Voltage surge? Power supply issues

Let me ask the obvious, your charger is made for 220v/ 50hz?
It will say on the charger, probably 100-240v, 50-60hz.
If so, then if there was a power surge, it's more likely that it will burn out the charger and not make it to I thing.
Which leads to the next question, are you sure your charger is on?

I'm near District 11 and have been here 2 months and the power seems very steady to me.
Richard

Hi Richard

Thanks for your reply

I'm from Ukraine and we have the same voltage there as in Vietnam - 220/50. So, all my staff and chargers are made for the local network.

Yes, chargers are OK.

Umm, sorry to hear that.  I was hoping for a simple solution.

I've really had no electric issues; now water that's another story.

Good luck

If a " surge"from outside has  happened then there,s a possibility it would have blown the main fuse at the meter where the supply enters the property.That does not happen in all cases,but most.Sometimes it can blow individual circuits within the property. If there was a problem outside there would have been others affected so have you asked your neighbours if they have had any problems? If there was something major happening on the supply as outside your property the substation fuse would have blown taking you and your neighbours off supply.It is irrelevant if you live in an apartment,flat or house because somewhere along your cable others would be connected  to it.
Are any of your lights flickering?.....put on different lights within your property...is the picture on the television getting small which points to an ongoing fault on your supply cable.
If the problem had occurred within the property the fuse for the individual circuit would probably have blown....try plugging a lamp into the socket where your mobile and MacBook were plugged in...perhaps the fuse for that circuit has blown...a bit obvious...but it happens.....if you cannot find a problem within the property you need to speak to your neighbours if they have seen any lights flickering or have been off supply.
A last look at your post before I finish implies the fuse on the individual circuit has blown...or the cable itself is damaged...possibly.....very difficult to pin point a reason...there has been a lot of thunder lately... thunder can activate individual trips at the mainfuse box sometimes.....it would not be lighting...all you have left of MacBook would be melted plastic about the size of a matchbox!!

Yes this could happen.
Surge is not about voltage or frequency of your charger/equipment and it may not blow your circuit breaker since it is not made to protect from surge.

Some equipments got a fuse or so to protect themselves, but not in laptop or smartphone.

To protect yourself, you may need to purchase a surge arrestor/powerstrip (Quite cheap and you just plug your expansive equipment to it), or equip your house/building with surge protector (RCBO, etc..)

Actually, your building might already be equipped with such protections. (Do you live in a recent apartment?)

Yet it does not solve your problem. Are you able to check if it is coming from your socket? Charger? Batterie?

dariyka,

Just saw your post and trying to understand. Are you saying that you had your MacBook charging and you were charging your phone via one of the USB ports on your MacBook?

Or was the phone charging independently of the MacBook?

Can you now charge the phone via another power source(other than the MacBook)?

The mains voltage is far more likely to fall than it is surge and that won't hurt much, but it could mean your items charge more slowly.
Overnight charging shouldn't be an issue if you're using original equipment as it's designed to stop charging when the battery is full.
If you use a USB port to charge a phone or powerbank whilst the computer is plugged in you might well strain things a little but it should automatically limit the current to stop damage to the equipment. It won;t do the computer's battery any good.
My wife and daughter both destroy batteries because they charge and use at the same time, commonly with wifi on whilst watching a film or playing games so it really hammers the things.
They go through at least a battery each every year because of that misuse.

My experience I believe had more to do with cycles than voltage.  I used to have repeat problems with my iMac failing to boot up.  Every time I took it downtown which involved a taxi, it would perform perfectly in District 1, much to my frustration and embarrassment.   After the third such debacle, I had a hunch, bought a surge protector, plugged it in at home and never had a problem after that point.  My Apple repair guy told me that it must have been the the cycles in my suburban district.  The better surge protectors are basically AC>DC>AC transformer devices and the output cycles as well as the voltage should be constant.  The better ones convert constantly.  Avoid the cheaper ones that cut in and shift to battery only when there is a power drop.

Correction:  What I bought was not a surge protector but a UPS as noted by Fred and Ejmom below.  Of course a surge protector helps against surges but does nothing for drops, outages or cycle problems like I had.  Thanks for pointing out my error.    That's me on the left this time.

^
A UPS will solve that issue.

Yes, based on the rest of his reply, I think THIGV meant UPS and not surge protector. UPSs of course have surge protection as well but good ones also provide "clean" power - sine wave or simulated sine wave. They will compensate for both power ups and downs(to a certain degree of course). I am using and would recommend CyberPower UPSs. I have used them in many larger rack environments and they have been solid. They seem to be a better value than some of the other bigger names(APC & Tripp-Lite). And you can get them here in Saigon.

No need to check for a UPS. You don't need one.
You don't need a battery in case of power failure....Your mabook and smartphone got one already. It will be a waste of money for you.

You just need a surge protector something like this:
https://www.flipkart.com/apc-p4u2-in-4- … se82fafsfg
You can find such products in electrical shops and it is quite cheap.

But first, you need to fix your devices

No need to check for a UPS. You don't need one.

Really handy when you suffer a power cut and you need your gadgets charged up.
Do you get a lot of outages over there?

Whether or not you want a UPS depends upon your reason for having one. If you only want a UPS to help your equipment stay on during short power outages or flickers then dudumomo is right. You don't need one for your laptop and phone because they already have batteries. However, If you live in a place where the incoming power fluctuates greatly(both up and down) then a UPS can be a good purchase for protecting the investment you have in your equipment. It will condition the power and will protect against power drops, which a surge protector will not do. For me, I would rather have a UPS and consider that the disposable piece of the puzzle rather the expensive components in my equipment being exposed to the power fluctuations.

Hello guys

Thanks lot for all replies - could not answer cos Mac was broken (

I purchased UPS and now hopeу best!

Thanks again - all the info was very useful and now I better understand the electricity issues in common

Yep, get a cheap surge protector plug -- essential anywhere in the world for thunderstorms if you have sensitive equipment plugged in. They're only about $4 or something in VN, and you can plug a powerboard into them to protect several units at the same time. Don't overload them with too many items, though -- repeat the surge protectors over several powerpoints if necessary.

Proper electrical-supply shops have more powerful surge protectors that handle more input/draw and provide more protection.

dear dariyka,

how much and where did you get your UPS from? I'm thinking of getting one for myself.