Re: Laptop trips GFI

Thanks Terry, you know the first thing I was going to do when I realized it
wasn't a grounded plug is try reversing it, but I never got around to it,
but I will the next time at the boat.

As I said, this is more a nuisance than a problem. I don't consider it a
safety issue and thus I'm not planning on putting a lot of effort into
solving it--bigger issues to focus on.

John

"Terry Spragg" <tspragg567nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2sCdnV_j1cTkBtLeRVn-1Q@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> JohnHH wrote:
>> Another lie, the power brick is only two wire and the prongs aren't
>> polarized. Funny how different things look when you look at them. Maybe
>> it was the Dell that had the three wire plug.
>
> So, progress, eh?
>
> It's easier to see when you use your eyes. It's easier to think when you
> don't put garbage into your brain.
>
> So, with a 2 wire cableset, unpolarised, did you try it plugged in both
> ways?
>
> Does it do "it" both ways? Is there a great bloody gash and bare wires
> hanging out the cableset? Covered with black tape? "Sealed up" with smunge
> from years of handling? Smunge is that black goo that costs so much when
> spread thinly, hundreds of coats, on "antique" furniture. It comes from
> human hands and exhalations, sometimes called "patina."
>
> If only one way, there is probably a .01 uf "decoupling" capacitor from
> charger "chassis" ground to one side of the supply, depending on which way
> it's plugged in. It will be leaky, or possibly open. Replace it with a
> good one. Don't ask how I know, I've been told I get too technical. The
> device might have internal transformer caused eddy currents or switching
> transients capable of tunnelling through the insulation into the ether.
>
> Otherwise, there ain't no way this thing can pop a gfci unless there is
> leakage through the electrocutee. That's you. Try it again with rubber
> boots on, and rubber gloves. If that solves the problem look for
> something like an almost dried puddle of puke somewhere near where your
> hand contacts the case or perhaps a salty damp berth cushion and sweaty
> underpants, all too close to the wire mesh ssb "ground" plane or something
> really strange.
>
> Reroute the power cableset, away from where it usually is. Try again. Does
> it happen at only one one outlet / location?
>
> Laugh if you want, but this is the real world talking, and truth is
> stranger than friction, as they try to say...
>
> Does this thing have an antistatic plastic case, possibly conductive
> enough to allow this leakage? Paint it with a good insulating varnish, or
> keep it in a plastic baggie.
>
> Buy a different brand of gfci, maybe a cheaper one will serve better.
>
> Terry K
>
>
>> "Larry" <noone@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:Xns96E7D89F1CBF6noone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>>w_tom <w_tom1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:4345B698.D34C8822@xxxxxxxxxxx:
>>>
>>>
>>>> First, to have a common mode noise (leakage), the computer
>>>>must have separate incoming and outgoing electrical paths.
>>>>Incoming is AC electric. What is the outgoing path?
>>>
>>>The ground in the computer is hooked to the ground in the NMEA bus, the
>>>printer through the printer cable, the computer's own troublesome
>>>charger.
>>>Because of any NMEA connections, it's also connected to that AC battery
>>>charger under the quarterberth, which is also hooked to AC ground.
>>>
>>>How many paths does it need??
>>>
>>>
>>>> Second, leakage through a resistance is rare. Leakage
>>>>occurs more often through reactive devices. That means the
>>>>ohm meter will not measure leakage through components whose
>>>>conductivity increases with frequency and voltage. IOW these
>>>>leaks would appear as high resistance (notice I did not say
>>>>impedance) to the meter.
>>>
>>>This troublesome computer has a 3-prong grounded power plug, so we may
>>>assume it also has in input double pi line filter, or at least some disc
>>>ceramics in the .01 to .05 uF range between "hot" and neutral and ground.
>>>The ac current differential caused by the input filter's capacitors is
>>>more
>>>than enough to cause trips, which is why I wanted him to first plug the
>>>computer into a ground buster to eliminate the connection between the
>>>computer power supply ground and the boat AC ground to isolate this type
>>>of
>>>tripping. If the ground buster fixes the problem, he merely leaves it
>>>plugged into the ground buster and goes about his business, occasionally
>>>getting a tingle from the ground on the RS-232C shell, maybe. He'd be
>>>fine.
>>>
>>>Then, I was going to have him measure the voltage between the unconnected
>>>ground pin and boat ground to see how hot it was. You can imagine the
>>>$24
>>>switching power supply of the bargain laptop has nothing but the finest,
>>>mil-spec line filter parts....totaling, probably, 10 cents, tops....
>>>
>>>
>>>> Third, all appliances have leakage. GFCI trip is not just
>>>>from one device. Sometimes it is leakage from numerous devices
>>>>combined. And yet the meter would test every device and see
>>>>no leakage from any of them.
>>>
>>>Maybe nothing else is plugged into this OUTLET GFI. It could serve more
>>>than one outlet from its internal terminals, though. The GFI outlet in
>>>my
>>>bathroom services the AC outlet on the side of my house, too.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Notice - without numbers then one can only speculate.
>>>
>>>Everything we do on this newsgroup is speculation...an exchange of
>>>guesses
>>>and ideas that usually come up with a solution or prod the asking party
>>>into taking a different path to the solution than the one he was
>>>taking....
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>


.

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