Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with power

Wii Won't Work

ColdChef — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:39:02 -0800

I think Hurricane Gustav killed my Wii. I lost power during the storm for five days and now the Wii won't come on. The "standby" light doesn't even glow. I've moved it to different plugs. I don't THINK that it took a lightning hit, since there wasn't any lightning during the storm and nothing else on the power strip seems to be acting wonky.

Okay...even queerer. As I was typing this post, I ran across the street to my cousin's house to see if I could borrow HIS Wii power cable. And HIS Wii is dead, too. And his wife said that the same thing happened to my other cousin after the last storm...when the lights came back on, the Wii didn't work. She said that that one started working about a week later, though.

Any ideas? Also, does anyone know if I can get federal compensation for all the lost Wii Fit credits I earned? :)

How can I reduce my electric bill?

Kosh — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:27:06 -0800

First time living alone, and just got my first electric bill... what's using so much power? How much power does my computer really use? This may seem like a stupid question, but any apparent stupidity is just lack of experience, as I've never lived in situations where I was completely and solely responsible for all bills before. I live in a 600 sq ft apartment with central air. Stove/oven and water heater are both gas, so the big draws on electricity are (presumably) the AC and my 24" iMac, which I use as both a music server when I'm around the apartment and connect to remotely from my laptop when I'm at school, so it's running 24/7. A large and bright display like that probably draws a fair bit of power, but when I'm not using it the display shuts off very quickly, so the display is usually off. (I have a TV as well, but it's also usually off.) I generally have the AC on at night, but off otherwise. I'm very good at shutting lights off when I'm not here, keeping the fridge door securely closed, etc. The computer is not doing processor-intensive activities when I'm not here... it has the standard set of OS X background processes going, an hourly Time Machine backup, and an IRC session in the terminal that I'll connect to remotely from my laptop or my phone when I'm out. That's it.

So, I didn't think I used a lot of power, but I received an $80 bill for less than a month's worth of power use (I moved in on 8/17). This was a good deal higher than I was expecting, because I thought I was fairly judicious about energy use and I'm not sure what I can target to reduce that bill. Is most of that bill going to be the AC, or could I put a significant dent in it by putting my computer to sleep when I'm not here? I can learn to live without the convenience of remote access or a streaming music library if it'll reduce my bill in any significant way, but my (potentially incorrect) understanding was that computers didn't use a ton of power these days and that displays were where most of the power use came from. Maybe I'm wrong?

Is there power outlets in the "coach" class of Amtrak?

Idiot Mittens — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:03:41 -0800

Is there power outlets in the "coach" class of Amtrak? Specifically for a trip from Montreal to New York City.

Fried laptop?

yoyo_nyc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:05:31 -0800

Did I fry my laptop? (I was really stupid) My power supplied somehow died in a way that made it difficult to fix. Hence I just bought another power supply with multiple voltages.
You guess, the switch moved while on the road and instead of 16 V, I turned it on with 15 V (1 V lower). Realizing this after a second or so, I immediately turned the switch to 16V while the power supply was still plugged (it states that you must not do this). Now my laptop seems dead but not funny smell or anything. Even the van does not turn on.
The power supply makes some low volume but hearable high frequency noise when it is plugged in position 15V or 16V (not not in the others that are available). Maybe a blown capacitor?
Since I don't have access to a Voltmeter before Tuesday:

Did I fry my new power supply, my laptop or both?

(My poor 10" subnote, has served me well many years. May have to bury it somewhere if it died).

Why does my Mac power adapter spark?

plasticbugs — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:55:15 -0800

When I plug my MacBook Pro Power Adapter into most/all outlets, I see a blue spark as the prongs enter the outlet. Is this normal? I see and hear a spark every time I plug my MacBook Pro power adapter into an outlet. I'm using the standard two prong charger seen here. I think the sparking is a new thing. I don't remember this happening regularly before; I bought my MacBook pro two years ago. What causes the spark? Should I be worried about my charger (and ultimately, my laptop)? Does anyone else have this happening with their power adapters?

