Low voltage, brown out situation can damage computers. When the voltage drops too low, and switching regulators can output very dirty DC power to the internal components and cause damage. Power supplies at least since the ATX spec, (long after IBM PC) have a power good signal telling the mainboard that voltages are in spec.
Electronics do not work that way. But then if the poster knew how electronics worked, then he knew the original IBM PC had a power good signal. And why all older computers also must have that equivalent signal. It exists to protect data - even in a Mac.
Why do the fewer know this? Because the fewest also designed this stuff. Switching regulators never output ‘dirty’ (harmful) DC power. Brownouts never cause damage. More numbers - to separate the informed from others educated subjective reasoning and advertising.
If low voltages are destructive, then he cited specific component damaged by low voltage. He cannot and will not. Even earliest digital electronics (4000 series) operated on any voltage from 20 VDC down to
-0.5. Numbers right from manufacturer datasheets:
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/208/108514_DS.pdf
All voltages down to zero and even slightly negative cause no damage. Where is this component damaged by a brownout? That damning question is never answered by many who only know subjectively – also called junk science reasoning.
Another design engineer describes how brownouts work:
We operate everything on an isolated variac, which means that I can control the voltage going into the unit I am working on from about 150 volts down to zero. This enables us to verify power regulation for over and under-voltage situations. A linear supply (many TV's) will start to lose its regulation from 100 volts down to maybe 90, and the set will shut off by 75 volts AC or so.
Switching supplies (more and more TV's, and all monitors I've ever seen), on the other hand, are different. ... the best I've seen was a TV which didn't die until I turned the variac down to 37 VAC! A brownout wouldn't have even affected the picture on that set.
Not die as in damage. Die as in power off. We routinely expose electronics to brownouts to learn how low voltages can drop before electronics power off ... always without damage. Because all computers must work normally even when incandescent bulbs dim to 40% intensity (more numbers). How often does your electricity brownout that much?
Destructive brownouts are how advertising creates mythical fears to promote sales. Only a minority actually know this stuff. Separate the chaff from reality. The informed say why and provide numbers. The naive will only post denials in soundbyte conclusions. No numbers is a first indication of junk science reasoning. Use those missing facts and numbers to separate fables and fears from reality.
What happens during power off? Internal voltages slowly drop to zero. IOW a power off is nothing more than a long brownout that eventually falls to zero. If brownouts are harmful to hardware, then so is a normal power off. Just another of so many reasons why brownouts do not harm electronics.
View numbers for that UPS. Destructive surges are hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules do a UPS claim to absorb? Hundreds? Another damning number.
A UPS does not claim to protect from destructive surges. It only claims to protect from a different, smaller, and typically not destructive type of surge. Why is the UPS recommended without discussing different types of surges? If a UPS contains near zero joules, then advertising can hype that into 100% protection. The naive (who ignore numbers) would not know the difference. But people who designed this stuff know superior protection is already inside each computer. And those superior circuits require protection that is located elsewhere. Even a UPS needs to be protected.
Numbers were posted to define it. For example, ethernet ports already withstand thousands of volts without damage. Even the IBM PC was required to meet a 600 volt number. Informed consumers worry about the rare and destructive surge. That must be averted at the service entrance. And that the UPS does not discuss and does not claim to protect from. Even a UPS needs to be protected.
Superior protection typically costs tens or 100 times less money. Comes from other and more responsible companies including ABB, Siemens, Polyphaser, General Electric, Intermatic, Syscom, Leviton, Ditek, Intermatic, and Square D - to name but a few. Names that a guy would know for integrity. A Cutler-Hammer solution was selling in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50. But again, these superior products would only be known by engineers and layman who demand hard facts and numbers. The UPS does not even claim to provide such protection. Don’t take my word for it. Read its specifications.
All computers had the equivalent of a power good signal. The electrically knowledgeable would know Power Good even existed in the original IBM PC – to protect data. UPS is also for protection of data. It does not even claim to provide that hardware protection that advertising ‘subjectively’ claims. Protection of hardware from destructive transients must be located elsewhere. So that hundreds of thousand of joules (another important number) dissipate harmlessly outside the building.
The informed has no tolerance for accusations based only in hearsay and subjective reasoning. He cannot even say what component is damaged by a brownout. Provided above is reality. With numbers that identify which poster actually knows this stuff.
For the OP: protection of hardware from transients requires a solution located when utility wires enter the building. With numbers that actually claim protection even from direct lightning strikes. And that are provided by other and more responsible companies. OP is encouraged to ask for details.
A UPS is for protection of unsaved data. A UPS does not provide hardware protection. Some of the ‘dirtiest’ power into a computer comes from a UPS in battery backup mode. No problem. Because superior protection already inside every computer makes the ‘dirtiest’ UPS irrelevant. As demonstrated by numbers.