Question about electrical issues- important

JaniceM

JaniceM

Well-known Member
Location
still lost between two shores..
A previous landlord had a hand-held device that he used a few times to make sure electrical outlets were safe and in working condition.
Is there anyone here who knows what the device is called- AND if it would have been a good alternative to a situation I had today?:

This totally sucks: an inspector, presumably doing a routine inspection (as they do of apartment buildings) shut off my electricity allegedly to check to see if it was working.
I told this (excuse vocabulary) stupid girl that if I shut down my computer it might not start again. Well, guess what. If anyone here has been reading my post in the Computers section, like the saying goes 'here we go again'- I spent the rest of the day and still trying to get my PC started, but still no luck. :(

So I'm wondering if anyone here has input on any of this...
 

Not sure what you are asking. Do you want to know if the outlet you use for your computer power is working? A simple way to test is to plug in a lamp or other small electrical device you know that works on another outlet. If it works it's your computer power supply that is probably malfunctioning.

something like this.
Thermaltake Smart 500W 80+ White Certified PSU, Continuous Power with 120mm Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan, ATX 12V V2.3/EPS 12V Active PFC Power Supply PS-SPD-0500NPCWUS-W
4.6 out of 5 stars 18,440
$39.99 $44.99

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=computer...s_w_sbl-tr-t1_computer-power-supply_k0_1_14_2
 

Knight said:
Not sure what you are asking. Do you want to know if the outlet you use for your computer power is working? A simple way to test is to plug in a lamp or other small electrical device you know that works on another outlet. If it works it's your computer power supply that is probably malfunctioning.

something like this.
Thermaltake Smart 500W 80+ White Certified PSU, Continuous Power with 120mm Ultra Quiet Cooling Fan, ATX 12V V2.3/EPS 12V Active PFC Power Supply PS-SPD-0500NPCWUS-W
4.6 out of 5 stars 18,440
$39.99 $44.99

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=computer...s_w_sbl-tr-t1_computer-power-supply_k0_1_14_2
Click to expand...
No, I know the outlet is working, and so are all the other outlets.
In fact, when she said she needed to check, the maintenance guy who was with her said he'd already checked recently and everything was working fine- but she said SHE had to do it.
 
Electrical outlets and wiring thereto can be tested with a device like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-R...ocphy=9031142&hvtargid=pla-569358703601&psc=1

But without knowing the specifics of what the inspector was looking for, or why, it cannot be said that the above device is sufficient to test what they needed to test. The fact is power outages are a common occurrence and it is generally the homeowner's responsibility to be able to handle short term outages. If your child is in an iron lung and will die without electricity, the power company will advise you to get a UPS (uninterruptible power system) or a backup generator to be able to get through an outage. Your computer sounds like it is on life support. But it would actually be cheaper to buy a brand new computer for super cheap, remove the hard drive from your existing computer then buy a USB enclosure also super cheap and transfer your data across to the new computer. That is what I would do in your situation. Here is a link to an entire new WIN 10 computer for $139.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Desktop-C...rds=Windows+10+Desktop&qid=1668740152&sr=8-13

The reason I would do it this way is to have leftover spare equipment that may be substituted as necessary. Then you would know if your monitor is any good, whether your Windows 10 OS is corrupt, as I strongly suspect it is. Sometimes the best solution to a problem is to throw money at it until it works. That's what I do myself many times. Good luck with your project!

Steve Hansen
Registered Professional Electrical Engineer, Calif
 
sch404 said:
Electrical outlets and wiring thereto can be tested with a device like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-R...ocphy=9031142&hvtargid=pla-569358703601&psc=1

But without knowing the specifics of what the inspector was looking for, or why, it cannot be said that the above device is sufficient to test what they needed to test. The fact is power outages are a common occurrence and it is generally the homeowner's responsibility to be able to handle short term outages. If your child is in an iron lung and will die without electricity, the power company will advise you to get a UPS (uninterruptible power system) or a backup generator to be able to get through an outage. Your computer sounds like it is on life support. But it would actually be cheaper to buy a brand new computer for super cheap, remove the hard drive from your existing computer then buy a USB enclosure also super cheap and transfer your data across to the new computer. That is what I would do in your situation. Here is a link to an entire new WIN 10 computer for $139.

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Desktop-C...rds=Windows+10+Desktop&qid=1668740152&sr=8-13

The reason I would do it this way is to have leftover spare equipment that may be substituted as necessary. Then you would know if your monitor is any good, whether your Windows 10 OS is corrupt, as I strongly suspect it is. Sometimes the best solution to a problem is to throw money at it until it works. That's what I do myself many times. Good luck with your project!

Steve Hansen
Registered Professional Electrical Engineer, Calif
Click to expand...
Do YOU have any idea what this person was doing- waving something around in front of outlets?
 
Assuming he/she did not have a ouija board and bones in his/her ears, he/she could have been simply testing for infrared radiation AKA heat. Bad wiring tends to get hot. Usually you can detect this by simply putting your hand on the wall plate of the junction box. But they might have been trying to get a quantitative or yes/no threshold measure of whether a problem exists.
 
PS: I just gave away, to the local battered women shelter, a perfectly working Dell Vostro Win 10 mini desktop computer with monitor, mouse and keyboard. So you might check the local thrift stores or Craig's List for this kind of stuff. Sometimes you can get a bargain. Other times you get junk.
 
Was this a building inspector that works for some level of government like city or county? Shutting off the power makes sure that it actually does shut off and is able to be shut off from where it's supposed to. Things aren't always done the way they're supposed to be.
A friend of mine when an electrician apprentice was working in an old part of town that had buildings converted to trendy retail shops. These were separate one story buildings with common walls, not formerly one large building. The, came place he was working at the power was not able to killed from anywhere in the building--in fact it was run from the service of a building two doors down the street. Quite a surprise.
Electricians have a variety of testers that are touchless so probably what was being waived at the outlet.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top