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Leaving a 5150 powered on.

Given that electrolytic caps can fail in very spectacular ways, I'm always leery about leaving old computers and monitors running unsupervised for a long time.

They probably wouldn't catch the house on fire, but they might at the least leave a very unpleasant odor behind. :)
 
geoffm3 said:
They probably wouldn't catch the house on fire, but they might at the least leave a very unpleasant odor behind. :)
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Do you have a PC, TV or monitor, microwave oven, home security system? Modern devices don't "power off", but rather operate at very low power levels until they're asked to provide service. (That's how the "soft power" button on your PC works). To do that, the power supply must continue to run and--guess what? The power supply uses electrolytic capacitors.

I'm one of those who would even argue that modern (read: Chinese) capacitors are more prone to failure than their 1980s counterparts (see: http://www.badcaps.net ), particularly when used in modern SMPSUs.
 
Instead of asking what harm will it do, let me ask what benefit will you get? Why do you want to leave it on all of the time?
 
mbbrutman said:
Instead of asking what harm will it do, let me ask what benefit will you get? Why do you want to leave it on all of the time?
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As I said I really didn't need to leave it on all the time. I was just wondering if it would hurt anything if it was left on for extended periods.

One reason I asked was because I may use the 5150 as a terminal to my linux machine and run the linux box headless. It won't be on all the time, but would be nice to not be concerned if for some reason I don't power it off.

Also, does the Mono screen 5151 take the normal 120V house current, or does the 5150 power supply provide different voltage to the monitor?

I am wondering because I should have a cable the 5151 can use, so I would plug that into one of those old school computer surge protector/switches, and just switch the monitor off since there is no power button on the monitor itself.

That led me to remembering people who always said to leave the computer on, then others who protested to always turn it off, and I was wondering if there was any disadvantage to leaving it on.
 
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I leave my non HDD vintage systems running. It seems like a toss-up as to what is better for the system, but from what I've read, the constant jolt of powering up a system and then off is bad for the electronics, and for the traces on the board. As we all know, though, heat will kill electronics. Thusly, I keep my electronics clean, in ventilated spaces(when running), and I listen for the fans to still be running.

I think if the system has a HDD(especially the older, MFM drives), it should be turned off if not going to be used in the next 24-48 hours. If the system has no HDD, it should be left on, unless not going to be used for an extended time. I don't see a real risk for fire, but I wouldn't leave a system on if I were to be gone for a few days(and that goes for my main computer as well, which is left on 24/7).

Oh, and if the computer doesn't have a fan (Commodore VIC-20, C-64, Atari 800, etc), I definately wouldn't leave it on for long. I generally turn them off when not in use.

--Ryan
 
I think some of you are forgetting that the computers in offices and plants out there are quite often running 24/7; FWIW most of the systems I deal with are constantly on, and in five to ten years the only failures have been fans.

Many sources are of the opinion that the voltage surges, startup stresses and thermal expansion/contraction of the ICs and other components due to powering up are more likely to cause failures than continuous steady-state operation.

But YYMV...

mike
 
Chuck(G) said:
Do you have a PC, TV or monitor, microwave oven, home security system? Modern devices don't "power off", but rather operate at very low power levels until they're asked to provide service. (That's how the "soft power" button on your PC works). To do that, the power supply must continue to run and--guess what? The power supply uses electrolytic capacitors.

I'm one of those who would even argue that modern (read: Chinese) capacitors are more prone to failure than their 1980s counterparts (see: http://www.badcaps.net ), particularly when used in modern SMPSUs.
Click to expand...

that's why I allways unplugg all of my devices when they are not in use.
 
Up to about 8 years ago, I used a 5150 for my home lighting (X10 and QBasic). The system unit was left on 24/7 for well over 4 years with no hardware issues. They run pretty cool and quiet.
 
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