As a precaution, I make sure to plug the adapter into the wall before I connect it to my laptop.

For reference, the spark seems bigger than a standard static electricity spark.

Is my power supply dead?

Andy Harwood — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:05:07 -0800

I just noticed that my Macbook's battery is running down even though the power supply is plugged in. Do I need a new power supply or could it be something I can fix?

Deep Woods Rockin'

Overzealous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:17:01 -0800

I'm looking for a simple "let's listen to music while we're camping far away from our cars" power solution. I have an iPod and a pair of portable Sony SRS-Z500 active speakers (with a regular old AC plug) that I think could do the trick if I could buy a magical box that would hold a thousand D-Cell batteries and have a regular old AC outlet on the front.

There won't be an outlet (obviously) or any cars around. I don't need it to run for a month...maybe 8 hours of total music playback. I'm not MacGyver and to me the word "Ohms" sounds more like a Buddhist mantra than something from physics class.

Am I looking for a Power Inverter? Or some kind of battery pack? An Uninterruptible Power Supply? Links to specific brands or manufacturers would be appreciated.

[The Sony Speakers say Input: AC 120V 60Hz 20w and Output: DC 9v 1100mA :: Class 2 Power Supply if that helps]

How do national grid forecast demand acturately

henry.oswald — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:33:48 -0800

How do national grid forecast demand acturately? How do national grid forecast demand acturately? I know they look at the weather and history/patterns. But does anyone know more precisely how they do it, from day to day and year to year?

Will a universal Craftsman charger work with my 15.6V drill?

ets960 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:57:24 -0800

Will a universal Craftsman charger work with my 15.6V drill? It's a 15.6 V cordless drill, numbers on the drill are G0330, model number 315.114630. There's an image of the drill on ebay: here.

The battery number is 130234027. My other charger stopped charging and I forgot about the warranty and was pissed off so I threw it away. Now I have the drill with two batteries but can't charge them. I can buy a new 15.6 V charger, but it's not worth it to pay 40 dollars for the charger when I can pay 80 for a brand new 18V drill. I just want a cheap charger that will keep this thing going for a while until I end up buying a new set of tools.

The 18V universal chargers don't mention this battery, but I feel like it would work anyways, but I'd hate to spend 20 bucks and have it not work. Does anybody have any ideas?

My "current" problem...

mezzanayne — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:19:58 -0800

So I'm installing a new dishwasher. I've yanked the power cable from the old one (not paying a bit of attention as to how it was connected, of course), and now I haven't a clue as to how to attach it to the new one. The cord is a standard 3-prong, part #4317824. There are tons of pictures of it online, but no instructions that I've been able to find so far. Any help?

P.S. This previous post wasn't much help.

Overcoming a Human Roadblock

GeniPalm — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:33:18 -0800

I guess the question should really be, "how to overcome a MENTAL roadblock that has taken the form of a person?" I guess my situation can be likened to those age-old stories of someone not being able to forgive a parent for a bad childhood, and blames the parent for his/her failures. But my story is about an unwelcomed competition from a cousin, one that instead of facing I've always cowered to, and have thus grown in resentment and have become stifled as I continue watcihng my life unfold in misery, Wondering how to reclaim a personal sense of power regardless of her presence in my life, even though it seems it keeps "haunting" me. I guess the question should really be, "how to overcome a MENTAL roadblock that has taken the form of a person?"

I don't really know how to articulate fully this years-old dilemma of mine into a paragraph or so, but I will try, only because I honestly don't know what else to do. I don't know how to get past this and it's eating at my life, or more accurately, has devoured my life.

