R/E/P Community

R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Brad Blackwood => Topic started by: Viitalahde on February 02, 2010, 06:43:29 AM

Title: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Viitalahde on February 02, 2010, 06:43:29 AM
On my move to the countryside, I'm going to have to look into some degree of mains regulation/conditioning.

What I'm seeking for should keep the mains pretty constant, take out the spikes and the noise and to have reasonable immunity to dropouts of 1-2 seconds.

I'm thinking of having at least the signal chain behind this (the DAWs behind a regular USP), so the current draw isn't going to be completely outrageous.

Furmans etc are probably out of the question, so what are the options?
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: jdg on February 02, 2010, 11:12:29 AM
in the building im in, the power is terrible, voltage sags and spikes all the time.

i've tried some voltage regulators (off brand, not the "monster one") and it didn't seem to react fast enough.

im think a very large battery/online UPS for the whole bloody lot might work?
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bblackwood on February 02, 2010, 11:33:25 AM
All electrical here first Furman AR series voltage regulators, followed by APC Smart UPS's. Seems to work great, a voltage meter I have hanging off the UPS shows a constant 120 VAC all the time, regardless of what's happening.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: resolectric on February 02, 2010, 12:00:27 PM
Viitalahde wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 11:43

...

Furmans etc are probably out of the question, so what are the options?


Since you're in Europe the Italian brand PROEL shouldn't be hard to find. I have some of their circuits and they've proven reliable over the years.

There's also the portuguese brand "Acustica" that builds a heavy weight, very solid, 5KVA Automatic Voltage Regulator.
Its price on the website is 236 Euro. I don't know about shipping costs but you can look around or contact them directly.

I have one, similar to this one but an older model, rack mountable, and it's been working flawlessly everyday for the past six years. I believe it has saved my studio several times.
Connected before it i have a Furman PM ProE to function as a Spike protection.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Andrew Hamilton on February 02, 2010, 12:13:53 PM
Bought a second-hand AR-Pro for cheap (from someone over at Glenn's place) and then had Furman refurbish it, themselves.   The used price, plus Furman's bench fee, a new triac, and some other components (as well as all that shipping) was still cheaper than retail...   Has been running well in this 100 year old ? building in an industrial neighborhood.  The console's balanced (IT-20) runs off that, as do some APS UPS's for the computers.  Power is what you're working with.  Don't skimp on juice.   The countryside sounds like a great plan, in terms of acoustic isolation.  ...and for star gazing (when the spoiled rock stars are away);   If I use the wall outlet during the day, I read only 113 V, but at night it's a full 120.  If I use the AR-PRO in front of the IT-20, the volts are at 119, during the day, and 120 all night.  






Andrew
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bigaudioblowhard on February 02, 2010, 12:36:46 PM
Furman VR here, saved my ass on many occasions. I've watched the lights dip to brown and not a glitch in the audio. And helps lower the noise floor. Recommend.

bab
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Waltz Mastering on February 02, 2010, 12:53:14 PM
Separate circuits here dedicated only for the audio... nothing else. Also use a couple monster 2500's showing 120 and slightly above.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: cass anawaty on February 02, 2010, 02:26:03 PM
Dedicated circuit + Furman AR-1215 + Monster Pro7000 balanced + Furman UPS.

You can eat off my power.   Razz
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Greg Reierson on February 02, 2010, 03:41:56 PM
Consider a ferro resonant transformer for line sags.


GR
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Gold on February 02, 2010, 03:46:05 PM
These are more serious.

http://www.liebert.com/product_pages/MainCategory.aspx?id=2

I'll bet Siemens makes good ones too.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: burp182 on February 02, 2010, 04:57:02 PM
As a little bit of a side note, the folks at Equi=Tech said when I put my wall unit in (the single best investment I made in my room, bar none) that UPS units don't play well with balanced power units. They recommended the UPS units go on the standard wall plugs and be large enough capacity to deal with the sags and peaks. Since you run on the batteries all the time and recharge from the plug, they smooth things out on their own. It's worked out well for me.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: minister on February 02, 2010, 10:27:50 PM
bblackwood wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 10:33

...a voltage meter I have hanging off the UPS shows a constant 120 VAC all the time, regardless of what's happening.
Even if it isn't 120 VAC?.....................

bblackwood wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 10:33

All electrical here first Furman AR series voltage regulators, followed by APC Smart UPS's.
I do this too in one room.  But I was told that the Smart UPS should be voltage regulation enough.  Is it? I am in an older building. I have another room I am considering another Furman AR.

