CE Risks from Argentina's Drop to 209V?

stm2 asks: "Effective yesterday at 6 PM GMT, the voltage in Argentina was dropped from 220V to 209V (without any warning). The aim of this change is to save power. According to gov' officials, it won't affect domestic appliances. As a concerned IT worker I think some high precision electric devices could be at stake. There is an ongoing national debate about it. Could the technical community at Slashdot give some insights about possible unintended effects?"

Comments

Regulation.

[computersareevil]

If you have any "precision electric devices" that relies on clean power from the electric company, you have been deceived. Quality precision electronics will always provide plenty of filtering and regulation of their own.

Re:Regulation.

[squiggleslash]

None of the UK has weather like the SE USA does (yes, I've lived in both places... although I was very, very young when I lived in the UK). We have far more thunderstorms and tornados than just about anywhere else on the planet.

Interestingly, Britain is, according to a survey I can't find right now, the place in the world with the largest number of reported tornados for its size. Of course, there are tornados and there are tornados, and it's relatively rare for what passes in Britain as one to be destructive - though not unheard of (as people in Reading, Berks can tell you about two years ago.)

Hurricane-strength storms hit Britain every five to ten years - the last one was a couple of years ago, November 2001 IIRC. British people are so used to them they never think of them in those terms, indeed Britain generally plans for them - count the wood:stone ratio of homes in Britain compared to the US. Fortunately Britain's coastline is dominated by cliffs, otherwise it'd see more damage than the occasional wall collapsing or roof being blown off.

AC Motors

[Detritus]

I thought that the main risk during power brown-outs was damage to AC motors from overheating. At least that's what they have mentioned on local radio stations when we've had power shortages.

Germany: 220V - 230V

[Tux2000]

Some time ago, voltage was switched from 220V to 230V in Germany (and thus 380V to 400V for three phase current). There was a lot of arguing and lamenting, but nothing interesting happened. Most consumer electr(on)ic devices were rated 220V +/- 10%, while the power authorities guaranteed 220V +/- 5%. Now, devices are rated 230V +/- 10% and power is 230V +/- 5%. So most devices work within their specification, no matter if it is based on 220V or 230V. Some light bulbs rated 220V will light a tiny bit brighter while reducing ther lifetime by a few days.

I don't know how precise Argentina's power authorities can deliver electric power, but I guess they specify it with +/- 5%. They reduced power by exactly 5%, it should not harm most consumer electr(on)ic devices. All heating devices should have no problems, they work with slightly reduced power. Most electronic devices use voltage regulators, so they can accept a wide range of input voltage. Some few devices may need a very precise AC input voltage, but they should already work with some regulation device. The remainder could use an active UPS that generates a very precise output voltage no matter how "ugly" the input voltage is. Wide range power supplies, as used with many modern laptops, accept any input voltage between 90V and 260V, as long as it is AC. They won't have any problems with 230V, 209 V, 135V, 188V, or whatever you find at the next power outlet.

And the best of all: Light bulbs will life longer in Argentina. ;-)

Tux2000

Re:Germany: 220V - 230V

[funky womble]

In UK, when EU voltages were 'harmonised', the normal supply at 240v was already within the permitted range, so only the nominal voltage was changed to 230v, the actual supply voltage remained at 240v. See this article for more details and potential problems of this approach.