1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, Diamond executive producer with I Heart Radio and 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: I love all things tech, and today's episode is inspired 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: by a listener suggestion. Nick Sandor asked on Twitter, remember 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: the handle for the show is tech Stuff. H s 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: w if I had done an episode on uninterruptible power 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: supplies a k a. UPS, but not the UPS that 9 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: delivers packages, and also asked if I had maybe covered 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: surge protectors. So today we're going to expand that request 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: a little bit and talk about those and some circuit 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: breakers and fuses and power strips in general, and vampire power. 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: You know, I vant the suck your vaults. Wow. Okay, 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: that that sounded way less wrong in my head, but 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: let's dive in. First, let's talk about electricity and circuits 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: in general, including topics like voltage and current, because I 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: find that these concepts can be pretty easy for people 18 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: to mix up if they're not working with them regularly 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,199 Speaker 1: or studying physics. So we use voltage to describe the 20 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: electric potential between two different points. Uh, if the electric 21 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: potential zero, if there's no difference between them. There's no voltage, 22 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: there's no there to make an electric current flow between 23 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: the two points, So everyone's just kind of cool and 24 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: hanging out where there are. And we're gonna use water 25 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: as sort of an analogy to talk about electricity quite 26 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: a bit in this episode. So in this case, imagine 27 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: you've got two clear beakers of water, and these beakers 28 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: have a little spigot at their base, right, So though 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: the water level is above where the spigot is, and 30 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: you've got the exact same amount of water in each speaker, 31 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: they're on a level table, so they're on the exact 32 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: same elevation with each other. There's no tilt or anything, 33 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: and you've got a clear tube connecting the end of 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: one spigot to the other spigot. Well, now that we've 35 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: got these two beakers their level, they have the exact 36 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: same amount of water in them. If we open those 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: spigots up, we're not going to expect to see water 38 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: flow from one to the other. Right there, pretty much 39 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: gonna stay in equilibrium because the water levels are the same. 40 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: There's no pressure there to move the water around. Two 41 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: points with zero electric potential are pretty much the same 42 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: sort of thing as these two beakers. All right, but 43 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: let's say we close the spigots on each beaker. Now 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: water is still trapped in the tube as well, it 45 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: can't go anywhere. And then we lift beaker one and 46 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: we placed it on top of a small stack of books, 47 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: So now it's at a higher elevation compared to beaker 48 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: number two. Beaker number two is still on the surface 49 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: of the table. Now, if we open up the two spigots, 50 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: what happens, Well, water from beaker one will start to 51 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: flow to beaker two. We will reach an equilibrium. Again, 52 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: but that's not really important for our understanding of voltage. 53 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: The point is, at the moment we open the figots, 54 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: the water will flow from beaker one to beaker two. 55 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: With voltage, a difference in potential will cause a current 56 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: of electricity to flow from one point to the other. Now, 57 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: because Ben Franklin made a fifty fifty shot and got 58 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: it wrong, we describe current as moving from a positive 59 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: charge to a negative charge. That positive moves to negative, 60 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: and we frequently describe electricity as a flow of electrons. 61 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: That's being a little simplistic, but it serves our purposes. 62 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: But electrons are negatively charged particles, so the electron flow 63 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: goes from negative to positive. Because remember opposite charges attract 64 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: and like charges repel one another. So the electrons move 65 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,679 Speaker 1: from a point of higher negative charge to a point 66 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: of higher positive charge. So while we describe current as 67 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: positive charge moving toward negative, the actual electron flow is 68 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: negative towards positive. Yes, it is confusing. No, that's not 69 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: going to be the end of where things are confusing 70 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: in this episode, but stick with me. It's all understandable. 71 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: So the greater the difference in that negative and positive charge, 72 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: the greater the voltage. And you can think of voltage 73 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: as water pressure. If we're talking about that system we 74 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: were mentioning before, if we were to pour a lot 75 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: more water into beaker one, filling it up all the 76 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,679 Speaker 1: way before we open up the spigots, you know, beager 77 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: ones at that higher elevation as well, we would actually 78 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: also be increasing the water pressure of the system in general, 79 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: and so we would see more pressure pushing the water 80 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: through to beaker number two. We see the same sort 81 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: of thing with electrical systems, and we measure this pressure 82 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: or voltage in volts, so you know, that's easy, and 83 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: that pressure metaphor also tells us how much work a 84 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: circuit can do. You know what kind of load can 85 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: you put on that circuit. Higher voltages can do harder work, 86 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: and a typical double A alkaline battery can offer up 87 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: one point five volts, which is a relatively small amount 88 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: In the United States. A wall outlet pushes out one 89 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: twenty volts, which is why you can run heavy appliances 90 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: using power from the wall, but a single double A 91 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: battery just won't cut it. Current is different. Current is 92 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: the rate at which electric charge flows past a specific 93 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: point within a circuit. This is the rate of flow 94 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: of electric charge, as opposed to voltage, which we can 95 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: think of as the energy per unit of charge. So 96 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: current describes how much electricity is flowing, even though that's 97 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: a little misleading, and voltage describes how much omph that 98 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: electricity has. We measure current in apps. Current needs voltage 99 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: to flow. If you don't have voltage, you don't have pressure, 100 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: you don't have current. It would be like our two 101 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: beakers that are side by side with that same level 102 