Also, are your amps on any Voltage Regulators?  Or is that asking for trouble?



Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bblackwood on February 02, 2010, 11:24:56 PM
minister wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 21:27

bblackwood wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 10:33

...a voltage meter I have hanging off the UPS shows a constant 120 VAC all the time, regardless of what's happening.
Even if it isn't 120 VAC?

*smacks forehead*

Quote:

bblackwood wrote on Tue, 02 February 2010 10:33

All electrical here first Furman AR series voltage regulators, followed by APC Smart UPS's.
I do this too in one room.  But I was told that the Smart UPS should be voltage regulation enough.  Is it? I am in an older building. I have another room I am considering another Furman AR.

Probably overkill, but I had the Furmans before I had the UPS's and consider the UPS's a necessity, so...

Quote:

Also, are your amps on any Voltage Regulators?  Or is that asking for trouble

No, amp and subs are the only thing plugged straight into the wall (dedicated home run ground circuit).
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: crna59 on February 02, 2010, 11:27:09 PM
Equi=tech wall unit here too. I'm glad I did it.


Regards,
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: minister on February 02, 2010, 11:33:12 PM
Thanks Brad.

Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: 24-96 Mastering on February 03, 2010, 09:14:58 AM
When I tried a mains filter I could hear/measure no change in signal noise floor. I also used to have an APC but after the battery died I never bothered to replace it because there seems to be no real point here (Germany, metro area). There was only one single power outage in the last ten years that I'm aware of. I guess the power I get is just a lot more stable than in other places...

Jaakko: Maybe wait until you're out there to see if you actually need it / if there's any benefit to be had.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: jdg on February 03, 2010, 11:54:11 AM
some online UPS's aren't rated and dont perform as well as you think they would.

i have a tripplite, it is rated 120V output -18V/+5V.
that sucks. (computers only run from this, so thats fine)

the furman AR units are 120V +/- 5% (6V)

the APC Smart UPS are 5% as well.

in my studio, the input voltage gets as low as 100 mid day, but thru the power chain i setup, i get to about a constant 115-117.

to everyone here saying they get "120" solid, have you measured the input voltage?

just curious how honest these +/- 5% ratings are.

i personally would like +/- 1%

Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bblackwood on February 03, 2010, 12:00:38 PM
jdg wrote on Wed, 03 February 2010 10:54

to everyone here saying they get "120" solid, have you measured the input voltage?

Yah, here it tends to slide between 120-125VAC out of the wall all the time. Very rarely have I seen it dip below 120 VAC.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Greg Reierson on February 03, 2010, 12:05:22 PM
After fighting with power issues in a studio many years ago I moved to powering my gear with ferro resonant transformers (Sola). Right now, my AC line monitor shows input at 115VAC and output at 120VAC, which is maintained continuously. No transformer tap switches, etc.

I also have an ONEAC line monitor feeding a scope to monitor common mode and normal mode noise on the incoming and filtered feeds. Stable, clean power is vital to a low noise floor.


GR
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Jerry Tubb on February 04, 2010, 08:16:40 AM
I enjoy staring at the voltage and current displays on my Monster 3500.

Not sure it does much, but it generally sits between 120 and 124 volts, and as to the current, it just depends : - )

Also use the ADC UPS's on the DAWs and digital gear.

Like others have stated, power amps directly into the wall outlet.

Cheers - JT
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Bob Olhsson on February 04, 2010, 12:40:39 PM
Line voltage is largely related to anticipated growth in the neighborhood.

