Memorex Power Center 

It was pointed out to me by a Patron that in this video I misidentified what I thought were poly-fuses. They are more likely MOVs which would be much more in line with what a surge suppressor does. The varistor will block the voltage from passing under nominal conditions. But when the voltage is above its rated threshold, as would happen with a power surge, then it will conduct. Typically it will be placed across the AC input so it will act as a short redirecting the transient back through the line. I didn't study the layout of the power center all that closely and didn't have as much time to research as I would have liked. I am incredibly busy for December this year and had to get a few videos recorded in advance to make up for that. I should have caught that, the blue casing on the part did make me have doubts about them as fuses and I couldn't find evidence of a blue poly fuse online. But I went with it anyway. In the future I'll either ensure I have the research to back up statements like that, or I'll admit that I'm not confident in my understanding of the subject's design.

These blue "lollipop" like elements are not poly-fuses, but MOVs - over-voltage protecting devices. Quite efficient I must say. They are not in series (like PTCs), but in parallel. They short the circuit in case of over-voltage condition. Lights in the switches are not incandescent, they are neon lights (gas discharge lamps).

They're probably neons in the switches, not LEDs or incandescents

I love these types of power strips. Whenever I see them in thrift stores, I snatch them up. I use them for computers, electronics, and my fish tanks. Also check your BIOS. There may be a setting to always turn on with power.

8:46 - Here's where those short 8-inch extension cords come in very handy.

12:30 If the BIOS supports it, anyone using one of these could always set their motherboard to power on when power is applied.

12:26 - That's some amazing boot time for a computer that age!

Edit: The phone :D Have to say I was sceptical about the rebranding - but the TT looks quite cool!

I immediately recognized this, because I remembered it on top of the xServe in Druaga's videos somehow

12:16 the lights flickered slightly right after turning on the CRT, classic :D

The elements in the switches, given it's age, are likely Neon indicators.

normally the switch lights are neon bulbs they hold forever and flicker like a candle sometimes :)

Hey tech tangents. Previously employed surge protection engineer here. Looks like you have a mov protection plus lc low pass filter in there. About 5ka of back end protection. Yeah the movs are a semiconductor that conduct at a particular DC voltage in Australia we use 431s which is 230v DC. In America it would be a 170v unit to cover the rms peak. 10 mm movs are usually 5ka in that era. Very empty switchbox without decent power and transorb protection on the signal line. Great nostalgia piece though. 😊

one advantage of living in the uk, is that all of our plug sockets have switches built in to them as standard. that way we can switch off what isn't needed but keep the plugged in, less effort to switch than to push or pull.

I love how excited you get about vintage tech, and I can totally relate!

We never had one of these growing up, but I always wanted one. Now I have about five of them.

The German company "Brennenstuhl" still makes something like that its called the "Power Manager". It's pretty good, i use it for my 3D printers.

12:26 That's the fastest Windows 98 SE start-up I've seen!

I still use mine to this day, if these ever make a comeback I would love the ability to turn off the switch lights

You and LGR should make a secondary combined channel to fill out, and send in, those warranty cards. Nothing might happen... Probably, nothing will happen... But what if something DOES happen? I mean, most of them are 'free postage if sent within the US" so...

I had one of those for my computer that I've been using since I was a child, born in 2002. It's now sitting downstairs, but all functions are working.

This appears SO MANY TIMES in Stargate SG-1. Or at least, something that looks almost identical to it.

IIRC, many modern mobo's can be set to turn on when they get power, it's probably called something like "turn on after blackout" or something similar I don't know if that mobo supports it, but I remember that it's somewhere in the BIOS, presumably power management or similar

I'm sitting here looking at the one I have in use on my table while watching the video...

dude, ur as giddy as i was when i found a switched scart splitter at a thrift store

the lights in the switches are neon indicator bulbs neither incandescent or led

Around 12:40 - plenty of ATX BIOS configurations come with an option for what to do after a power loss, setting it to "On" will mean the PC turns on whenever power is returned to the power supply - the feature is often called "Restore on AC/Power Loss", "AC Power Recovery", "After Power Loss.", or something along those lines.

I just got one of these. Always loved them and they're amazing for retro setups!

It was great to hear this epson printer starting. brings back memories.

