voltage stabilizer, but fixing voltage fluctuation wasn't their primary purpose.

The voltage stabilizer we had before lasted more than a decade, when we moved to a residential area with better power line we gave it away as it's still fully functional. I don't know whether an UPS could last that long with zero maintenance.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Seems like UPS units you get a year or two, kind of depends. In the USA though, you can get a decent one for 150 dollars. There are smaller ones as well. No experience with the voltage stabilizer, so I'd probably try the UPS.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

you can get a powerline conditioner and a UPS is always nice.

https://www.tripplite.com/products/power-conditioners~23

i would get the powerline conditioner before wasting money on a weak ups, get a good one. don't be a Cheapy McCheapSkate. you won't regret it.

 

[mikewinddale]

A line-interactive UPS includes both a line-conditioner and a battery backup.

There are at least 5 relevant kinds of devices:

(1) Surge suppressor - protects against surges and line noise (EMI - electromagnetic interference).

All of the following devices combine a surge suppressor plus additional features. . .

(2) Standby UPS - powers your devices directly from AC power, switches over to battery in the case of a blackout. Will power your device when the power is totally off (blackout). Does not protect against brownouts.

(3) Line-conditioner - will condition the power to protect against over- and under-voltages (AVR - automatic voltage regulation), including brownouts. But has no battery, so will do nothing in the case of a blackout.

(4) Online UPS - powers your device from the battery at all times, and simultaneously recharges the battery when AC power is on. Provides maximum power conditioning because you are always running from the battery. However, these are extravagantly expensive.

(5) Line-interactive UPS - combination of standby UPS plus line-conditioner (AVR - automatic voltage regulation). Protects against both blackouts and brownouts. Does not condition power as well as an online UPS, but it is actually affordable for regular people.

A line-interactive UPS is your best bet. It isn't quite as good as an online UPS, but it is still second-best, and it is actually affordable.

See here and here for more details.

So look for a UPS that mentions features such as: true sine wave (as opposed to stepped approximation), AVR (automatic voltage regulation), and line-interactive.

 

[SoumithCS]

Thank you for the answer. I've some questions regarding the UPS:

• Do all APC's UPSs have AVR built in or only some specific models?
• In case if the fluctuation is not very big, say 200v-210v instead of 220v, will the PSU stabilize it or it only kicks in when the fluctuation is significant?
• And why would I need 600w PSU? Because of the old apartment wiring the voltage drops below 220v, but I don't think it goes above it.

1. I think almost all APC UPS have AVR built in. It will be mentioned in product information on any e-commerce website.
2. In case of UPS it's primary duty is to supply a stable voltage to PC while giving some extra power backup by charging its cells.
3. And I did not say you to buy 600W PSU. I told you to buy a UPS rated for 660W output.
4. If you have any more doubts you can call APC Schneider Helpline and ask your doubts, they will provide you the best solution