Overvoltage protection for Seasonic S12 600 watt power supply ?

[Skybuck]

Hello,

A power company in the Netherlands caused a voltage "punch" of 300
volts in some cities.
(Damaging many computers, magnetrons, tv's, etc )

The normal voltage level is 220 volts.

Is the Seasonic S12 600 watt power supply able to survive 300 volts ?

The product's manual, advertisement and the website mention
"overvoltage protection".

What is overvoltage ? I assume it means higher voltage than normal ?

What is overvoltage protection ?

What does it protect ?

(Does it protect the power supply itself ? Does it protect the rest of
the computer components ?)

Can you explain a little bit how overvoltage protection works ?

Does it protect against any voltage ?

Or does it only protect up to a certain voltage ?

I also contacted Seasonic support.

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[Mike T.]

Hello,

A power company in the Netherlands caused a voltage "punch" of 300
volts in some cities.
(Damaging many computers, magnetrons, tv's, etc )

The normal voltage level is 220 volts.

Is the Seasonic S12 600 watt power supply able to survive 300 volts ?

The product's manual, advertisement and the website mention
"overvoltage protection".

What is overvoltage ? I assume it means higher voltage than normal ?

What is overvoltage protection ?

What does it protect ?

(Does it protect the power supply itself ? Does it protect the rest of
the computer components ?)

Can you explain a little bit how overvoltage protection works ?

Does it protect against any voltage ?

Or does it only protect up to a certain voltage ?

I also contacted Seasonic support.

Bye,
Skybuck.

GOOD power supplies are built to protect connected components. That means
that if a voltage "rail" drifts out of spec. (5%) that the power supply
will shut itself down instantly and permanently, to prevent system damage.
A power supply is a very important part of a computer, arguably THE most
important part of a computer. But good ones will protect other vital
components such as CPUs, mainboards and hard drives in particular. In your
terms, overvoltage protection is protection for the rest of the computer
components.

I would think that a Seasonic supply would be able to survive 300V input.
But Seasonic is a good brand. If it couldn't handle 300V input, it would
likely shut down and you wouldn't be able to use it again. -Dave

 

[Garrot]

Hello,

A power company in the Netherlands caused a voltage "punch" of 300
volts in some cities.
(Damaging many computers, magnetrons, tv's, etc )

I hope they are being sued. A power company over here was sued by a
number of people for damaging peoples computers.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

A power company in the Netherlands caused a voltage "punch" of 300
volts in some cities.

Is the Seasonic S12 600 watt power supply able to survive 300 volts ?

The product's manual, advertisement and the website mention
"overvoltage protection".

What is overvoltage ? I assume it means higher voltage than normal ?

The advertised overvoltage protection doesn't refer to protection
against excessive input voltage from the AC lines but only to
protection for the DC outputs of the PSU. This protection is supposed
to shut down the PSU if any of its outputs goes about 20% above their
correct values.

OTOH I would expect Seasonic PSUs to have MOVs connected across its big
high voltage filter capacitors, but it wouldn't surprise me if they'd
simply blow rather than provide much protection if the power company
fed it 300V.