What about those one-foot rattails? Oh, someone mentioned those already. XD

AUX 1 and AUX 2 = External Floppy Drive 1 and External Floppy Drive 2

These things are so useful. I've got a similar one part of my Amiga 500 setup, I can't imagine going without it!

Ahh the memories, I had one of these years ago on my Apple IIe which I then used on my various IBM PC and PC XT clones. I gotta say I love the old Packard Bell modem on your PC, that brings back memories too.

I've found 5 over the past months at thrift stores. Not that brand, but similar power stations. I had to replace the switches in one of the 2 light-up power stations as the lights were burnt out.

See these all the time at my goodwill

I STILL use that power dock... It's a glorified power strip, but it's handy.

Please clean your finger nails. But I liked yoru video. My old comnpuer I used when I was usuing win98 has something similar but it was from a different company. I don't remember which I want to say it was from interex or something IDK.

Out of curiosity, have you tried using a VOIP solution like an OBi200 for use with your modem? Despite the call quality, I've dialed into a few BBSes with it, and although you certainly won't be able to do stable dial-up internet (and what's the point, with ethernet all around you), it can give extra use to that awesome modem and phone combo

Over-glorified power-strip... And these are not polyfuses, these are Varistors or MOV (as in metal oxide varistor). They become extremely conductive when voltage exceeds a certain threshold and they are used as surge arrestors just as like TVS diodes etc etc etc....

For wall warts, I have a bunch of really short extension cables (like 1ft) that I use just to plug those into stuff. Something like: www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-6-Pack-Heavy-Extension/dp/B0153T1J8Y

0:39 I remember powering up my cousin’s dads PC with one of these and playing JetFighter II: Advanced Tactical Fighter on MS-Dos! I must of spent thousands of hours playing that game.

I just saw one at a Roche (big biotech/pharma company) office! I never owned one of these...but I had the nicer and sleeker looking Kensington Masterpiece 62100. I am still using a Kensington Masterpiece 62112 with a remote power switch on my current computer.

1. That tower is beautiful 2. The only thing Microsoft ever made that was worth buying are those ergonomic keyboards (I prefer black, though. :D) 3. That phone is sweet!

I picked on up about a year ago at a thrift store and was ALSO extremely excited. I wanted one as a kid and now 30 years later, finally got one.

I KNOW THAT PRICE TAG ! That thing started its life at a Frys' Electronics store before eventually ending up in that 2nd hand shop!

Powerstrips with switches are very useful, I just mount it into the side of my desk now. Walmart sells short extension cords for getting around wall wart problems. Many times old computer speakers are a big parasitic load, so its useful to have a switch.

In Germany we had a similar device in this time period. From the (at least in Europe) well known Conrad Electronic. It was called the "Power Manager". Pro, the sockets where much more spaced and turned by 90°. Contra, there was no modem protection. I still use my power manager from 1995. A neat device.

Many BIOSes have an ac power loss setting, the usual options are: "off", "previous state", or "on". If you do ON the computer will come on with the power commander.

Still using one. Mine is a 2000s unit when black took over from beige. A Sharpie took out the switch labels except Master. Switches are used for Monitor, Speakers, Swing Arm lamp, 'Mood' rope light and the Chinese bench power supply that I don't like leaving connected to mains. Switch lights are NE2 neon lamps that tend to flicker as they get old, The first one I had was when the computer was an XT clone. Master switch would power on the computer, the Okidata 9 pin printer, the monochrome monitor and the clip on desk lamp, all at once. A PGE power surge from a high voltage power line falling onto the service drop took it (and many other appliances) out but did not damage the items plugged into it.

As mentioned, those things do look like MOVs, but you could also plug this into a better surge protector or UPS* and use it more for the switching than for any protection. You could plug it into something nice like an ESP-Surgex or Furman or Panamax or ZeroSurge or BrickWall, etc. * surge protectors would be better on an isolated UPS; they aren't recommended on a smaller consumer transformerless one.

Holy hell, is this your first time getting the video completely technically wrong? Is this what the name change brings with it? Was it a good idea after all? And i mean it's not like you're too ignorant to notice these issues, you can see what's in series and parallel and go like hooold on that thought i'm having can't possibly be quite right, they just slipped you by.