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: of water. There would be no flow there either. Materials 103 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: that allow current to flow more easily are called conductors, 104 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: whereas materials that have high resistance to current flowing through 105 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: them are insulators. Now, pretty much every thing has some 106 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: level of electrical resistance, even the best conductors, at least 107 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: in conditions that most of us are familiar with. Now, 108 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: if you habitually cool down conductors to near absolute zero, 109 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: then you might be used to working with stuff that 110 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: has no electrical resistance a k a. Super conductors. But 111 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: for practical purposes, it's something we have to deal with 112 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: electrical resistance, and I also have to define circuits. So 113 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: a circuit is essentially a closed loop pathway that electricity 114 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: can follow. If you open any of that path, if 115 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: you break the line of that pathway, the electricity can 116 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: no longer flow through. And it's kind of like if 117 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: you were driving along a track. Let's say it's a 118 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: circular track, you know, like NASCAR racing, but part of 119 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: that track is actually underwater and you can't go through 120 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: that part. Well, you would start your race and then 121 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: you would hit this part where the water was and 122 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: you would have to pop and you couldn't actually continue. 123 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: Electricity is kind of similar. It has to have that 124 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: unbroken path in order for it to flow. So if 125 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: you break that path, the circuit no longer allows electricity 126 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: to flow. This is the whole basis of switches, right. 127 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: If you have an open switch, it means that you 128 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: have a broken path and the electricity cannot flow through it. 129 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,239 Speaker 1: When you close the switch, you have completed that path 130 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: and now electricity can flow freely. So electricity will only 131 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: flow through a complete circuit. But that also means that 132 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: if you come into contact with a conductor, your body 133 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: could serve the same as a switch in a circuit. 134 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: You could close a circuit when you come into contact 135 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: with a conductor, and electricity will always attempt to return 136 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: to its source, and it will always follow the path 137 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: of least resistance. In a circuit, however, it will take 138 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: all available paths. So if you have let's ay you've 139 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: got a pathway in your circuit, and you divided into 140 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: three different lines, and you have different amounts of resistance 141 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: on each line, most of the current is going to 142 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: pass through the pathway that has the least resistance. You'll 143 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: still get some current going through the other pathways, but 144 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: it will be significantly less. So, if you come into 145 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: contact with a conductor and your body represents an area 146 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: of lower resistance, you're gonna take the brunt of that electricity, 147 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 1: and that's a that's not a good thing. I'll get 148 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: back into why that's not a good thing just in 149 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: a little bit. But components in a circuit can be 150 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,559 Speaker 1: connected either in series, which means you have one right 151 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: after the other in a sort of single pathway, or 152 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: they can be connected in parallel, which means they be 153 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: in side by side individual pathways. When they're connected in series, 154 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: the same amount of current will flow through each component, 155 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: but the voltage drops from one component to the next. 156 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 1: In parallel, the voltage across each component will remain the same, 157 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 1: but the total current is divided between each pathway. So 158 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: it's it's an opposite situation from the series approach. Now, 159 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: when it comes to electrical shocks, amperage a gave the 160 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: current is really what we need to worry about, not 161 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: the voltages. You know, something we can ignore. But you 162 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: know you don't want to come into contact with a 163 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: high voltage line. Definitely don't do that. You should never 164 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: go near high voltage lines. Take it from electric six 165 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: danger danger high voltage. But it doesn't take a very 166 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: strong current to do serious damage. At around ten to 167 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: twenty milla amps, and a mill amp is one of 168 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: an amp. You would feel a zap of a shock. 169 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: At between twenty million amps, the current is strong enough 170 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: to deliver a powerful, painful shock and you lose control 171 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: of your muscles. You know, our bodies communicate and operate 172 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: on electrochemical signals, so electricity causes that to really go 173 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: hey wire. So at this level, if you were to 174 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: grab a wire that has between twenty and seventi five 175 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: milliamps a current running through it, you wouldn't be able 176 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: to let go. Your hand would seize around that wire. Now, 177 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:30,479 Speaker 1: at around seventy five milliamps, your heart ventricles are affected 178 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: by this. They start to twitch uncontrollably, and I mean 179 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: that's seriously bad stuff. At one two d milliamps, it's 180 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,839 Speaker 1: incredibly dangerous and a shock is often fatal at that 181 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: amperage above two hundred bill amps. Interestingly, your body's response 182 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: would be to clamp down so hard that you might 183 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: actually survive that shock because your heart is unable to 184 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: fibrillate to have these uncontrollable vibrations because your chest muscle 185 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: squeeze so hard it prevents your heart from fit relating. However, 186 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: you would also suffer really terrible burns and possibly damage 187 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: to your internal organs. So while you could survive that 188 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,199 Speaker 1: kind of a shock, it would really hurt you. You 189 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: would be more likely to survive at that level, however, 190 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: than if you were to encounter a current of between 191 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: one two hundred milli apps that would be more likely 192 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: to be fatal. And when we talk about electricity, we 193 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: often talk about direct current versus alternating current. Direct current 194 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: is the easiest for us to understand. It's very easy 195 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: to draw and understand how this works. Electricity flows in 196 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: one direction only with direct current. It's like a one 197 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: way street. Batteries work this way. So a battery has 198 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: a negative terminal and a positive terminal, and electricity will 199 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: always flow from negative to positive, whereas the current is 200 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: going from positives and i aative, but we've covered that 201 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: with alternating current. However, it's like you're switching which terminal 202 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: is negative and which one is positive, and you're doing 203 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: that many times per second. The voltage actually kind of 204 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: moves in a sort of wave. It hits the peak 205 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: on one side. When terminal one is the most negative 206 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: it can be. In terminal two is the most positive, 207 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,959 Speaker 1: it can be then it moves the other way as 208 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: the two terminals switch. So remember when I said that 209 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: the typical US household gets one volts delivered to outlets. 210 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: That is an alternating current. So in the US the 211 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: current alternates direction sixty times per second, So every sixty 212 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: seconds it goes one volts with the current flowing in 213 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 1: one direction and flips to one volts going in the 214 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: other direction sixty times a second. Now I say all this, However, 215 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: in reality, there is some variation in the amount of 216 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: voltage coming to various outlets in a home, and it 217 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: can vary to all sorts of stuff, like the gauge 218 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: of wire that was used to wire the house, the 219 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: temperature that the wires are at, the installation on the wires, 220 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: the distance of the house from the transformer on the street. 221 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: But you get the general idea. And moreover, electronics manufacturers 222 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: design products that can tolerate a small deviation from the standard, 223 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: whatever that standard might be in that particular country, and 224 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: different countries do have different standards. I'll be working with 225 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: the U S standard in this episode because I live 226 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: in the US. So the electricity goes over the power 227 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: grid and ultimately gets directed into your house or apartment 228 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: or whatever, which represents a new circuit, which in turn 229 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: is made up of smaller circuits, kind of wheels within wheels, 230 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: as it were. One other thing I should mention our 231 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: what's what's are a unit of power. And if you 232 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: take an electrical circuit and you multiply the voltage across 233 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: that circuit by the amps that are passing through the circuit, 234 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: you get watts. Watts equals volts times amps. Most of 235 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: our stuff actually runs on direct current, not alternating current. 236 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: So these devices that we plug into our walls typically 237 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 1: have what is called a rectifier. Uh. And if you 238 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: have devices that have a power brick, the power break 239 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: is your rectifier. Typically this converts the alternating current to 240 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: direct current. Usually have a much lower voltage as well. 241 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: You might wonder why we are even using alternating current anyway, 242 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: since most of our stuff is running on d C power, 243 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: wouldn't it make sense to just supply DC power instead 244 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: of having to convert it? Well, it all comes down 245 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: to transmitting electricity over great distances. More than a century ago, 246 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: there was a big debate about which approach was the 247 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: one to use. Thomas Edison wanted to go with direct current, 248 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: which would have required building out lots of power plants 249 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: to be close to the load. That is, you would 250 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: have to add power plants close to the places that 251 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: were actually using the electricity coming from those power plants. 252 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: Because it was really hard to send direct current of 253 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: sufficient voltage longer distances. You would have to have incredibly 254 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: thick cables and you would lose a lot of energy 255 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: in the form of heat waste. If you were really 256 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: pushing the voltage super hard, then the cables would heat 257 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: up to the point where they would just break under 258 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: the stress. So alternating current, which was championed by George Westinghouse, 259 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: could make use of electrical transformers, and with transformers you 260 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: can step up the voltage for long distance transmission, which 261 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: is much more efficient, and then you would have other 262 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: transformers at the other end to step down the voltage 263 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: once it got to wherever you were sending it. A 264 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 1: C power was more practical at the time and one out, 265 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: but it did mean having to use rectifiers to change 266 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: the A C T D C in order to make 267 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: practical use of it. With most appliances. If you're familiar 268 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: with the basics of circuits, you know about resistors, These 269 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: are elements that have a specific electrical resistance, you know, 270 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: a resistance to the flow of current, and they're used 271 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: to do all sorts of stuff. For example, the filament 272 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: in a light bulb is essentially a resistor which resists 273 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: the flow of current, and as current pushes its way 274 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: through anyway due to having a sufficient amount of voltage, 275 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: some of the electrical energy converts into heat, which heats 276 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: up the filament and ultimately causes it to glow. Well. Essentially, 277 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: all things you plug into a power outlet are acting 278 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: as a type of resistor in the circuit that is 279 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: your home's wiring. The appliance represents a constant resistance. Your 280 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: home is supplied with a constant voltage, so that means 281 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: the current is kept constant as well. Because all of 282 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: these things relate to one another. Now that's a good thing, 283 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: as good old Tom Harris wrote in a house stuff 284 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 1: works dot com article about circuit breakers. Quote, too much 285 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: charge flowing through a circuit at a particular time would 286 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: heat the appliances, wires, and the building's wiring two unsafe levels, 287 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 1: possibly causing a fire. End quote. So let's go ahead 288 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: and define a power strip. Now that we've got these 289 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: basics out of the way. A power strip is a 290 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: bunch of outlets that are mounted into a frame of 291 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: some sort. Now, while it might appear that these outlets 292 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: are in a series, like if you have a long, 293 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,479 Speaker 1: thin powder strip, it looks like you've got a series 294 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,360 Speaker 1: of outlets, they're actually wired in parallel. If you were 295 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 1: to take one of these apart and don't do that, 296 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: but if you were, you would see they're wired and parallel, 297 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: not in series. And if you remember, that means the 298 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: voltage is going to remain the same for every component 299 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: that gets plugged into that strip. That's important because otherwise 300 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,440 Speaker 1: you would have a voltage drop if they were in series. 301 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: As you plugged more components into the strip, the voltage 302 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: would drop further down the series. And if you've got 303 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: a few components that require a hefty amount of voltage, 304 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: you could find yourself out of luck. The devices wouldn't 305 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:06,680 Speaker 1: receive enough pressure to work. Now, while the voltage will 306 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: remain constant across the components plugged into a power strip, 307 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: and the resistance remains constant per component, adding more components 308 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 1: means increasing the load of current moving through the power strip. 309 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,119 Speaker 1: So as you plug more stuff into a power strip, 310 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: the power strip has to supply more amperage. If the 311 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: power requirements of the components are super hefty, it could 312 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,679 Speaker 1: mean overloading that specific circuit, which could lead to some 313 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: of those really bad outcomes like an electrical fire. And 314 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: that's where circuit breakers come in. I'll explain them more 315 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: in just a second, but first let's take a quick break. Okay, 316 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: so without circuit breakers or fuses, there would be no 317 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: fail safe to prevent someone from overloading a home electrical 318 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: circuit and causing wires to heat up enough to melt 319 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: or cause a fire. So thankfully we do have these 320 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: elements to help keep us safe as we use electricity. 321 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: Let's start with fuses, because they are pretty simple to understand. 322 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: A fuse has a thin wire inside that's kind of 323 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: like a filament to a light bulb. Fuses are designed 324 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 1: to handle a certain amount of current within a circuit. 325 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: If the fuse receives more than that allotted amount of 326 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,120 Speaker 1: current based on the type of fuse you're using, then 327 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: the electrical energy that's running through that thin wire will 328 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: cause it to heat up rapidly and it begins to disintegrate. 329 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: It burns through that cuts off the electrical circuit. We 330 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,919 Speaker 1: have now cut off that pathway broken it. But the 331 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: bummer of the sort of approach is that when that 332 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,640 Speaker 1: does happen, you have to replace the fuse. They are 333 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: a one use item. Uh so they do protect your 334 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: home in the case of a increase in current, which 335 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:03,239 Speaker 1: could be a real problem, but it means also that 336 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: once that does happen, you have to go out and 337 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,119 Speaker 1: replace the fuse and the fuse box. I used to 338 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: live in a house that still had a fuse box 339 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: and occasionally we'd have a fuse go out and that 340 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: was a real hassle. I mean, just finding the right 341 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: fuse to go in the right section was was something 342 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: of a challenge at times. Circuit breakers are way easier 343 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: from an end user standpoint, and it typically involves opening 344 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: up a panel and flicking a switch that has been 345 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: turned off to on. So when you flip the switch 346 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 1: to on, it completes a circuit. It allows electricity to 347 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: flow through, but if the current running through that circuit 348 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 1: exceeds a certain amount, it trips the switch, so it 349 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: turns off. And there's actually a couple of different ways 350 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: this can be done, but one of them is using 351 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: an electro magnet. The current causes the electro magnet to 352 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: generate a magnetic field, and if the current peaks, if 353 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 1: it gets too strong, that magnetic field comes strong enough 354 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: to pull a metal lever and mechanically move it to 355 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: a different position, which actually causes the switch to flip off. 356 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: It's the power of magnetism that pulls the switch into 357 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: the off position. It's incredibly clever because that only happens 358 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: if the electrical current is strong enough to create that 359 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: magnetic field in the electro magnet. So very ingenious design. 360 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: Now that's a very high level look at circuit breakers. 361 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: It's also not the only way that circuit breakers can work. 362 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: But I want to segue over to surge protectors because 363 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: that was the actual area of interest that I was 364 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: asked about. So circuit breakers are all about cutting off 365 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,919 Speaker 1: a circuit once the current becomes too strong. Surge protectors 366 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: are about protecting against a quick increase in voltage. So 367 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: this is about finding a way to deal with a 368 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:59,360 Speaker 1: sudden increase in electrical pressure. If you like surges, don't 369 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: have to laugh very long before they are a problem. 370 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: If you get a super fast jump and voltage that 371 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: only lasts for a nanosecond or two, we call that 372 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: a spike, But if it lasts three nanoseconds or more, 373 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: it's a surge. But a nanosecond is one billionth of 374 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: a second. So yeah, surges can be quick, far faster 375 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: than we can perceive, though we definitely can perceive the 376 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: consequences of a surge. Now, if you have something plugged 377 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: into an outlet and the outlet experiences a surge, it's 378 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: kind of like if you were to have a water 379 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: hose connected to a spigot and suddenly that spigott forces 380 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: way more water through the hose than it can handle. 381 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: The hose itself can burst if there's too much water 382 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,880 Speaker 1: pressure inside of it. So voltage surges can cause wires 383 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: to melt or make devices work way harder than they 384 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: are supposed to. You know, devices are meant to work 385 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: at a certain voltage. There you can in add more voltage. 