Date   : Fri, 07 Jun 1985 06:57:00-EDT
From   : ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA
Subject: Re: power supply protectors.

Cliff, et al,

Re maybe old houses with old wiring producing "bad" power, killing power
supplies and floppy drives.

Well, old, underwired houses might cause a voltage drop by the time it gets to
the PC, but a quick test (well, maybe an extended watching) with any old
voltmeter would tell you something about that.  If there is low voltage,
the good old Sola variable voltage transformers are great for that.  I ran
a bushel of Apples in tactical environments at Fort Bragg and Germany,
HORRIBLE electricity, and there was nothing like a boat anchor Sola to bring
the voltage up to snuff.

If rats are chewing/dancing on the wires and causing spikes, most of your
(relatively) inexpensive isolators could strip the spikes out.

Combination of Sola transformer and any old isolator usually served us just
fine, commonly running with 85 volts AC, fluctuating up to 140 volts when
the generator operator let the RPM run away, no-notice shutdowns and startups,
lightning through the trees and dancing through the tents, spikes and
drops making color monitors look like oscilloscopes...

Plus you can keep your feet/coffee warm on the Sola.

Regards,
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall