Hello, I am new to homesteading and am still in the process of building my solar/battery system. Is there a device or appliance I can use in conjunction with my generator to safely run my computer? Thank You. Mike

-- mike meadows (flatopmike@yahoo.com), October 05, 1999

Answers

Hi-we have solar power and sometimes in the winter have to run the generator or when the batteries are low. I have a surge protecter that plugs into the AC power then the computer plugs into it. I haven't had any problems.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), October 06, 1999.

If you want to spend $50 or more, you can pick up a UPS - uninterruptible power supply. They're quite handy even if you're tied to the power grid, but it should act as a leveling device for low voltage operation and unexpected generator shutdown. Mainly the cheap ones are designed to allow you time to shut the computer system down gracefully, which Windows (on PCs of course) appreciates. Other than that, a line filter should be all you need, some power strips (the better ones) come with that built in... to help keep noise and voltage spikes away from the computer's power supply, and computer generated noise out of the power lines.

John

-- John Schnoor (camelid@sofnet.com), October 31, 1999.

I suggest that you get a better than average UPS (power conditioning type). Get one that the computer runs off of the UPS circuits 100%, and doesn't switch to the battery when power dips. Generators have a tendency of doing all kinds of weird things, and just when you need them to be steady. Computers don't like this much. Another alternative is to use a laptop that will take DC power. This is much more compatible with your solar sources. That way, you aren't converting from DC to AC and back to DC inside the computer. And you can sit under a tree and type in your thoughts...:-)

-- Dan (dan@invedyne.com), September 19, 2000.