I have a cousin around the same age as me. Ever since I can remember, her parents have pitted her against me, competing on everything, especially educationally. I think this was a holdover from a competition between our moms, sisters also closely linked in age. I honestly never seriously considered the competition until it was continually brought to me. Like I vividly remember years ago, my cousin making snide comments about my scoring higher on the SAT, or when I had any semblance of happiness in my life on a social front, she would do these passive-aggressive things that showed her displeasure with my happiness! I really grew to resent her and tried to distance myself from her until unfortuately we ended up not just at the same college, but even as roommates. It was horrible. I increasingly grew self-concious of everything I did. It seemed every step I made toward trying to establish the kind of life I wanted that didn't include her, she would find a way to maneuver her way in. Following me to church, befriending my friends, joining the sorority she knew I wanted to (I ended up not joining for the sole reason of trying to avoid her!), and the list goes on. A few years ago, I found out that when I started grad school, she was asking around about what I was studying, "what's SHE doing there?" Not long after she enrolled. I quit. It came to a point where I looked back on my life and saw so many things I forfeited on, for the sole purpose of avoiding her, like her negative spirit was just daring me to succeed and be happy or something. It's weird I know, and it sounds strange. But after therapy for a year (yep I went to therapy over this ONE person!), trying to figure out how to be strong enough to just focus on me, after years of thinking and re-thinking, analyzing, turning to church and spiritual and self-help books, you name it, I still haven't figured out how to get past this.

I link all of my failures to her presence in my life. So many times I've thought about how free I would feel if I never knew anyone like her, if she was never born or something. I feel so weak, so beaten down. I wish my spriit was as strong as hers, but it's not. I wish I could be as aggressive at my life as she is at both hers and MY life, but I'm not. In theory, I know the answer: Just focus on your life. But we're first cousins in a tight-knit family. She is not someone I can just remove from my life forever. Even when I don't want to hear anything about her, people volunteer the info. So erasing her is not an option. I guess getting over my resentment towards her is paramount to moving on, but how? Every time I make a step forward, I start thinking about how that step should have been taken years ago, then I start thinking about why it wasn't, and there she is again, in my head, stifling my energy. I'm lost.

How do you get over someone you [rightly or wrongly] blame for your misery? Or better yet, how do you overcome the power you've allowed this person to take from you?

You know. Doc Brown style. Into a flux capacitor...

cinemafiend — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:04:56 -0800

Is anyone working on harvesting the energy of lightning? It seems like it would be a great technological breakthrough and might alleviate some of our energy needs (a green technology if there ever was one). Surely someone (Tesla?) has made attempts at harnessing this natural resource...

Any links/thoughts will be welcome.

Drill It Into My Head

kaizen — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:03:34 -0800

Help me understand electricity and physics and how they apply to motors. I have my head around electricity basics and electromagnetism, but I have a few unanswered questions about the more subtle aspects. Take a cordless / corded drill for example. When I press 'Go' on the drill, it is my understanding that a circuit is created, and in between sits the load / electromagnet(s). Is all of the electricity consumed by the electromagnet? If not, where does the rest go? Is the speed of the drill controlled mechanically through gears or through some type of electro-thingy? How does all that torque get created? Are there powerful magnets driving it? How is the motion reversed? Instead of asking a million questions, can someone explain how all the magic happens in a variable speed drill and where are those electrons eventually end up.

What male do I seek?

defcom1 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 06:15:12 -0800

I have a mystery wall socket. What can I do with it? There are two, one in the bedroom one in the living room. I'm in Australia. The multimeter doesn't help (no voltage, resistance of '1', no amperage). The only thing I can think of is either a very old phone system, or maybe an antenna connection to some sort of common external antenna (apartment building, 9 high)? Any insight?

Watts a volt, anyway?

xo — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:49:37 -0800

Can anyone help me figure out what kind of power source I need for my outdoor art project? For an art project, there are a few appliances I want to be able to use outdoors, far from any electrical outlets. These appliances will vary in terms of how much power they require and how long they'll need to be on for.

My first choice would be to use some kind of rechargeable battery so that it runs quietly and has no exhaust. Do things like this exist? How can I determine which model would be appropriate for my needs? (For example running a 700 or 1200 watt fog machine for 30 minutes, or a 200 watt LCD monitor for an hour.)

My second choice would be to somehow connect up to my car, which would invariably be nearby. What kinds of gadgets exist for connecting to my car when it is either running or off, and could I generate enough power this way to run that fog machine or that monitor?

I don't want to use a gas-powered generator. Are there other options I haven't thought of?