386 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: You could create more voltage and thus make the device 387 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 1: work harder than it was intended, but that's not a 388 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,199 Speaker 1: great idea. So, for example, the device you've got plugged 389 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: into a wall has a motor in it, then the 390 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: motor may suddenly operate at a speed much higher than 391 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: it was meant to and this might not result in 392 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: immediate failure, but it definitely adds to the wear and 393 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: tear on a device. It can also be a safety issue, 394 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: so you want to avoid surges. A surge protector deals 395 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: with a rapid increase in voltage by directing excess current 396 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 1: into the wall outlets. Grounding wire and a grounding wire 397 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: is kind of what it sounds like. It's a safety 398 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: wire in the outlet that ultimately connects to earth. So 399 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: under normal circumstances, this wire does not carry any electricity. 400 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,200 Speaker 1: It's it doesn't hold a current. Under normal operating conditions, 401 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: it has very low resistance, but current does not flow 402 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 1: through it. The grounding wire is there to serve as 403 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: an alternate pathway for current to flow in the event 404 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,040 Speaker 1: that something has gone wrong. By the way, there's also 405 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: a grounded neutral conductor sometimes called a ground wire or 406 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,199 Speaker 1: grounded wire. So you have a grounding wire and a 407 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: grounded wire, and yeah, that makes stuff gets super confusing 408 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: because it's very easy to mix up grounding wire and 409 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,880 Speaker 1: grounded wire. So let's step back for a second, and honestly, 410 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: we can get around this confusion if we just call 411 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: it the neutral wire in the first place. So at 412 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: bare minimum, if you want a circuit, you need two wires. 413 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: And let's just imagine a very simple circuit with a 414 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: battery and a light bulb and a pair of wires. 415 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: So you've got a wire that connects the negative terminal 416 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,919 Speaker 1: of the battery where the electrons are coming out to 417 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: the bulb, and this is the hot wire. It is 418 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: carrying electrons to the circuit load. The load being the 419 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: component that requires electricity to work, and this example it's 420 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,639 Speaker 1: the bulb. The wire that connects the bulb to the 421 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: batteries positive terminal is called the neutral wire. This is 422 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: how the electrons returned to the battery and complete the circuit. 423 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: So if you don't have that neutral wire connecting back 424 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: to the battery, you don't have a circuit. No electricity 425 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: is flowing, the lamp is going to stay off. It's 426 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: only when you complete the circuit by adding this neutral 427 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: wire that you are going to have any light on 428 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: that that bulb. So with an outlet, the hot wire 429 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 1: carries electricity to the load and the neutral wire carries 430 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: the quote unquote used electricity back. So the neutral or 431 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: grounded wire is actually carrying an electric current under normal 432 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: operating conditions, unlike the grounding wire, which is a safety precaution. Now, 433 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: this actually gets more complicated because in the US you 434 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:00,360 Speaker 1: actually have two hot wires coming in circuits and one 435 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: neutral wire coming in, and then you have the grounding 436 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: wires all part of the outlets that you're using. But 437 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: really that merits its own podcasts, so I'm not gonna 438 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:12,679 Speaker 1: go into it too much. It's all has to do 439 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,679 Speaker 1: with the fact that we're relying on alternating current, but 440 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter for the rest of this episode. 441 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: So the important thing to remember is that the grounding 442 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: wire terminates ultimately in the ground itself, in the earth, 443 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: and it allows the circuit to discharge excess electricity in 444 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: special circumstances. So, for example, if the hot wire in 445 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: a circuit, the one that's carrying electricity to a load, 446 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,159 Speaker 1: were to make contact with something other than the intended load, 447 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: like say the casing around a light socket, the ground 448 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: wire would represent a low resistance pathway for electricity to 449 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: flow back out rather than for things to start heating 450 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: up and becoming a real problem, because otherwise the casing 451 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: is going to act like a resistor. So in a 452 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: surge protector, you've got an element that connects the hot 453 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 1: wire to the grounding wire. But you have to be 454 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: careful about this, right. You don't want to have just 455 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: a simple connection from hot wire to groundwire because then 456 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 1: the electricity is just gonna flow straight to the ground wire. 457 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 1: It's not gonna do any work. So one example of 458 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: this is a thing called a metal oxide verista. This 459 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: is made up of a piece of metal oxide that 460 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 1: sandwiched between two semiconductors, and the semiconductors have special properties 461 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: that determine how they perform within a circuit. Semiconductors typically 462 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: can act as either a conductor or an insulator depending 463 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: on specific circumstances. In the case of this metal oxide verista, 464 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: we would look at the voltage. So at low voltage, 465 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,479 Speaker 1: the semiconductors have a very high electrical resistance, and because 466 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: electricity wants to follow the path of least resistance, that 467 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: electricity is just gonna keep on going past the verista. 468 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: It's gonna be like not interested. But at higher the 469 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: normal voltage, the semiconductor's resistance drops dramatically. Now electricity can 470 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: flow through that pathway easily because there's very low resistance, 471 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: so it means current is going to pass through the 472 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: hot wire, through the verista and to the grounding wire, 473 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: which ultimately terminates in the ground itself, and that discharges 474 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: the extract current and returns the voltage in the hot 475 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: wire to normal, And so the semiconductors, once the voltage 476 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: is normal, will return to their normal resistance and electricity 477 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: will follow the usual pathway. What this means for your 478 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: electronics is that if there's a surge in voltage, the 479 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: extra pressure gets relieved through this grounding wire and doesn't 480 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: make it to the devices that you're plugged into the 481 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: surge protector itself. It's kind of like a pressure relief 482 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: valve in a water pressure system. Now, the metal oxide 483 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: verista is just one type of surge protector. There are 484 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: lots of others, such as gas discharge arrest rs. I 485 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: love the names for these. These have a gas tube 486 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: that are that's filled within the inert gas and this 487 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 1: gas can conduct electricity, but its conductivity is variable, so 488 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: at low voltages it's not a very good conductor. It's 489 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: akin to having a high resistance. At higher voltages, however, 490 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: the gas inside the tube begins to ionize, it begins 491 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: to release some electrons, so you have some free flowing 492 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: electrons in the gas that allows current to flow through 493 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: the gas more readily, and so again it acts kind 494 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: of like a pressure release. Both the Varista and the 495 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: arrestor are based off parallel circuit designs, but you can 496 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: also have surge protectors that use series circuit designs. And 497 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 1: if you remember, components that are connected through series have 498 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: a lower voltage as you add more loads more components. 