I spotted your wireless RF mouse and I have one these brand new that I've never used because the machines that I use are modern Windows and Mac and I wasn't able to get the mouse to work. I have other PS/2 mouses that work plug and play using a PS/2 to USB adapter, but not this one. Have you tried this mouse on a modern PC? Maybe my mouse is broken.

Most pentium1 machines were at systems, some pentium2 era machines, mostly amd k6-2 were still at, i had a slot1 system with 400mhz p2 and it was at formfactor... So not only up to 486.

These things would work a lot better with those little pigtails you can buy these days, and yet I don't remember seeing anything like that when I was younger, ironically enough. If you REALLY wanted to use the switch on the PC, there may be a BIOS setting to restore the previous power on status after loss of power, and then Windows could be set to not automatically power the machine off, for that classic "It is now safe to power off your computer." screens.

I have a Belkin SurgeMaster on my desk right now! and I have for several years. I also have a PowerMeiser and a couple others and I use them every day. any time I go to a thrift store I look out for these. and YES I do hook mostly everything where it says it should be PC on computer monitors on a splitter from the monitor one and the AUX ones are my sound and mic dac respectively. EDIT: I have mine hooked to a modern PC and in my BIOS i have the option to restore power after AC Loss. with that enabled the machine WILL autostart when you flip the switch on.

Do you not have a BIOS setting for controlling what happens after AC power loss, typically with options "Off, On, Last State"?

I guess my "power center" is of a much older variety. There are no led lights. They're all neon bulbs and they flicker and dance.

computer, monitor, epson dot matrix printer, labtech powered speakers (in which I rarely used the speakers but they had a headphone amp and volume controls on the front so awesome) and yes, my US-Robotic's modem was my configuration for a long time PS the lights in the switches are miniature neon bulbs

lol- just peaked over my twin flat panels and looked at my memorex...

The new versions of these are the 'Smart power strips'. They have a "master socket" that detects standby power, and "Switched" or "Slave" sockets that are controlled by the master. When the strip detects standby power draw on the master socket, it will turn off all of the slaves, and turn them back on when the current increases. It doesn't give me as much control as having individual switches, but it's more convenient. My UPS has this feature.

didn't know you weren an InWin fan ;D actually never met a person that actually knew what InWin was... my first custom build back in the late 90's was set in an InWin S500G case and i cut a window in it's side and put some acrylic glass there!

AkBkukU is so good, he can entertain (and inform) thousands of people for 14 minutes talking about a glorified power strip! I enjoyed every minute.

There's plenty of room inside that thing, maybe you could transplant the guts of a modern surge protector into it? (Though if those MOVs trip the breaker as fast as they should, that might not make much of a difference.) And the best tool I've found for straightening out dents is a deadblow hammer. It's basically a rubber mallet head full of BBs that has some give. This spreads its impact out over a longer time than a solid hammer, so it's more like "pushing" the dent out than hammering it. Almost no chance of making little hammer head dents, too.

Western Electric "Celebrity". The phone everyone's mom paid extra to have in the living room in the 1970's.

I plug lamps, TV, recievers and phone chargers into the different outlets and color code my items so I know which plug to turn off, I have been using these for years. Thanks for the video.

You should emulate a phone line so you could actually use that modem :3. I did it with a modem, a raspberry pi and an old "Fritz Box" which has 2 analog ports. works fine

I got some 8 in extension cords so I could have my externals with their stupid wall warts connected to my UPS battery back upped side :P

Ah 3dfx. I miss you wing commander with the Logitech thrust master with force feedback.

The lights in 110/230V switches are almost always neon glow bulbs, and those have the color a neon bulb has, so they're neon. It's funny when they get old as they have a flicker flame effect that works exactly like those neon flame bulbs, but it takes decades of glowing for them to grow that old.

I wish they made a UK model of this... These things look so cool but man it sucks to live on a different voltage w/ different outlets

I still use one of these. I have my computer, printer, two monitors, speakers, connected to this bad boy and it turns all those connections into one single AC connector which is fed to my APC UPS. This is a key trick to being able to still have a bunch of external hard drives running off of my UPS as well as my entire setup including two monitors. Essential piece of hardware unless you have another five electrical outlets available. That's really cuts down on how many cables actually need connected to the battery backup if you use this smartly. Been using it for years, swear by it. Will continue using it forever. And yes, my Memorex power center has the little lines on the logo on the left hand side. Strange this one doesn't. I never seen that before. One of the most wonderful things about a setup like this is I leave my printer off most of the time since I don't use it very often. I only flip it on when I need to use it and then it goes off again but every other piece of hardware connected to it which is my computer, two monitors, and speakers, and never turn those switches off. All of them stay on all the time and I can cut power to each and every device when I'm done using the computer one switch turns everything off and even better when it's time to get my PC on one switch turns everything on. Makes the setup so much easier. One button, everything Powers up, one button, everything Powers down.