Areas that experienced far less growth than power company projections tend to have higher voltage. Areas that have far greater growth than power company projections tend to have lower voltage. Areas that expected and have seen no growth since before the last power station upgrade tend to sit right on 120 volts.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Viitalahde on February 05, 2010, 03:32:58 PM
What a load of options, thank you a lot! I'm just seeking for alternatives, but I'm purchasing these this year.

I haven't measured anything from the mains in our house at the countryside, but we do see occasional blinking lights and other short dropouts, especially this winter with lots of snow.

There will at least be a regulator behind the signal chain, possibly an UPS too. The DAWs will definately get an UPS, not sure what should I put at the power amps. Maybe just some sort of a solution to cut off the spikes.

Greg's ferro resonant transformer sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: dcollins on February 05, 2010, 03:41:21 PM
Viitalahde wrote on Fri, 05 February 2010 12:32

 
Greg's ferro resonant transformer sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that.


Depending on the brand they can generate a very distorted sinewave.  I think the good ones are speced in THD.  It's also a large source of magnetic field so that would also have to be considered.  The Furman with switched taps seems like a better solution.

If you decide to use balanced power, I think the best approach is to generate it locally for units that can benefit, and not to use a large transformer at the service like the Eqitech system.

As you mentioned, you actually have to see what the issues with the power are and take it from there.


DC



Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Bob Weston on February 05, 2010, 04:35:37 PM
We have a similar thing as Greg: Best Ferrups UPS / ferro-resonant line-conditioner in line all the time.

FE18kVA

http://www.steadypower.com/catalog/powerware.php?category_id =34#products

bob weston
chicago mastering
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Greg Reierson on February 05, 2010, 04:36:36 PM
dcollins wrote on Fri, 05 February 2010 14:41

Viitalahde wrote on Fri, 05 February 2010 12:32

 
Greg's ferro resonant transformer sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that.

Depending on the brand they can generate a very distorted sinewave.  

This is true. They can also spew noise back onto the supply lines. As with USP, you need to look at the specs carefully. If you want to go that route, consult a expert with the ability to test the output.
Quote:

The Furman with switched taps seems like a better solution.

I tried one many years ago but the tap switching caused spikes. Maybe they're better now than they used to be.


GR
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: tom eaton on November 04, 2010, 08:34:47 AM
Bringing this thread back from the dead to ask if any of you folks have made changes or have new power issues/solutions.

I'm dealing with a machine in another part of my building which causes enough of a voltage drop when it cycles that my Monster Power boxes, which have 10 amps of load on them as a matter or course, go way over on power consumption and trip.  With a 6 amp load on the Monster box the amp readout will fly up to 12 amps and then settle over a second or so when his machine cycles. With a 10amp load the Monster boxes go flying up to 15amps and promptly shut off.

My computers are on a voltage regulator (Furman AR1215) and a UPS and have no problems so far.

We share only the feed from the transformer at the street, I have my own 100amp 3 phase feed and the offender has a 225amp 3 phase service to his unit.

Considering all available options... voltage regulation, isolation transformers, balanced power... but I need a solution I can get off the shelf NOW!  I can run everything I have off 30amps of clean power if I can find that solution.

I'm concerned about the potential issues of running multiple voltage regulators (3 15amp Furman 1215s for example) and having the gear connected via audio cables while running potentially a few volts apart from each other on their mains (IE, one rack of gear might be getting 118vac, another might be getting 126vac and I'd be patching audio between them).  Would that give me potential for huge ground problems?

Thanks for whatever help people can offer!

tom
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Thomas W. Bethel on November 04, 2010, 08:54:46 AM
We use to have TOPAZ Ultra Isolators on all our equipment. A while back we removed all of them and went to the Monster Power Conditioners. I have really not heard a big difference. You may want to try one of these.

http://www.hgrinc.com/buyOurs/inventory_detail.do?sel_word=B EST&sel_word_sub=&category=&sel_category=&se l_inventory_num=&sel_start_dt=&sel_end_dt=&hidMe nuTab=-1&sch_word_sub=&sortBy=&sortYN=1&page Line=10&sessionUrl_pass=N&viewMode=list&currPage =1&inventory_num=10101200017&from_url=%2FbuyOurs%2Fi nventory_list.do&addList=&cust_id=&sch_yn=N& buttonView=1&sel_start_price=&sel_end_price=&pri ceMode=

The price is GREAT and my mentor uses these all over his facility.