499 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: These protectors don't bypass surges the way the parallel ones do. 500 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 1: They suppress surges. Oh and and for the parallel based designs, 501 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: there's another important thing to keep in mind. These protectors 502 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: work by sending that excess electricity to the homes ground wire. 503 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: So home needs a grounding wire, like there needs to 504 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: be a wire that actually extends down into the ground. 505 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: Without that grounding wire, a surge protector wouldn't be any 506 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: help because there would be no pathway to serve as 507 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: that pressure release system. The US outlets that have three slots. 508 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: When you see a three slot outlet in the wall, 509 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: those are supposed to be grounded outlets. The D shaped 510 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: rounded slot, the the hole in the bottom or sometimes 511 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: the top, depending on how the outlet has been installed. 512 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: That's the one that connects to the home or buildings 513 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: ground wire, or at least it's it's supposed to. Now 514 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: let's talk about them buyers, or rather vampire power. So 515 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: a lot of our devices don't really turn off when 516 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: we turn them off, at least they don't shut down completely. So, 517 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: for example, I have a computer mouse that is connected 518 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: to a second computer at my desk, and that second 519 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: computer is currently turned off, Yet my computer mouse has 520 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: led lights that are still lit. Now there's no battery 521 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: inside my computer mouse. Clearly my computer mouse must still 522 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: be drawing power from the computer, but the computers off, 523 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: So what gives Well, my computer, like a lot of electronics, 524 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: is actually still drawing some power even when it is 525 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: turned off. Televisions tend to be the same way, printers 526 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: to Really, a lot of stuff has a type of 527 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: standby power mode, so that even when you shut them off, 528 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: they're only what you know, Miracle Max would call mostly off, 529 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: there's still slightly on. And there are a few reasons 530 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: for this, but the big one is that it's very convenient. 531 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: It means the devices have a shorter startup time when 532 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 1: we power them on. So when you grab they're clicker 533 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: and turn on the old picture box, you don't want 534 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: to wait for them hamsters inside to get up to 535 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 1: run speed. I'm sorry I allowed an old prospector to 536 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,719 Speaker 1: write that last bit. What I meant to say is 537 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: we don't really like a delay between when we turn 538 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: something on and when it's actually usable. So standby power 539 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: is a kind of cheap mode to cut down on 540 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: the weight times we have. So if you power something 541 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: on and you're waiting for it to warm up, that's 542 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: really frustrating. Standby power helps cut down in that weight time. 543 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: Smart power strips are meant to detect when the device 544 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: is off but attempting to draw a standby power, and 545 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: these power strips cut off the source of that standby power, 546 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: thus ensuring that the device is well and truly off. 547 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,479 Speaker 1: It's not sipping electricity, and that means using less juice 548 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: during the month, which also means a lower power bill. 549 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 1: Is it significant Well? Estimates vary, but analysts say that 550 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: stand by power consumption can make up but wween five 551 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: and ten percent of a household's energy consumption, so it's 552 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: definitely enough to be noticeable. It might be around a 553 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: hundred bucks a year in savings, so it's it's you know, 554 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: it's not nothing. Smart power strips have some extra circuitry 555 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: in them compared to your run of the mill normal 556 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: power strip. They still represent a group of outlets that 557 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 1: are mounted in parallel because you still want to make 558 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: sure you're not causing a voltage drop from one device 559 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: to the next as you plug them in. But they 560 00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:32,040 Speaker 1: also contain circuits that monitor a drop in power consumption, 561 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 1: which would indicate a transition into standby power mode, and 562 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,880 Speaker 1: at that point, the power strip would break the circuit 563 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: to the device, cutting off power. There are different ways 564 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,279 Speaker 1: to do this. One common one is to have a 565 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: master outlet that then determines whether or not power gets 566 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: supplied to some control outlets. This is easier to understand 567 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: if I actually use an example. So let's say I've 568 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: got a home entertainment system and that consists of my television. 569 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,600 Speaker 1: I've got a surround sound system, I've got a video 570 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: game console, I've got a Blu ray Player, and I've 571 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: got a cable box. Now, let's say I always want 572 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: to have the cable box running. Let's say it's also 573 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: my DVR and stuff, so I plug that into an 574 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: outlet on my smart power strip that is always hot, 575 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: meaning it's always going to have power supplied to it 576 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: no matter what that outlet is, just like if I 577 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 1: had plugged it straight into the wall. But the surround 578 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: sound system, the video game console, and the Blu ray 579 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 1: player are really only useful to me if the television 580 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:38,720 Speaker 1: is also on, So I plugged those three devices into 581 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: the control outlets in my smart power strip. The control 582 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 1: outlets take a queue from the master outlet that's where 583 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,120 Speaker 1: I plug in my TV, So TV goes into the 584 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: master outlet, Blu ray players, surround sound system, video game 585 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,480 Speaker 1: consoles into the control outlets. The circuits in the smart 586 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: power strip will detect when the TV is on because 587 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:03,720 Speaker 1: they detect an increase in power consumption, So when that happens, 588 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: the power strip also allows power to flow to the 589 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,359 Speaker 1: devices that are plugged into the control outlets. But if 590 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: I turn off my television, the drop in power consumption 591 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 1: tells the power strip that it no longer needs to 592 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: supply electricity to those control outlets. So in that case, 593 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: the Blu ray player, of the surround sound system, the 594 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 1: video game console, all go dark, they can't sip any 595 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 1: phantom power. That makes sense, right, I mean I can't 596 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,239 Speaker 1: use those devices unless the television is on. Anyway, when 597 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:38,040 Speaker 1: we come back, will transition over to uninterruptible power supplies. 