From: "RobertB." 

In article ,
 "Glenn Meadows"  wrote:

> See if you can get a powerline monitor, that expands the 100-135 volt range
> to full scale, or get a Digital Volt meter, and re-wire an extension cord so
> you can plug it into the wall socket, and view the power line voltage next
> time the trim LED comes on.  Could be either low, or high.  Only way to
> know, is to monitor it.

Is a power line monitor different than a multimeter? Is it somehting I can
pick up at Radio Shack? The old Sperry meter has different ranges of
measurement; the current one goes up to 250 V. But it's a little awkward to
use since you have to hold the probes in the wall socket and make sure you
make a connection.



>
> --
>
> Glenn M.
> "RobertB."  wrote in message
> news:rb28-D1FC86.14431518112006{at}w3.nls.net...
> > Any EEs out there or people who know electricity? I have two APC UPS
> > SmartUPs in my office, a smallish 750 VA unit attached to my G4 iMac and
> > a large 1000VA unit attached to my ancient Micron and my new iMac
> > core2duo (Yowza!).
> >
> > Here's the deal. Previously, I used to not turn the Micron on much so I
> > would shut the large SmartUPS off at night (since the computer was only
> > on a couple of days a week at most). However, the new iMac, like all
> > Macs, has an Energy Saver feature, so I simply put it to sleep at night.
> > Easy. When it's on, the usage light on the large SmartUPS doesn't even
> > go on, the machine is energy efficient. (The Micron, which has a couple
> > of externals attached causes it to move up one notch). So there's no
> > real voltage draw. OK. I noticed, twice now, that in the morning when I
> > come into the office, the Voltage Trim light is on, indicating high
> > voltage on the line. However, it only appears on one of the SmartUPS.
> > Both machines are in the same room and, as far as I know, connected to
> > the same circuit. After a while, the Trim light goes out.
> >
> > FYI, about two weeks ago, the same thing happened one night to the 750VA
> > UPS. The Voltage Trim light was on for several hours, then went out. I
> > have no idea why it would affect one UPS and not the other, why it seems
> > to happen on a regular basis, and why it would come and go. The owner of
> > the building (an old tenement) installed a new boiler about six weeks
> > ago and I'm wondering if they did something weird. At one point this
> > summer they were running new cabling up the walls on all the floors, but
> > I have no idea if they ever connected the stuff. I can't figure it out.
> > The voltage trim light just went out about 10 minutes ago. Bizarre.
>
>

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