Best of luck!
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Phillip Graham on November 11, 2010, 05:07:39 PM
In the Pro AV install world, everyone relies on essentially two products for general power robustness.  The first is Surgex's surge protection:

http://www.surgex.com/products.html

And the second is the aforementioned Furman multi-tap voltage conditioner.

DSPs are place on a UPS.

Service calls are margin killers for install companies, and the need for truly effective surge protection has made Surgex the leader in that space.  Their new remote managed power sequencers will help them keep that lead.

There are much higher end pieces, of course, with full rectification and re-conversion to new voltages/line frequencies, but that is generally too expensive for the general AV world, and unnecessary.

tom eaton wrote on Thu, 04 November 2010 08:34

Bringing this thread back from the dead to ask if any of you folks have made changes or have new power issues/solutions.

I'm dealing with a machine in another part of my building which causes enough of a voltage drop when it cycles that my Monster Power boxes, which have 10 amps of load on them as a matter or course, go way over on power consumption and trip.


The process you are describing seems highly unlikely behavior for the average thermal breaker at only 10amps load.  Are the Monster units in question GFCI?  If so, it is more likely that there is a spike (or dip) on the neutral/live combo from the other equipment that is triggering the GCFI.  Also, if his device is contributing certain harmonics ("triplen") to the neutral current, for instance, this could trip the GFCI.

To have a real double current draw, the line voltage would have to sag to the point that most gear would shut off.  If the gear stays operational, then the problem is most likely elsewhere, and my armchair quarterback take is that his equipment is polluting your neutral.

Quote:


Thanks for whatever help people can offer!

tom


You need a good clamp meter, and you need to look at the neutral and ground current behavior both on his feed and yours.  You also need to make sure there isn't an incorrect neutral/ground bond point in one of the subpanels after the main feed.  Neutral and ground are to share only one bond point, at that is only at the main panel.

Without the current behavior in each of the conductors on each of the feeds, it is very difficult to say with certainty what is going on.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: tom eaton on December 20, 2010, 09:59:33 PM
As far as I know, the Monster Power 3500 units I have turn themselves off when 15amps or more is drawn through the box.  

I put in a Furman 30 amp voltage regulator and I can see the same thing on the ammeter on its front panel.  When his machine cycles runs the current draw jumps from 18-20amps up to 28-30 amps.  

I am now thinking that the best thing I can do is put in a 15kva isolation transformer with a ground rod, followed by a 15kva UPS "always on" system.  

tom
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: MASSIVE Mastering on December 21, 2010, 12:19:52 AM
Q for the Furman people -- Are they reasonably SILENT?  

I had a few different regulators in here and I couldn't stand the noise they made.  Pretty much have to keep it close unfortunately...  

Lately, my power has been pretty freaky and I think it's time to go back to a regulator.  But not if it's going to be buzzing and humming all the time...  
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: tom eaton on December 22, 2010, 10:17:04 AM
My Furmans hum and I would not want them in the control room.  I have a 15amp unit and a 30amp unit, the smaller one is quite a bit quieter, but still easily audible.

tom
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Podgorny on December 22, 2010, 10:32:32 AM
My Furman 1220 hums VERY slightly.  It's quieter than most hard drives.
You do hear it switch taps though, which can be irritating in summer when voltage is down.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bigaudioblowhard on December 22, 2010, 01:06:15 PM
MASSIVE Mastering wrote on Mon, 20 December 2010 22:19

Q for the Furman people -- Are they reasonably SILENT?  

I had a few different regulators in here and I couldn't stand the noise they made.  Pretty much have to keep it close unfortunately...  