598 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: But first let's take another quick break. Sometimes the stuff 599 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:55,719 Speaker 1: we count on just asn't dependable. Like electricity, there are 600 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 1: times when the power goes out. Maybe a transformer is 601 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: over did which can be pretty darned spectacular, not to 602 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,520 Speaker 1: mention loud and dangerous. Maybe something has broken a power 603 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,239 Speaker 1: line leading to your home. Whatever the root cause, the 604 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: effect is the power goes out in your house, and 605 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: that can potentially damage certain electronic devices if they happen 606 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: to be plugged in and active at that moment, like computers, 607 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: And that's where an uninterruptible power supply or UPS comes in. 608 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: These are systems that are intended to supply electronic loads 609 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: with sufficient power to continue operations at least for a 610 00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,239 Speaker 1: short while in the event of a power outage. For 611 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: the type that the average person like you or me 612 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: might be dealing with. It may just be something that 613 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: lasts long enough for us to you know, save whatever 614 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,359 Speaker 1: we were doing on the computer and then shutting it 615 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,440 Speaker 1: down in a controlled power off cycle. It's not something 616 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: that can supply power forever, but rather work as a 617 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: type of stop gap while you wait for your electricity 618 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,000 Speaker 1: service to come back on. There are a couple of 619 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:07,800 Speaker 1: versions of these uh. In fact, there's really three main types, 620 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: but I'm really only going to cover two of them. 621 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: A standby UPS is sort of UPS is just waiting 622 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,480 Speaker 1: in the wings, so in the event of a power outage, 623 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,359 Speaker 1: then it kicks on, using a rechargeable battery as the 624 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:26,120 Speaker 1: power source. These types of UPS systems typically have some 625 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 1: sort of switch to handle the change from supplying power 626 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 1: from the outlet to the devices to switching over to 627 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:39,920 Speaker 1: supplying power from the onboard UPS battery. With continuous UPS devices, 628 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:43,240 Speaker 1: the stuff you plug into the UPS is always drawing 629 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: power from the battery, but in turn, the battery is 630 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:50,759 Speaker 1: in a constant state of recharging, drawing power from the 631 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:55,240 Speaker 1: wall outlet. So if the power from the outlet goes out, 632 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: the computer or you know, whatever you have plugged into 633 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: the up US just keeps drawing power as it always 634 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,200 Speaker 1: had because it's always taking power from the battery. It's 635 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: only when the UPS battery itself runs out of charge 636 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: that you have a problem. But again, the typical operating 637 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:15,920 Speaker 1: procedure here is to use the time that you have 638 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,600 Speaker 1: to take care of saving stuff and shutting down your 639 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: electronics safely. Um. Granted, it's a different story if you're 640 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,839 Speaker 1: talking about industrial uses. In either case, the UPS has 641 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: to do something really interesting and it also can seem 642 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: a little backward. Okay, remember when I said most of 643 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 1: our devices run on direct current d C, so they 644 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,960 Speaker 1: have to have what's called a rectifier to convert the 645 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:46,560 Speaker 1: incoming alternating current from the wall sockets into d C 646 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,920 Speaker 1: power that the device can use. Well, batteries if you 647 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:56,719 Speaker 1: recall supply direct current d C power, not alternating current. However, 648 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:01,319 Speaker 1: our devices still need to accept alternating rant even though 649 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:06,400 Speaker 1: they ultimately run on direct current. So this means the 650 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:10,080 Speaker 1: direct current from the battery in the UPS has to 651 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,720 Speaker 1: convert into alternating current so it can be sent onto 652 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: the devices, which then use rectifiers to convert the alternating 653 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:21,319 Speaker 1: current back into direct current. What a way to run 654 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: a railroad. So a rectifier takes a C turns it 655 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: into d C. We call devices that do the opposite, 656 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,759 Speaker 1: that take DC and turn it into a C. Inverters. 657 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:35,560 Speaker 1: So the UPS has an inverter to take the d 658 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,480 Speaker 1: C power out of the battery converted to a C 659 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: which goes to the devices rectifier to get converted back 660 00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:44,879 Speaker 1: into d C. And to make this even more complicated, 661 00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 1: rechargeable batteries need a direct current to recharge, so that 662 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 1: means the UPS actually has its own rectifier. So the 663 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,640 Speaker 1: UPS has a rectifier. It takes a C coming from 664 00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: the wall right, the a C goes to the directive 665 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:04,200 Speaker 1: fire gets converted into d C. That DC power charges 666 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:09,280 Speaker 1: the battery on the UPS. Then from the battery there's 667 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 1: the inverter to convert the d C into a C. 668 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,960 Speaker 1: And at this point I really wish Thomas Edison could 669 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: have cracked the problem of long range power transmission using 670 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 1: direct current because it really would have simplified things a 671 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,640 Speaker 1: ton on the user end. Now, I like to think 672 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:30,120 Speaker 1: of rectifiers and inverters as something Luke Skywalker would really 673 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,560 Speaker 1: be interested in. After all, he was really looking forward 674 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:35,319 Speaker 1: to going to Tusky Station and picking up some power converters. 