Where can I find open GIS/location data on coal power plants?

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:22:50 -0800

Is there open, free, or inexpensive comprehensive data on the location of coal-fired power plants in the United States available anywhere? I'm a senior political science student doing research on the health, environmental, and policy impacts of coal power plants on communities around the country and I'm looking for either (ideally) a GIS dataset of all coal plants or (less ideal but still workable) a flatfile list of coal plant locations. The data will be used for mapping and statistical purposes. I've looked through my school's resources, and they don't have what I need. I've also tried calling the Department of Energy, but they don't make that information available if they have it. This kind of data can be leased from Platts or elsewhere, but my budget is extremely limited (department isn't going to give funding to an undergrad). Any advice?

How/where can I track down a power supply from the last century?

Lionel d'Lion — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:00:08 -0800

Where can I get hold of a power supply for an old - pre-USB - Mustek 600 UC scanner? My neighbours asked for my help with getting their (inherited) scanner to work. I've identified the problem - they didn't inherit the power supply for the scanner.

Given that the computer is a pre-USB Windows 98 model, getting a replacement scanner might be tricky and I get the impression that getting a new PC's not an option.

Is there any chance that I could find either a "proper" replacement power supply or the specs for a generic replacement?

I'm a clumsy oaf and broke a pin on the apparently irreplaceable power supply to my external hard drive. What to do now??

letahl — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:04:11 -0800

I broke a pin on the power supply to my Lacie external hard drive. Only problem is they have ceased to exist, in stores or on ebay... Is there a generic version that would work, or do I have to get someone to solder the pin back on? I have the Lacie Porsche Design 60gb external hard drive. Being a clumsy oaf, I broke one of the pins in the power supply connector which goes into the back of the drive. I've searched all over the internet and ebay and can't find the Lacie replacement IN STOCK. Lacie is even out of it.

This thing is not that old, and I need to fix it, but I'm unfamiliar with what kind of generic connector would work. I'm okay with cutting and rewiring if I could get a heads up as to what that connector's even called. Here's the brand name power supply and it shows the female jack on the back of the drive. Any advice, Mefites??

how much fuel does a diesel generator consume?

thewalrus — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:51:34 -0800

Diesel generator question: What is the typical fuel consumption rate of a 5kW, 10kW or 20kW unit at various load factors? How much does this vary (in litres per hour, or per day) between the same sizes of unit from different manufacturers? I am doing the math to calculate the yearly operating costs for a telecommunications system to be installed in a third world nation.

The city has reliable 230V power approximately 75% of the time, which can be filtered and passed to equipment via a heavy duty voltage regulator and UPS system. That's not a problem.

The other 25% of the time, occurring randomly throughout the day there is no power whatsoever, frequently for extended periods in the middle of winter, or peak hours during summer when people are running their air conditioning. Thus the requirement for a generator.

The power budget for the whole system fits within 3/4 load factor on a 5kW generator. However we may end up with a larger unit such as 10kW to provide future expansion capability.

This Approximate Diesel Generator Fuel Consumption Chart found on Google provides basic info, but I don't know how much I can rely on it for accuracy. It covers 20kW units and above, but I don't know if a 10kW unit at 0.50 load would consume the same as a 20kW unit at 0.25 load factor...

I'm searching for a formula or chart from a major generator manufacturer saying something like "If you have a 10kW generator and operate it at Y percentage load factor for N hours, it will consume approximately Z litres of diesel per hour". The price of diesel fuel here is relatively stable, but I intend to estimate pessimistically for the price to rise 15-20% over the next 12 months.

Does anyone know how much the fuel consumption rate formula would vary between competing manufacturer's 5kW or 10kW units?

Fighting Blubber—The Gym Reassurance Questions.

wildrain2008 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:06:36 -0800

Fighting Blubber—The Gym Reassurance Questions. INFORMATION:
=================

Background: So here's the deal, during late high school and early college I hit the gym on and off for a month or so, always breaking my routine and never getting the the exact point that I wanted to reach—which was getting cut like B. Lee but with a bit more mass.
After college work left me drained so even though I had time to hit the gym after.. I rarely did.