I still use one on my 5820k setup. It works great! I even painted it black to match lol.

If I recall a client at my computer repair job had one of these connected to his modern computer. If only they had something like this for modern power strips. You could stop so much parasitic load with the amount of cell phone chargers and whatnot that we have these days.

About not being able to control the computer power. Some motherboard BIOSes will let you power on when power is connected. Not sure about old bioses but I know my modern motherboard bios supports it

A modern take on this _specifically for computers_ would be to accommodate putting a widescreen flatscreen display on top, which would significantly shorten the length of the unit and include extra spacing, with upside-down keyed plugs with some having additional spacing (so the unit may be a bit more wide) to accommodate wall warts, with the option of rotating forty-five degrees in both directions to adapt for different orientation of AC adapters.

I thoght as i have many I could put a pie or PCB in one as a case.

We still have a very similar power director in use with our modern PC. It still works perfectly as intended, considering it’s a laptop sized power strip.

i think the thermistors (blue round things) are to allow the power to come on slowly rather than instantly, they're designed to have 0 impedance at a certain temperature, but their impedance goes up as they get colder or hotter depending on the type... and then there's an AC lines rated filter cap to try to get rid of some noise...

Wow, that printer brought me back a lot of memories. Back in the late 90s my mom used to work from home as well on a 386SX laptop (a NoteStar NP-923 or an other, exactly same looking model) and she had an Epson LX-100 printer, the 9 pin version of the LQ-100/AP-3250 :)

Don't stack. Get a box of 1' extension cords. I use these with my UPS and they work great.

the keyed plug with the longer adaptor could be defeating the polarization of the plug. adaptor wasn't polarized so it could be reversed essentially plugging the big prong in small prong hole via adaptor

Most ATX BIOSes have an option for power on after power loss, most are just on or off, but newer boards have an option for last state so what ever state it was in last when it lost power it would return to that. In fact my first Pentium board had that, M Technologies Mustang Super 7, and I had the same power center for use with it.

I remember having a couple of these ... long ago, and many computers ago :)

Back in the day once in a while a person would plug a modem into the surge portion. Does not have to be that style. Anyway I don't know if it was age or what. But they would get horrible speed. So you would bypass it and not have an issue.

I had a belking one, much newer than that one. I'm sorry I only picked one at my old job it's so convenient to have all these independent power switches!

Did most people buy these for the switch panel, or did they buy this for the surge protection promise? It would be interesting to get some input from bigclivedotcom or others as to whether those components actually would have done much or whether they were mostly snake oil.

have you considered replacing those old wallwarts with newer ones? newer ones are smaller and more efficient.

Recently saw one at Savers, but passed it up. It looked like it was covered in years of nicotine & most of the neon lamps were dead.

Those power switches have been replaced by Alexa, not sure if that is good.

My Power Center has been in constant use since the early 1990's.

Being excited by silly things is what keeps us alive and passionate. Keep up the good work. :D

great, but if you accidentally hit any button you can accidentally turn off some equipment

Ah, tht InWin Q500. Shame I don't still have mine (lost it in a house fire)

the blue things are MOV's (metal oxide varistors) not polyfuses. they tends to sacrifice themselves in a spike conditions, and often needs replacing. I'm surprised there's no warning light attached to them.

I also find these items at the thrift store and have Memorex but it was not in the box but it still works great and I use them all over my house. Thanks for the video.

All those live connections with the cover off makes me very unhappy. At least put some booties on them!

There is so much empty space inside, it could be upgraded to a UPS.

There is enough room in the case, I wonder if you could add a better surge protection circuit. You need to reach out to the electrical engineer youtubers.

You can still get the desktop surge protectors, you have to order them as no one carries them now.

Why the hell don't you have a home phone? >.> they work when the power is out.....