Enermax Liberty and arc fault

[frostyda9]

Hey guys...I am wondering if anyone here is using an Enermax Liberty PSU that's plugged in to a bedroom plug which is protected by an arc fault circuit breaker. Most houses built in the last 2-3 years will have their bedrooms on AF breakers. I am suspecting that the PF correction at startup is affecting the breaker (they are very sensitive).

As soon as I turn the Liberty on, it pops the breaker. I went back to the old 460 Enermax, and it's fine. Anyone have any thoughts?

I'd try plugging the PSU into a non-AF plug, but I really don't like the idea of my computer popping any more breakers :banghead:

[Iqoair]

Ran into the same problem with an Enermax 620W. Thought I would try another brand (Silverstone 600w), and I have the same problem. The initial start-up is what trips the breaker. The only way around this is to put a normal breaker in , which is also against code, or move the computer to another room.

[frostyda9]

Cool, glad to hear that it wasn't just me. I bought a PSU tester...and the Liberty powers up fine with *just* the tester attached, but as soon as you add more load, it'll trip the AFCI.

I ended up running a cord out the door into another room :thumbsdow

[legendboy]

ya i would just switch to a regular receptical

[frostyda9]

The problem is that all the bedroom plugs are fed by the arc fault breaker, so if you happen to use a spare bedroom for a computer room, you have to change the breaker to a standard 1P15A. As Iqoair points out, doing this is a code violation.

[GoChris]

can you plug it into a UPS, would that help at all? probably not I think

[frostyda9]

I tried it with a Monster powerbar, but not with the UPS yet. I have a feeling I could unplug the UPS so that it's running on battery, start the computer and then plug the UPS back in, but man...what a hassle every time just to start the computer :banghead:

[GoChris]

Originally posted by frostyda9
I tried it with a Monster powerbar, but not with the UPS yet. I have a feeling I could unplug the UPS so that it's running on battery, start the computer and then plug the UPS back in, but man...what a hassle every time just to start the computer :banghead:

ya that would work, but ya, what a hassle, unless the ups is plugged into a power bar and the power bar switch is easily accessible by your foot or something. just dont turn off your computer that often :dunno:

i bet my house is gonna be like this too eh? crap

[legendboy]

Originally posted by frostyda9
The problem is that all the bedroom plugs are fed by the arc fault breaker, so if you happen to use a spare bedroom for a computer room, you have to change the breaker to a standard 1P15A. As Iqoair points out, doing this is a code violation.

i think you may have mis understood what Iqoair was saying, it seems like he was talking about changing the circuit breaker not the receptical?

anyways i don't see it being a code violation to put a standard receptical in place of the ground fault interceptor receptical. the only place thoes need to be according to code are in the bathroom afaik...

it should cost you all of 150c to fix this problem :)

[frostyda9]

Corey, the arc fault breaker feeds the bedroom plugs, which are all standard recepticles. I think you're confusing ground fault circuit protection with arc fault circuit protection. GFCI's protect bathroom plugs and plugs located outside the house . AFCI's come in the form of breakers and are used - at this point in time- for bedrooms only (with the stipulation that ensuite plugs which require GFCI protection due to proximity to sources of water need to be dual protected, which in turn means that the bathroom plugs will also be fed by the AFCI breaker and thus AFCI protected).

[legendboy]

so your talking about the breaker in your panel in the basement? Your "fuse box"?

[legendboy]

oh ok google cleared this up for me, i mis understood what you were talking about :)

so your popping your 15amp fuse in your breaker box... hmm

you must have alot of shit pluged in!! haha

[frostyda9]

Originally posted by legendboy
oh ok google cleared this up for me, i mis understood what you were talking about :)

so your popping your 15amp fuse in your breaker box... hmm

you must have alot of shit pluged in!! haha

ok...lol I am not going to go into too much detail here, but the arc breaker is not like a regular breaker. While it will trip if over loaded, the arc detection has nothing to do with that. From what I understand, there is an electronic device that analyzes the AC sine wave for irregularities. When a small arcing or sparking condition exists, it will cause a ripple in the sine wave and the device will pick up on it. When there is something that is just barely sparking, it won't be enough to overload the circuit. The arc breakers were introduced so that if this condition existed, the protection would kick the breaker out before the wires/box/device got hot enough to catch on fire.

I believe that the power factor correction of the power supply sparks internally when powered up while delivering power to the computer. Power factor correction is done to improve the relationship of watts to VA. Most of the time power factors are lagging, meaning that the total VA is greater than the true watts because the VA (the hypoteneuse of the power triangle which has watts and VAR's (reactive VA) as it's adjacent and opposite sides to give you the total VA) is higher due to inductive reactance.

To correct the lagging pf, you need to add more capacive VARs as they are 180 degrees out of phase with the inductive VARs, and thus cancel them out, as angle theta becomes closer to 0, and pf approaches unity.

It's my theory that there is some sort of adjustible electronic device that dials in the capacitive reactance, and as is common with things of this nature, slightly sparks as it moves through the different settings.

I don't know if this is the case, so don't quote me on it, but this is usually how it's done with larger AC systems.


I hope that's a little clearer....even though it's way more than I had intended to write :rofl:

[legendboy]

haha

well i'm not sure if you can hear anything much when you power up your pc, but i know with my liberty ps, i can hear a noise almost like a sparc when it first powers up. maybe that is what is causing your problem :dunno:

usually i feel i can be at least slightly helpful but not in this thread obviously :rofl: dang!

[frostyda9]

Originally posted by legendboy
haha

well i'm not sure if you can hear anything much when you power up your pc, but i know with my liberty ps, i can hear a noise almost like a sparc when it first powers up. maybe that is what is causing your problem :dunno:

usually i feel i can be at least slightly helpful but not in this thread obviously :rofl: dang!

Yeah, actually I noticed when I was using only the PSU tester and there was no background noise or computer part noises, that the was a popping sort of sound when it first fired up.

Don't feel bad if you can't solve the problem, I don't think there is going to be any real "solution" to this one. I appreciate you guys offering your ideas regardless.