Negative Result: The result of not hitting the gym was not so much as getting overweight (I have a relatively fast metabolism) but rather the addition of blubber... that fat over the 6 pack and the love handles and especially Gluteus Maximus.

Resolution: After a year I switched jobs (on my new job 5 months now) and I've forced myself to get back into shape—watching my diet and resurrecting my gym routine. My current weight is 190lbs, I guess that's not so bad for a guy who's 5'11. But there's definitely has room for improvement from what I've read.

The Stalling: So I've been hitting the gym 3 days a week for almost 2 months now. My routine involves 30 mins of jogging or stationary bike, followed by 45 mins to an hour of weight lifting.

Weightlifting Routine breakdown:

Bench Press: 3 sets/ min 127lbs max 157lbs
Lat Pull Down: 3 sets/ min 90lbs max 100lbs
Sitting Bicep Curl: 3 sets/ 22.5lbs
Tricep Pull Down: 3 sets/ 40lbs
Dumbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets/ 30lbs
Butterfly: 3 sets/ 110lbs
Shoulder Machine: 3 sets/ 70lbs
Glutes Leg Press: 3 sets/ 260lbs
Abb Death Circuit: 3 sets of: hard medicine Ball leg lift, large medicin ball crunches (lying on top), standing oblique lifts (45lbs each side)

Positive Results: I've noticed definition on my body in general and the showing of the 3pack lol upper abbs.

Again my goal still remains to: to get cut up but have a bit more mass than just the average kung-fu fighter lol.

QUESTIONS:
=============

I know that 2 months at the gym is a short time for me to expect major results, but I would really love to get rid of the blubber that is still covering the results that I'm trying so hard to improve (aka the muscles and the tone that is slowly appearing.. again very slowly lol).

1. How many moths do I have to wait to see substantial results aka the evaporation of this darn flab?

2. Is there anything I can do to improve the weight loss but not damage my other goal (building mass)?

3. My brother after a year of swimming completely transformed his body, would adding maybe 1 or 2 days of pool to my overall routine damage or improve the results I'm striving towards?

END NOTES:
============
I told myself this time that I'm never quiting gym again.. and it looks like I've caught the gym bug as I get antsy (like an addict) towards the end of my work.. to get back into the gym.. :)

Andy advice is always helpful.

I've lost the AC adapter, and I need to turn this laptop on.

cheeken — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:48:42 -0800

Is there a cheap (free) way to get information off my old Toshiba Satellite laptop now that I've lost the AC adapter? Read more about my plug-holes of differing sizes inside. I feel like I'm so close to finding the solution for this problem that it's really frustrating, but I can't figure it out, so here I am.

I have an old Toshiba Satellite (model# ps261u) that I'm no longer using. However, I was just looking for some older documents on my current laptop (another Toshiba Satellite [model# M55-S139]), and they aren't there, so I'm sure that they are on the old Toshiba.

The problem is that I've lost the AC adapter for the old one and none of the AC adapters for *anything* that's in the house (I've checked them all) fits the plug-hole on the old laptop. The metal thingy in the middle of the old plug-hole is thicker than all of the new laptop plugs. (Wow...this sounds dirrrrty.)

Among the current AC adapters I've tried (in case this helps):
New Toshiba laptop
Girlfriend's Toshiba laptop (newer still)
An older-model Dell laptop
DSL Router
Electric Drill charger

All too small.

My plan is to power it on, put in a jump drive and away I go...it's the powering it on that's the problem.

Is there some way I'm not thinking of to power this thing? Also, if it's more feasible, should I take out the hard drive and plug it in to something (this is less than ideal, of course) and get the documents that way?

What is, and what is the purpose of this part of a laptop power adapter?

jjbb — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:25:28 -0800

What is, and what is the purpose of this part of a laptop power adapter? I took it apart and there was just some sort of metal or ceramic material wrapped around the cord. I though it was a magnet at first, but it didn't stick to the fridge...

Link

Help me figure out why I seem to predominantly attract sexually submissive guys.

