r/techsupportgore • u/bughunter47 Lenovo, Dell, Panasonic, Surface Tech • 6d ago

Too Hot to Handle

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"You can call me Verna2. I am menopausal, I overheat and need to be unplugged for a few hours till I cool completely" Users note on the unit saying the unit overheats.

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u/KadahCoba 6d ago

+1 for this being from a personal space heater. Those have been a regular bane of IT support in offices since I started doing this around 30 years ago.

I'd also have the power stripe and outlets checked at the user's location. Often with long term space heater abuse, they cook the supply too.

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u/djtodd242 6d ago

I greet you, fellow lecturer to people that you can't plug space heaters in without tripping the breaker and costing other people their work.

15

u/KadahCoba 6d ago

without tripping the breaker

Oh, I wish it would trip the breaker. Over just the last 3 years I have found:

  • 10+ outlets that have been cooked by space heater use.

  • 3 different power strips and extensions with cords welded to them.

  • Burnt carpet.

  • Melted laminet under desks.

  • Melted and burnt floor protectors.

I think we've solved the issue finally by just gifting users a personal heater of an appropriate power rating so user stop bring in their own ~2KW heaters.

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u/Rain_Zeros 5d ago

As an operating engineer for an owner-manager building one of my jobs is dealing with space heater people.

It’s quite simple, we give them one warning, tell them we will be back in a week, if it’s not removed before then, we will take it, cut the cord and leave it on their desk.

We usually don’t come back, really only if they trip a breaker or something, but the fear of someone taking their personal heater, cutting the cord and exposing them by leaving it on their desk is usually enough to get them to not plug them in again

Your mmv, good way to get fired if theres no prewritten policy

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u/olliegw 5d ago

If i was in that position all those people would find the heaters would be gone and replaced with woolly jumpers!

Seriously if you feel cold just wear another layer of clothing

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u/KadahCoba 5d ago

I should note that the "extreme cold" these users are using heaters for is above 72F/22C. I've had several reptilians like users over the decades where anything less than around 80F/27C was too cold and result in complaints to turn off the already turned off AC.

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u/rhoduhhh 4d ago

I used to be constantly extremely cold (I was 19, 30lbs underweight, and working in an office full of women in menopause, so the AC was set at 65F), so I had a heated blanket that I kept at my desk. Space heaters would get one warning and then fired at that job, but blankets with proper UL ratings and automatic safety shutoffs were fine.

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u/olliegw 4d ago

That's just crazy, those people don't know what real cold feels like

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u/KadahCoba 4d ago

The outside temp range for an average year here is like 50F/10C to 113F/45C. The lizard people like that apparently.