Re: "Mysterious" system crashes

From: Doug Phillips <dphill46@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

[...] I always seem to get jumped on by the "experts" here when I
try to discuss complicated things in simple terms that non-experts can
understand.

An explanation should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.
Over-simplifying something is often less helpful than saying that it's
too complicated to explain simply.

[...] A bald "that's wrong" reply is not helpful to anyone.

It tells the next reader that a particular statement is not
universally accepted. It's not intended to be a replacement for an EE
textbook.

I didn't mention power factor, but the active power number (W=VA*pf)
is handy to use in guesstimating the change you might see on your
electric bill even though that isn't what the number actually means.

It's not?

[...] Beyond that, power factor means
little to the home-computer UPS buyer other than when he's trying to
understand how the power company calculates his electric bill, and I
didn't intend to go there, and that's a completely different problem
anyway.

Very little of this whole discussion matters much to a typical
home-UPS buyer, which is what makes the misinformation especially
pointless.

If you're an engineer, then by all means share your expertise. Try to
use words that non-engineers will understand, though, and please move
into the real world and out of the text books when you make a
recommendation, thank you. Save the techno-babble for paying customers
and cocktail parties.

The stuff in those textbooks describes the real world. Complex
numbers, properly applied, are not techno-babble, whether you understand
them or not.

[...] Doesn't
experience count or should all the people who aren't card-carrying
experts just shut up?

Experience is fine, but it doesn't make false statements into true
ones. In general, if you don't actually understand something, it may be
wise not to try to explain it.

I guess one does need an engineering degree to buy a home UPS. Darn.

No, but psuedo-explanations of how to calculate the proper rating for
one don't actually help anyone, either. And the degree is less
important than the knowledge.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steven M. Schweda sms@antinode-org
382 South Warwick Street (+1) 651-699-9818
Saint Paul MN 55105-2547
.