Also why can we restart PCs since this contradicts this recommendation?
In: Technology
Two different answers depending on device.
1) For a modem, or something you want to “reset”, you need to wait for the internal electrical charge stored in something called capacitors to go away. These capacitors hold the charge that causes the lights on some devices to stay on after you turn it off. Just like those lights didn’t turn off, the buggy part of the device might not be off yet.
2) For many devices rapidly “power cycling” the device will damage it. When a device is turned on, the inrush of electricity (called the “inrush current”) is difficult to manage from a circuit design perspective. The inrush typically always causes wear to electrical components.
But for a quick off/on cycle things are more complex. Many circuit components want heaps of power while starting up, and compete with other parts to get the electricity. Parts of the device supplying and regulating the power struggle to keep up with the demand at startup. It comes together in a orchestrated sequence that the electrical engineer planned. If however not everything was discharged from the previous cycle, the startup orchestration is off because something was not draining as much power as expected, when expected. Leaving the device of for say 20 seconds is a good way to avoid this.
NB:There are some other niche factors as well that make rapid on off cycles bad for specific types of devices, including cooling concerns for parts that should not start warm and moving parts to return to a ‘home position’ before the next run.
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