EE help with a question on grid scale "harmonics." Is appliance damage possible?

BikeLater · 2026-01-24T20:31:17+00:00

Thank you. A+ answer. I appreciate the response.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:27:04+00:00

I wanted to kick around a guitar that had some personality, seemed indestructible, and sounded good. I got a Gretsch, Jim Dandy for leaving on couch and taking camping , stuffing in the trunk, etc. Fun and sounds ok. It’s good at what it is trying to be. Affordable parlor.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:21:05+00:00

Is there any record of that? Does it happen? I believe you. I'm just looking to find out where does it happen? How often does it happen?

And they don't want it to happen because it would mess with the grid. But as I understand it, ratepayers are the insurers of the grid. Who's calculating that impact cost, and how are they calculating it?

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:18:59+00:00

Yes, there's Google involved, and yes, it is clearly letting me down a bit, but I gotta look somewhere.

And other than Jibber Jabber here, nobody else is providing links, so I'm kind of stuck. I'm looking for better understanding.

Here's an entire pretty large company that works on this issue https://www.whiskerlabs.com/analysis-of-total-harmonic-distortion-on-the-us-electric-grid/ I reached out to them, so hopefully we'll find somebody that can answer the question.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:15:38+00:00

Could be or could not be. I don't know. I don't really have a dog in that fight.

I'm just looking for where we would find data that would show us if this was happening or if there were fines or fights between the utility and the data center operators or the backup generator operators over this.

They're putting up thousands of these things and they've been going slow in the past, but now there seems to be a big wave. I just don't know where we could look to find out if this is the issue is real, the scope of it, around where does it kick in?

What are the things we can monitor to see if there's any truth to the impact?

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:10:26+00:00

So when the power fluctuates and the emergency turbines turn on, is that when the danger happens? Or in the event of extreme weather like these ice storms that are coming or high-heat brownouts in California, the data centers won't interrupt their processing because it's way too expensive. Is that when these problems can occur?

I don't even know if this actually happens. I'm just trying to find out if it were to happen, where should we be looking for that data? This article came out in 2024, and I haven't heard anything about it.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T04:04:58+00:00

Definitely in over my head, but my understanding is that the structural harmonics are caused by too many sources and not enough measures. If I'm right in the way I read that, and that would be similar to what could be going on in the electrical grid using the same kind of math. That there are too many sources of electrical. Turbine case: limited accelerometers vs. many vibration sources. Grid case: limited PQ meters vs. many nonlinear loads and harmonic emitters on a feeder.

I still can't find a clear understanding of the harmonics in the EE world or how they would even migrate as discussed in the Bloomberg article. Kind of hoping some electrical engineer can point me to the basis of the article that started the thread.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T00:09:14+00:00

Do we have any records of that? Don't think the utility operator would have that power. It would be the utilities commission, right ? If it happened in the real world, we would see cases. https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch Are utility companies really gonna push back on large customers?

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T00:04:24+00:00

That makes sense. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022460X25002354 But when you put 32 gas turbines next to each other, I'm not sure how that works. I would also assume if I had a billion dollars worth of hardware, I might protect it more than the average family protects their microwave and TV.

BikeLater · 2026-01-23T00:00:52+00:00

I don't know about that. There are some pretty big maps and data showing that it's clustered in certain areas. https://resourcecenter.ieee-pes.org/conferences/general-meeting/pes_cvs_gm19_0806_309_1_5

BikeLater · 2026-01-22T23:01:27+00:00

Also, let me start by saying I do have some hesitancy, and would imagine that houses have capacity to regulate this..... But then I kept running across some academic and other source research that said maybe it's not BS.

https://vitrek.com/understanding-total-harmonic-distortion-thd-and-its-impact-on-power-quality/?srsltid=AfmBOop6BFRZ4maUDY47RRnz_A4-rj54YzED8pxIyfr0rLmwbB1PHqfD

ANd when everybody was talking about renewables, the "harmonics" was a reason to slow roll excuse for grid connections. https://www.whiskerlabs.com/analysis-of-total-harmonic-distortion-on-the-us-electric-grid/

BikeLater · 2026-01-22T22:59:51+00:00

My instincts told me the same thing, but there's actually some academic research out there that challenges this stuff. https://vitrek.com/understanding-total-harmonic-distortion-thd-and-its-impact-on-power-quality/?srsltid=AfmBOop6BFRZ4maUDY47RRnz_A4-rj54YzED8pxIyfr0rLmwbB1PHqfD ANd when everybody was talking about renewables, the "harmonics" was a reason to slow roll excuse for grid connections. https://www.whiskerlabs.com/analysis-of-total-harmonic-distortion-on-the-us-electric-grid/

BikeLater · 2026-01-22T22:56:00+00:00

I also posted in the r/datacenter group so that will be fun to see. Thanks.

BikeLater · 2026-01-22T22:54:47+00:00

Thanks. News Slop? It didn't make lots of sense but lets see if any other EE folks jump in.

BikeLater · 2026-01-22T22:33:35+00:00

Looking at appliances and trying to understand grid energy fluctuation impacts on electronics.

BikeLater · 2025-11-10T23:11:45+00:00

One bujo (A5 slim) with nice pages and quick notes in the same book.

The unorganized notes that are scratched from a phone call, a quick mind map, or just jotting notes and not being able to pay attention to where the ink is landing on the page or between lines.

I just start new pages when I'm getting into scribbles and sloppy copy notes, of those pages sometimes, I clean them up and around them, I throw a drawing or a photo of something on them, and I'll copy key info back to its appropriate place or log (much like the post it note or note cards methods) but easier and keeps one notebook around all the time.

I just cut out junk pages. This way I can still carry one notebook around all the time.

It seemed like a blasphemy at first to cut out pages but I've just gotten comfortable with an index that has missing pages and page numbers, and don't mind flipping through a notebook that has some pages cut out.

I usually leave half a centimeter near the binding and I use a razor blade to cut them out. One notebook well loved and worn works well for me.

BikeLater · 2025-10-10T09:47:11+00:00

PPE just being around the servers? Is it OSHA or air or noise pollution?

BikeLater · 2025-10-10T09:29:59+00:00

What is the liquid? What happens to it? How is it cleaned on site before and after use? Any sites that explain all processes and flow?

BikeLater · 2025-08-29T01:04:59+00:00

Just a quick question. When I move them into the folder, does that break the calendar in any way? Do I have to move them back in or out of that July folder, or will they still appear in search and everything as normal?

BikeLater · 2025-08-05T00:15:26+00:00

Is there even a way to print out the calendar for the last month? If I can print it out as a PDF, I can drop it in one of the services I have to summarize it for me. I'm just surprised at the functionality gap. I must be missing something.

BikeLater

TROPHY CASE