Lately, my power has been pretty freaky and I think it's time to go back to a regulator.  But not if it's going to be buzzing and humming all the time...  


The Furman AR15 seems very quiet, it sits next to gear racks on the floor, probably 6 feet from my head. If you're only plugging in your mastering gear, more than enough current, around $600 USD.

bab
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: tom eaton on December 22, 2010, 04:02:48 PM
Mark-
Do you mean the AR1215?

Mine is not dead silent... but I've always been asking a lot from mine (like a constant 10 amp load).  If you're pulling 5 or 6 amps through the thing and it is not working hard it would probably be pretty quiet.  Honestly the fan in my Tascam 402 cd player in the control room bothers me... so I try to keep everything with any kind of fan or hum out of the control room!

The AR Pro I have is NOT silent under any load.  And makes noises when it is "correcting."  

The 1215 should be well under $600.  In fact, it's $400 at B&H.

t

Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Greg Youngman on December 22, 2010, 04:12:00 PM
A friend of mine who lives in (Somis) Ventura County, CA, had voltage issues a few years ago.  He's a sharp electronic tech guy.  He measured his voltage for quite some time with a recording AC voltmeter to document it.  The 120v average was way beyond the 5% limit and spiking all over the map.  He contacted his AC supplier (either PG&E or SC Edison) and complained numerous times.  He got nowhere, until he contacted the CA PUC and filed a complaint with all his documentation.  A new local transformer was installed and he no longer had the fluctuating voltage or spikes.  I don't know if this happens in other states, but it might be worth looking into before sinking gobs of $ into regulator/filtering.  I check mine occasionally and it is rock solid (no pun intended)unless there's a major lightning storm.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bigaudioblowhard on December 23, 2010, 04:47:08 PM
tom eaton wrote on Wed, 22 December 2010 14:02

Mark-
Do you mean the AR1215?...




I did mean AR15, which they've discontinued and now only have the 1215.

bab
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: dcollins on December 23, 2010, 05:56:22 PM
Greg Youngman wrote on Wed, 22 December 2010 13:12

A friend of mine who lives in (Somis) Ventura County, CA, had voltage issues a few years ago.  He's a sharp electronic tech guy.  He measured his voltage for quite some time with a recording AC voltmeter to document it.  The 120v average was way beyond the 5% limit and spiking all over the map.


High mains voltage is good for business as it makes your electric meter run faster.


DC
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Greg Youngman on December 27, 2010, 10:33:22 PM
dcollins wrote on Thu, 23 December 2010 14:56

Greg Youngman wrote on Wed, 22 December 2010 13:12

A friend of mine who lives in (Somis) Ventura County, CA, had voltage issues a few years ago.  He's a sharp electronic tech guy.  He measured his voltage for quite some time with a recording AC voltmeter to document it.  The 120v average was way beyond the 5% limit and spiking all over the map.


High mains voltage is good for business as it makes your electric meter run faster.


DC


Let's see... faster meter... speeds up the sampling rate... better high frequency response?  I'll think I'll run everything on 240!
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: tom eaton on December 28, 2010, 07:22:48 AM
I simply can't compete.  We're stuck at 208VAC here. I bet 240 sounds awesome.

Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Viitalahde on January 26, 2011, 11:21:35 AM
Well, this has been the first week at my new room, and I've done two albums already.

Smart as I am, I didn't get the IEC male/female connectors for my Furman P-1400-AR-E yet, so I'm connected the mains naked. And of course no UPS yet, since I just didn't form an opinion on which to get at a decent time.

Suddenly, it's the worst time of year for power delivery. There's a load of heavy, frozen snow hanging on trees, and it makes the trees bend and fall over the aerial wires. I've had a few short breaks in power delivery (quickly fixed as I'm pretty close to town centre), but there are areas in Finland right now that could stay for weeks without electricity. Very difficult conditions.

I ordered an APC Smart series UPS for the DAW yesterday, as well a bunch of cables. I'll try that first.

