Making Music and Making Nachos

VirtualSamana

New member
I live in an apartment and unfortunately all of my outlets share the same circuit. When I use the microwave the lights dim and my monitor starts having epileptic seizures.

Is there a piece of equipment I can buy that would prevent this from happening?

Does this activity harm my computer? (The same thing happens when my fridge revs up every once in a while so I can't avoid this situation without unplugging my major applianes.)

Any other ideas/suggestions?

thanks and happy munching
 
dude, that is scary........for your computer you do have surge protection? a power conditioner might help your computer. i'd plug the power conditioner into the surge protection unit. then monitor, etc into the power conditioner....you might write furman sales department and ask which power conditioner would help you....a search for 'power conditioner' on musician'sfriend.com would yield other power conditioner manufacturers to contact.....any electrical engineers out there who can help?
 
You need a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). It's basically a battery for your computer. It offers stable clean power, regardless of the power coming in. It's the only way to protect against blackouts, brownouts, and surging.

UPS's range from about $120 for the decent small ones to tens of thousands of dollars for the mega batteries. Remember that you need to protect both your monitor AND the computer, so the small little UPS's that you can buy at walmart are usually inadequate.

The number one UPS name is APC: http://www.apcc.com - their website has a neat little configurator that will help you choose a model. I recommend the APC Back-UPS Pro 420 for a PIII class machine with two or more IDE devices and a 17" monitor. A step down from the 420 is the Back-UPS Pro 280, which is just barely adequate for the above-mentioned machine.

One final thing I'll mention is that these bastards are heavy, so shipping can get expensive.

Slackmaster 2000
 
A UPS like Slack said would be very good to have.

A power conditioner is a must, but will not solve this problem.

You need a Line Voltage Regulator, which will keep a stable 115 or 120 Volts of output IF the voltage input is at least 95Volts or as high as 140Volts....It's job is to keep the powere consistent. As a by-product, you will get power conditioning, which is something that tames voltage spikes through your power lines.

Digital gear is very sensitive to voltage spikes. Also, in digital recording of music, stable power is a MUST!!!

Ed
 
Ok, the models I recommended do not provide voltage regulation. Though I do use them, and they kick in during brownouts...haven't had a computer crash or flicker since we got em, and we have bad power. There are UPS's that provide both voltage regulation and battery backup, but they seem to start around $200.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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Well at least you can lay off the nachos while you record! :)

I ran into a worse problem with a very shitty electrical panel that the landlord (did I say landlord? I'm sorry- I meant scumbag slumlord) refused to replace. I finally got a UPS. A 500VA Tripp-lite. Problem SOLVED!

Any time the voltage drops enough to be of concern to your equipment the UPS engages the battery until the episode passes. It's also great on location recording direct to CDR. If the power were to fail there or some drunk were to kick out the plug from the receptacle: No Problem. Without it your disc would be a coaster.

Really eery during a blackout. The whole neighborhood was black but my PC kept on rocking, 19" monitor and all! Without it the spikes I get from the bad panel would cause the screen image to shrink momentarily and then grow back to full screen. Now I just get a beep from the UPS telling me that the battery is engaged. I'm sure that my last two printers and VCRs died from the crummy voltage situation, but how do you prove that?
 
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So Ed, if my understanding is correct you are saying that a UPS without voltage regulation wouldn't help my situation much (ie the fridge revving up would still make my monitor freak out as well as possibly damage my computer/electronics) If a voltage regulator is the way to go where would I find one that won't break the bank and be good for a home recording setup. Do they have any noise issues I need to worry about?
And Slack, where did you find one for $200?
 
When I first set up my audio system I had a bit of grounding trouble. As a result I spent the next month learning about ground loops, messing with my system and measuring how various changes affected hum. I'd record something then pull it up in an editor, find a quite spot and amplify it a few thousand times and see what was there.

I learned a lot doing this and some of it is pretty scary. The power lines coming in to your house are a mess. The current power distribution system in this country evolved over time and was never really designed to handle the kind of heavy duty equipment people put on the power lines. You can have a factory down the street whose equipment switches on occasionally and sends a noise spike into your house and through your outlets into your equipment Dimmer switches in your hoise can send noise down the power lines into every outlet in your house. I've seen this stuff, I've captured it while recording.

A UPS and/or line conditioner can and probably will eliminate some of this kind of noise. If not a line voltage regulator probably would. You know what though. You don't have to guess. Do what I did, turn on the microwave while recording silence, then bring up the track, boost it and see what kind of noise you have. Put in a UPS and re-record and see if its better and how much. Then decide if you need something more.
 
Thanks for the responses:

I bought a UPS with automatic voltage regulation. Unfortunately it didn't do the job. My monitor still has a bad case of the shakes when ever there is an electrical appliance in use. I am starting to wonder if my outlets are properly grounded. Does anyone know a way to test for this?

I am suspecting that the UPS I bought didn't do the job because it doesn't have a ferroresonant transformer. This is something that constantly changes the voltage coming in to a steady 120v but costs an average of $500. My UPS apparently has a chip inside that detects deviations in the voltage and then switches to its battery backup if deviations fall within its detectable range. It doesn't seem to be working though.

There are apparently two circuits in my apartment not only one as I had previously thought. I switched my microwave and my halogen lamp to the other (non computer) circuit. The only other electrical equipment that shares the circuit with my computer now are the ceiling lights and my bathroom light/fan. I don't notice my monitor shaking when these are on but I am still worried about possible damage to my computer and data. Should I be worried about this?

Does anyone have any idea where I should go from here without shelling out $500 or moving out?
 
okay this is what you need:
two 50 foot extension cords
1 can of black spray paint
1 can of brown spray paint
1 can of green spray paint

First you spray paint the cords solid black after it dries you go back and apply brown and green spots. After this dries you plug the two cords togther and wait untill around three in the morning. At this time you sneak over to a neighbors and plug the cord into an outside outlet. This should eliminate power problems (assuming the neighbors house isnt wired crappy as will) and the camo paint job will keep you from being detected. Hope this helps.
 
What kind of computers were these guys using back in the ten years ago?
I was too busy being 8, playing pokemon, n64, and being looked at weird because around 9/11 because I was tan

Yep those were the days
 
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