I posted this [[url]Rough ride in Hukou a few weeks ago, with regards to power outages we (my inlaw’s household) experienced here in Hukou, Hsinchu. During one of these outages I noticed that actually, we were not at zero volts. We still had enough power so that some lights were on, although very dim. The big concern for me is that the tacky blue light panel on the DVD player (a cheapo one. Smith??) was also partially lit. This was unmistakable, as it was pitch black all around.
My experience in Australia is that on this one occasion where we experienced a dip (as opposed to a complete blackout) in power, a few of the electronic devices in the house, including a Panasonic TV (of the fairly early flat screen (non-wide) generation), started playing up irrecoverably. Thankfully, it seems the components here have survived this problem (as it seems to me).
Seeing as my inlaws also have a new LCD TV on the same circuitry, I have contemplated getting them a surge protected power board. However I have two questions:
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would it even guard against a problem like this? I would hope that if the power fell in the same circumstance that the DVD player would not receive any power at all.
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the wall socket is one of those two pin ones that I detest. Does the fact that I would have to use one of those adapters to negate the earth pin mean that I’ve defeated the whole purpose of getting the surge protected board in the first place.
I really would like to solve the earthing problem anyway, even if it is just to that outlet. Is there anything basic I can do? I notice that those adapters do have a pin(/washer? whatever it’s called) on them. Can I run a cable from this to anywhere? There is an aircon unit. Can I expect that this thing would be properly earthed, and run a line to it?