The thing that pisses me off right now is how the short brownouts make my amplifier disconnect the load now and then (the protection circuit disconnects at an instant when the power is lost ). The conditions are a little special right now, so I'll just bite it until the situation is fixed, but for the future:

Should I just buy a huge UPS for the whole chain+amplifier? Are online UPS'es capable of delivering the transient current for the amps as needed? The power supply of the amp is stiff, so the real juice should come from there, though.

I calculate I should be fine with a 5000VA UPS, but I'd probably scale up a little bit, depending on the price.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Peter Beckmann on January 26, 2011, 12:23:22 PM
The smart UPS stuff seems pretty good to me Jaako.

I run my main Mac rig, with PT HD3, the interfaces, monitors and drives, plus the PC for Plextools off a smart UPS 1500. When it's all running I'm looking at close to 75% capacity, which is as far as I want to push it.
I don't have a UPS for the analogue processors or amps though, I'm not sure how big of a one I'd need but BIIIG, and that would be expensive.

Are you hoping to keep working through an outage using the UPS or just protect the speakers and amps from tripping?


Peter
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bblackwood on January 26, 2011, 12:40:54 PM
Jaakko, I'm running 6kva of APC Smart UPS's here - everything but the amplifiers is on 'battery power'. Works GREAT, zero complaints. If the power is ever flaky here (it is occasionally) I still have solid, clean power.
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Peter Beckmann on January 26, 2011, 12:59:09 PM
Interesting, Brad.

Is it all on one monster UPS or smaller local units?
Have you had to replace the batteries often?

Peter


p.s.

When do we officially switch over to the 'other' place?
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: bblackwood on January 26, 2011, 01:11:25 PM
Peter Beckmann wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 11:59

Is it all on one monster UPS or smaller local units?

Five different units - (3) 1kva and (2) 1.5kva.

Quote:

Have you had to replace the batteries often?

You know, they say about every two years, but I generally wait until the begin to fail, so it varies. That said, I had to replace all of them in 2010 (about $750 worth).

Quote:

When do we officially switch over to the 'other' place?

That hasn't been made clear to me yet, but my plan is to stay here until we have to switch over to keep things from getting disjointed...
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Peter Beckmann on January 26, 2011, 05:36:03 PM
bblackwood wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 18:11


You know, they say about every two years, but I generally wait until the begin to fail, so it varies. That said, I had to replace all of them in 2010 (about $750 worth).



Yes, about 2 years is my experience too. I also find when they go they can go quite quickly.

Peter

Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Spindrift on January 26, 2011, 06:31:00 PM
For my remote tracking rig, I'm on the hunt for something that takes whatever garbage is coming in, stores it (in big caps?) and then regenerates a perfect AC sine wave for my gear (120v/15A) on the output....much like they do for sensitive medical equipment.  That would be ideal.

Unfortunately, I don't have the technical vocabulary to "specify" what I'm after so if someone gets what I'm saying and knows the term for it (online, double-conversion?), I'm all ears!

To me, the power goes OUT so rarely, I'm not worried about having batteries or a UPS. I'm more worried about having stellar power 99.99999% of the time.

I've been happy with my Furman AR15, which is silent but pricey for what it does!

Keith
Title: Re: Mains regulation, what's the good stuff?
Post by: Viitalahde on January 30, 2011, 03:29:11 PM
The DAW UPS should be here by tomorrow. The electricity has been behaving well now, ever since they have been knocking down the snow from the trees around the air wires using a helicopter(!).

Peter Beckmann wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 19:23

Are you hoping to keep working through an outage using the UPS or just protect the speakers and amps from tripping?


Really just to keep them from tripping. I might just adjust the time constant of the protection circuit though, since the power supply eats little sags easily. That way it wouldn't react to 0,1 second brownouts.

bblackwood wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 19:40

Jaakko, I'm running 6kva of APC Smart UPS's here - everything but the amplifiers is on 'battery power'. Works GREAT, zero complaints. If the power is ever flaky here (it is occasionally) I still have solid, clean power.


I think I'll go for this, eventually. I'll just cope with it for this winter, the next season for power problems is going to be late summer with its thunderstorms.