I notice that on all East Coast Azuma trains the passenger power supply for electronic equipment goes off for a few seconds every couple of minutes. It must be deliberate design, but why? The battery in my PC doesn't work so I cannot log on because of the intermittent power supply. It's very annoying. Does anyone know what's behind this? LNER are avoiding answering my queries about it. Maybe they don't know either.
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Passenger power supply for PC's and mobiles.
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iphone76
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Could be it as the train passes through the overhead neutral sections? The Greater Anglia refurbished Retanus units do that.
If it is a byproduct of the train passing through neutral sections, then maybe it is part of conserving the limited availability of battery power. Passenger accessories are way down the priority list for power so it is a reasonable measure. If uninterrupted power for your PC is that important to you then you need to fix whatever it's fault is, either by getting a new battery or by using a portable power pack.
driver9000
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You might notice the HVAC goes off at the same time.
bearhugger
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Is HVAC the air con?
Yup - Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
bearhugger
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lincolnshire
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It also shut down on the old electric sets after a while if you lost the overhead supply, lighting stayed on but sockets failed thereby upsetting the laptop and mobile phone brigade in a morning, when there batteries was going flat they had to revert to looking out of the windows instead.
Paul Kelly
Verified Rep - BR Fares
More details in this thread from last October on the same issue: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/azuma-power-sockets-no-power-through-neutral-sections.193979/
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Brissle Girl
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As has been said, if an uninterrupted power supply is that important to you, the onus is on you to get your laptop fixed. I don't think you should expect the railway to offer that as a service, the supply provided is intended to be for charging/keeping topped up devices with functioning batteries, not to provide a service for those who can't be bothered to keep their devices in good working order.
dk1
Veteran Member
Didn't realise they ever got the sockets working on those. Last time I used one they where now covered over.
Some catering equipment such as microwaves & coffee machines also briefly drop out during neutral sections or when line voltage is low.
dk1
Veteran Member
Not really, it's always been that way so they where used to it.
rf_ioliver
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I'm actually more worried about a non-working battery, which either suggests that the battery management circuitry has failed (better option) or that the battery itself has failed (worse option). If the battery is close to the end of its life then you might start seeing problems. Lithium Ion batteries tend to start expanding with some potentially explosive consequences - I'm looking at you Apple!
Get the laptop/battery fixed.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It is annoying as the coffee machine keeps resetting on Pendolinos, so if they are going through an area with multiple neutral sections they keep having to throw away coffee and do it again. Amazes me they didn't think of that and fit some sort of UPS (they are not exactly expensive when you consider the tens of millions each train costs, just a few hundred quid a pop, though obviously add railway inflation to that). Presumably the EPOS system, being tablet based, has a battery which smooths this.
Under a hundred for one that'd last long enough for the few seconds required to get past a neutral section!
Hell for a few seconds a flywheel dynamo could work wellUnder a hundred for one that'd last long enough for the few seconds required to get past a neutral section!
Under a hundred for one that'd last long enough for the few seconds required to get past a neutral section!
Apart from the high current draw required... A UPS capable of ~3KW to maintain a coffee machine, microwave, and miscellaneous other things will definitely cost more than a couple of hundred quid (at least for one that's good enough quality to not catch fire, which I understand is frowned upon).
That's a major exaggeration. Yes, batteries can start to expand and if they do they are dangerous and should be properly disposed of as soon as possible. However, the number of batteries which do this is a small proportion of the total - most just hold less and less charge until they are useless - and it's not always a linear drop either. Such batteries are of no use when they reach this stage, but if they are not expanding or bulging are generally not dangerous.
It is of course now harder to replace batteries in many devices because they are not easily removable: in some cases it's a screwdriver job, and although not difficult for those with basic skills is nevertheless beyond many people. In other cases it's so difficult, and involves melting glue, that most people wouldn't attempt it, or would break the device if they tried.
iphone76
Member
Very hit and miss. But Im on the 1339 home from Shenfield and they are working!
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iphone76
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Tickled me that did. Renatus.
how embarrassing. Lol. I honestly thought they were called Retanus units.
dk1
Veteran Member
That's good to hear. I honestly didn't think they'd bother. Dont get 321s in this neck of the woods anymore.
How many neutral sections are there between London KX and Scotland?
So how many neutral sections are there between London KX and Scotland?
Not too helpful. I know exactly what's wrong with my PC. The battery control circuit has failed so the PC powers up but the battery does not charge. Doing without the PC while it gets fixed is also a major inconvenience, but I will get round to it. It's a Pavilion and I've recently been informed that parts are no longer available. However, I am an electronics engineer so I will just have to fix it myself. Probably a blown diode somewhere.
Thank you folks for your many helpful comments. I did not previously know about neutral sections.
Many! Going by the list on this page, I make it over 30 currently (KX to Edinburgh - "ELR's" ECM1 through 8
Try ebay! My usual source for parts to repair laptops. It does depend on make/model, but there are plenty of companies who dismantle damaged laptops and sell the working parts. It helps that in my case it's usually Dell business laptops, and parts for them are fairly plentiful.
Getting back to the power drop outs. I seem to get them every few minutes so 30 neutral sections is not nearly enough. I will check again next journey now that I have your assistance thank you and know what to look for.... While reading a book and looking out of the window of course!
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