everytime i turn on the vacuum, the computer restarts...

[-N-]

ok I just noticed this problem today (because i rarely vacuum my room :bang head ).

anyways, i noticed everytime i turned on the vacuum, the computer would automatically restart itself. is this a problem with my PSU? i've vacuumed the room before but i don't remember if my computer was on or not. I don't think the vacuum is that powerful so suck all the power away from the the outlets in my room? My computer and monitor are plugged into a power strip, and that power strip is plugged into the wall. my speakers are plugged into the other wall outlet.
The vacuum is plugged into another outlet on the other side of the room.

Since a while ago, my computer has problems turning on as well. I press the power button, nothing happens except the "power" light on the comp is on. I have to turn off the switch on the back of the PSU, wait a couple seconds until the power light turns off, then switch back the PSU and power on the comp. I have to do this maybe 85% of the time.

having said that... any thoughts? thanks.

[CrackerD|ce]

I would test with another PSU, and if it does it again then I would say that it's the wiring.

[bryan_d]

That is weird and I can totally relate.

When ever my parents vacuum my little sisters room, her computer goes absolutley bonkers. To the point where I have to reinstall the OS whenever it happens. So know when ever they vacuum, the unplug the comp to be safe.

really weird,
Bryan d

[UglyChild]

Plug a light in to same out let as the vacuumcleaner. Turn on the vacuum and the light should dim. if the light does dim for a sec, or stay dim, then you know that outlets are being shared in your room, thats how most houses are. This will also tell you that you PSU is unable to cope with AC voltage drops and unable to keep it self stable.

My guess you have a really old vacuum that draws a lot of current from out let.

[SunRedRX7]

You might also want to buy a UPS unit. They can help out with little electrical spikes/dips by switching to the battery when such dips occur.

I know back in my old apartment, the software from APC would pop up and let me know when there were spikes in the line and that it switched to the battery backup for a few seconds. I still remember the one time it did this, and as I left for work I saw that car had smacked a telephone pole pretty hard on my street.

[Mr. Roboto]

I used to have an AC that did this.

It just happens because it draws too much power from the circuit, thus taking power away from your pc. Easiest fix is to get a UPS./

[Internal]

Vacuums draw alot of amperage.

Most really old and really new homes are wired really crappy and they stretch a single curcuit through too many outlets in a home causing it to really hammer each curcuit when you draw lots of sudden power from it.

[-N-]

ah i see... how lame is that...

stupid old vacuum, doesn't even suck in dirt properly anyway. Well i actually searched online for some UPS units, because i thought it would be a good investment anyway. give some protection to my pc components and whatnot... but DAMN, they're pretty expensive, like in the $50-100 range for belkin or APC.

[Captain Helghas]

Cheaper than replacing the circuitry in your house...

[larrymoencurly]

My house had lots of bad wiring connections that caused the voltage to droop under heavy current draw, down to 80V on some outlets when a hairdryer was plugged in, and this was all due to loose press-in connectors on the wall outlets and switches. After I changed the wiring connections to the screw terminals, and the droops disappeared.

[SlipViper]

No matter where I vaccumn in my house, the lights dim. On occasion, my router, cable modem, and printer restart when I plug the vaccumn into that shared socket.

2 outlets in room:
Computer, 2 monitors, phone, speakers, iPod on one.
Printer, Router, Cable Modem, Alarm Clock, light, gameboy, cellphone on the other.

I've set it up so that the light, gameboy, cellphone, plus the Router and Cablem Modem are on one strip in one socket. The Printer and Alarm Clock are on the the other strip in the other socket. This way I can kill my modem and router to reset it with one flick of a switch, but the alarm clock and printer don't lose power :clap:.

In addition, because the gameboy, phone, and clock don't take hardly any power, I can plug in anything else I need to on the fly without worrying I'll start my house on fire.

[JaY_III]

Yet another UPS supporter here
As you know know , brown outs are not cool
My vote goes to APC for a UPS

[SlipViper]

What's a good one that isn't crazy $$$? (APC) I want one that will give me a minimum of 1 minute to shut down (also runs a monitor so I can view lol). In addition, cleaner power from my wall would be nice.

[JaY_III]

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR800BLK&total_watts=200

Is mine
19" CRT
X2
2 SATA drives
X850Xt
among otherthings
I have about 20 mins of battery claims the APC app running (not at load)

So using that as a base
a 400 VA model should give you 10 min
200VA 5 min

hope that helps

Also
http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/
will help you figure out what you need