675 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:37,680 Speaker 1: And if you don't get that reference, you need to 676 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:41,040 Speaker 1: watch Star Wars a New Hope. If you're shopping for 677 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,919 Speaker 1: UPS systems, chances are you're going to be looking at 678 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 1: stand by UPS devices. They tend to be much less 679 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:50,719 Speaker 1: expensive than continuous UPS devices, and they work pretty well 680 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:53,399 Speaker 1: for most of us. If you oversee something that's really 681 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: mission critical, like a server room or something that's a 682 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:59,200 Speaker 1: different story. In those cases, the need for a stable 683 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:02,320 Speaker 1: source of power is enough to justify the higher cost. 684 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,799 Speaker 1: Your typical UPS will have some sort of way to 685 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,880 Speaker 1: signal that the power has switched over to the battery. 686 00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,239 Speaker 1: Usually it's a beeping noise, and that gives you the 687 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:14,680 Speaker 1: opportunity to get stuff you know powered down in a 688 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:17,960 Speaker 1: controlled way, and they may also require you to reset 689 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,919 Speaker 1: a UPS once power has been restored to the home 690 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:25,719 Speaker 1: or building. I have often worked in offices where you 691 00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:28,600 Speaker 1: could hear a beeping going off and realize that someone's 692 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 1: UPS had tripped, and you need to find which one 693 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,640 Speaker 1: it was and reset it, and it's a fun game 694 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:39,520 Speaker 1: of hide and seek or lose your sanity. Now, normally 695 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:43,480 Speaker 1: I would have jumped right into history at the beginning 696 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:46,080 Speaker 1: of an episode, but I figured it would make more 697 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,319 Speaker 1: sense to kind of tack it on at the end 698 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,399 Speaker 1: of this one, to be kind of a little bit 699 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,400 Speaker 1: of just bonus tidbit information sort of a pub trivia 700 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,719 Speaker 1: kind of bit of info. So, way back in nineteen 701 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:03,719 Speaker 1: thirty two, a guy named John J. Hanley filed for 702 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:09,760 Speaker 1: a patent titled Apparatus for Maintaining an unfailing and uninterrupted 703 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:14,240 Speaker 1: Supply of Electrical Energy. Now, I cannot say for certain 704 00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:16,240 Speaker 1: he was the first person to come up with this idea. 705 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 1: In fact, I think it's safe to say that the 706 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,319 Speaker 1: idea was one that was forming in a lot of 707 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,279 Speaker 1: places around the same time. Because we were becoming more 708 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:28,960 Speaker 1: dependent upon electricity, people saw the need for there to 709 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,280 Speaker 1: be some way to have a dependable source of electricity 710 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:36,120 Speaker 1: in case our primary source, the power grid, were to 711 00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: become unreliable for some reason. But I can say that 712 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,040 Speaker 1: most sources point at Handley as being the first person 713 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,880 Speaker 1: to patent and approach toward creating an uninterruptible power supply. 714 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,759 Speaker 1: An early paragraph in the patent states quote, A specific 715 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,960 Speaker 1: object of the invention is to provide apparatus for automatically 716 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,520 Speaker 1: changing from a condition where a given source of electrical 717 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:03,200 Speaker 1: energy is supplying an external circuit to a condition where 718 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,960 Speaker 1: another source of electrical energy supplies the external circuit with 719 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: no interruption of electron flow in the external circuit end quote, 720 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:16,160 Speaker 1: and I think it really drives home how bizarre the 721 00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:19,560 Speaker 1: language of patents can be. Now, the intended goal of 722 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:24,080 Speaker 1: patent language is to provide a precise explanation of whatever 723 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:29,480 Speaker 1: the proposed invention is intended to do. But it can 724 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:32,759 Speaker 1: come across as very unnatural to me, kind of like 725 00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 1: a robot wrote the whole ding ding durned thing. Now 726 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,200 Speaker 1: you can read that patent if you like. It does 727 00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:43,400 Speaker 1: describe in rather obtuse terms, the general approach Hanley was proposing. 728 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 1: I've talked about Hanley's described invention would switch automatically from 729 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:50,960 Speaker 1: a primary power source to a reserve power source in 730 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:53,480 Speaker 1: the event of a loss of power. The patent number, 731 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: in case you are curious, is US one nine five 732 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:03,160 Speaker 1: three six zero to A and that patent expired way 733 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:08,160 Speaker 1: back in nineteen one. Patent expiration is important stuff, Like 734 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 1: when you patent an idea, you have protection for that idea. 735 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,160 Speaker 1: Really it's it's more of an invention. You have protection 736 00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:20,440 Speaker 1: for that particular design of the invention and for the 737 00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:25,160 Speaker 1: life of the patent. You have intellectual property ownership rights 738 00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,439 Speaker 1: to that particular design, and if anyone wants to use 739 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:31,279 Speaker 1: your design, they have to get your permission. Typically they 740 00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:36,480 Speaker 1: do that by licensing it, and then once the patent expires, 741 00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: anyone is free to build a device that uses that 742 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:46,080 Speaker 1: particular design or improve upon that design. It's fair game. 743 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,439 Speaker 1: You don't have to pay licensing fees or anything once 744 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:55,239 Speaker 1: that expires. So and it's an important component toward innovation. Well, Nick, 745 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,920 Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed that episode. It was kind of 746 00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:03,080 Speaker 1: fun to dive into all things electricity once more. And 747 00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:05,479 Speaker 1: like I said, there's still a whole lot I didn't cover. 748 00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:09,239 Speaker 1: I really didn't want to go too deeply into the 749 00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:13,160 Speaker 1: way home circuits work and those two hot wires that 750 00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:16,759 Speaker 1: come into us homes. Uh, it is a little bit 751 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 1: more complicated, It requires a lot more discussion, and I 752 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,719 Speaker 1: figured that that was probably a little much for an 753 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,320 Speaker 1: episode about, you know, surge protectors and uninterruptible power supplies. 754 00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:29,359 Speaker 1: But if you are interested in learning more about that, 755 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:32,680 Speaker 1: let me know. Or if there's some other topic that 756 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,080 Speaker 1: you would like to know more about in the tech world, 757 00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:39,440 Speaker 1: whether it's a company, a specific technology, a trend in tech, 758 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:43,600 Speaker 1: away that technology is affecting our lives, anything like that, 759 00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:47,400 Speaker 1: let me know. You can reach out via Twitter. The 760 00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:50,920 Speaker 1: handle is tech Stuff H. S W and I'll talk 761 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:58,880 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an I 762 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:02,520 Speaker 1: heart Radio product auction. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 763 00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,000 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 764 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:12,200 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H