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:22:55 -0800

Help me figure out why I seem to predominantly attract sexually submissive guys. I have a more or less set type, young feminine guys, but I meet guys from very different backgrounds, from professionals to school drop-outs, with different looks and characteristics. What puzzles me is that despite that variety, a very high percentage of them turns out to be very submissive in bed. When I say high percentage, I mean about 4 out of 5. It’s always been something that reveals itself in flagrante, so it’s not like I specifically seek out guys that communicate that as their preference in an ad, at the club, etc. The degree of sexual submission also varies substantially, and in my experience has been all over the road – from low (holding down, hair pulling) to medium (spanking, slapping) to pretty serious (being bound, rape fantasies). They also tend to be not very submissive outside the bedroom.

I am dominant in bed but that to me just means control and overpowering resistance. More specifically, I am talking about sort of rough physical control, physically directing the action, holding someone down, and so on. I don’t like submission qua submission because by definition, there is no resistance factor, and I feel almost awkward knowing that I can simply tell the person to do anything and they will do it. I also don’t like BDSM because the ritualistic aspects of it seem to take away spontaneity, and the formalized gear seems very depersonalizing. I enjoy stuff like spanking and hair pulling, not because it causes the other person some discomfort, but because it makes me feel more in control of the situation. Inflicting pain by itself is not at all appealing to me. I've never experienced or even contemplated being the submissive person. That has no instinctive appeal to me.

My main questions are, 1. Why do I attract submissive guys?, 2. What, if anything, does that say about my personality?, and 3. What nature / nurture factors may contribute to someone being naturally dominant or naturally submissive?

To the extent that physical characteristics may have something to do with it, I am gay, male, 26, 6’0, 180, exclusively top, good-looking in a sort of all-American way, muscular, straight-acting but wouldn’t call myself macho. As far as non-physical characteristics: I’m very confident in myself and my abilities in sort of a quiet, understated way (not arrogant), introverted, self-deprecating humor, rational to a fault in my emotions, very good at having an innate anticipation of what the other person wants to hear (ironically, kind of a people-pleaser). More specific to control, etc.: I am never the first person to jump in and take charge, and I usually remain content to let someone else take the lead unless I believe they are going off-course, at which point I take over. Socially, I am more of an observer than an active participant. At the same time, I am used to people deferring to me in areas that I believe are within my expertise. When I meet people in clubs or bars, I never try to consciously project or exert some authority over them, don't ask them about their sexual preferences, and don't consciously try to establish myself as the dominant person in the conversation.

Thanks to everyone for any ideas, hypotheses, suggestions. If you have any questions, I’m at anon5262@gmail.com.

A dim question.

eschatfische — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:46:15 -0800

Let's say there are two identical light fixtures, on two identical dimmer switches. One fixture has two 15W dimmer-compatible compact fluorescent lights, the other has two standard 60W incandescent bulbs. The dimmer switches are turned just beyond the "off" position to the "dimmest" position (identical on both dimmers). What will the difference in power utilization be between the two fixtures?

Is my PC's power supply possessed?

zackola — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:46:23 -0800

When my parents' PC is turned off, the fans on the motherboard (case and cpu) spin. What's the deal? Setup and more info inside... When my parents' PC is turned off, the fans (and lights) on the motherboard (case and cpu) spin. The computer is NOT turned on, but when it is turned on, it works fine (POST, HD spin up, OS boot). What's the deal?

System Setup:
asus a7n8x-e deluxe motherboard and a generic power supply of unknown wattage, plugged in to an APC PowerChute Personal UPS.

This behavior happens whether or not the pc power supply is plugged into the UPS on a battery-backed up outlet, or just the surge protected ones on the UPS. It also happens when the pc power supply is plugged directly into a wall.

This PC is getting a bit long in the tooth, but it hasn't exhibited this behavior before, and has been sitting in the same place in their house for the last couple of years. If it's as simple as picking up a new ATX power supply my parents would appreciate not having to buy an new PC or motherboard or what have you.

I've been building PCs for years, but haven't seen any weirdness like this before. Any ideas?