Trainz causes a powercut !

dangavel

Well-known member
Using my elderly 2010 mac pro this afternoon, when in driver in a very small route I have made, power went out for around a second, , I booted up again and this time the computer just lost power, no blackout , but the power sent out both times in exactly the same place in Trainz, same route, place, loco . ! , after the second reboot all seems well again ... although I didn't have photoshop, vlc, firefox , google earth pro and text edit also running at the same time !
Seems like trainz is causing some power surges of some kind. This particular computer is prone to this, it just lost power a few times over a period of months, then didn't do it for about 6 months or more, now it started again, I need to switch to my other mac pro which has never done this sort of thing before, but I think its trying to tell me i need to move on and update to a newer unit sooner then later..
 
Most desktop machines run at 3-5% CPU so many computers are designed to handle the heat output from 25% CPU usage. Trainz especially before TANE tends to use 100% so it is not uncommon for computers to overheat and shut down.

Cheerio John
 
Sounds to me like the power supply is failing and needs replacing or you have a dust problem. Do you open the case and blow out the CPU and GPU coolers on a regular basis? I would do that first as a can of compressed air is a lot cheaper than a new computer.

William
 
I find a Turkey baster with the rubber bulb on the end works well and is cheaper than compressed air. ;)
 
I find a Turkey baster with the rubber bulb on the end works well and is cheaper than compressed air. ;)
It's been cleaned out , as I said , it does it intermittently, it can be months in between power outs , I can understand the computer cutting out due to overheating , but it's the first time we've had the power fir a whole area of the house go as well. We do seem to have these very short power cuts that last just a second but are enough to cause a blackout, house is new , circuit breaker isn't tripped , I guess I'll have to get an electrician to have a look at the board.
 
It's been cleaned out , as I said , it does it intermittently, it can be months in between power outs , I can understand the computer cutting out due to overheating , but it's the first time we've had the power fir a whole area of the house go as well. We do seem to have these very short power cuts that last just a second but are enough to cause a blackout, house is new , circuit breaker isn't tripped , I guess I'll have to get an electrician to have a look at the board.

Or isolate it with a surge protector. I have them on my microwaves and fridge as well.

Cheerio John
 
Or isolate it with a surge protector. I have them on my microwaves and fridge as well.

Cheerio John

Trouble is, a surge protector can't do anything about a loss of electrons, i.e. a blackout. My wife's and my desktops are on APC battery backup units which include surge protection and will keep the PC and accessories running long enough for an orderly shutdown. Available at many office supply stores, and cheap insurance at the price. APC's customer service is very good and I highly recommend them. Get one with enough watts for the monitor and printer as well.

:B~)
 
Trouble is, a surge protector can't do anything about a loss of electrons, i.e. a blackout. My wife's and my desktops are on APC battery backup units which include surge protection and will keep the PC and accessories running long enough for an orderly shutdown. Available at many office supply stores, and cheap insurance at the price. APC's customer service is very good and I highly recommend them. Get one with enough watts for the monitor and printer as well.

:B~)


I run my computers and Hi-Fi on UPSes. These days I prefer Cyberpower to APC. The top end APC units are fine but the lower end ones aren't. I test mine by pulling the wall plug and found the APC unit didn't continue to power the computer. Talked to technical support and was told it doesn't work with some newer PCs with green power supplies. So some APC untis work with some computers and some don't. The cyberpower ones are fine.

The problem isn't blackouts as such but brownouts when the voltage drops then there may or may not be enough voltage to write the the disk drive. That can get messy.

Core memory had fun with that as well. Low voltage let you read but not write reliably.

Cheerio John
 
John is right about brownouts. At the datacenter we had huge 15,000 watt UPS units and they log the feed from the power company. With our 120 volt system we had the UPS set to switch to battery at 108 volts and it did so every now and again. The lights would barely flicker but the power would show a drop below 108. Our power company insists the drops are normal as the demand on the grid changes during the day.

I too like Cyperpower units, They produce a nice smooth Sine wave that is easier on electronics than the square wave produced by older units from APC. Get a unit that says it conditions the line power. This means you will always get nice clean power regardless of the fluctuations of the feed.

If you do get an electrician out, then have them check that the house is grounded properly. It should be but it is a something they can test easily. Surge suppressors and UPS units are useless if they can't divert the surge to ground.
 
Cyberpower are good and I recommend them as well after using those for years. Another good one is Tripp-Lite. Those units seem to last forever even when put to the job and have proven reliable.
 
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