Equipment keeps failing - won’t switch on anymore

M

malgovert

Member
Hi- I moved house about a year ago, sockets in new place all 110v, so as my equipment was a mix of 220v and dual voltage I bought a Bestek converter and a 220V plug Power strip and for a while everything worked fine. Then one day, I found that though my computer, monitor and Tascam Model 12 were still ok, my Genelec speakers, RNC, line 6 pod and the converter itself were all completely dead.

I bought 2 new Adam T5V speakers and a voltage stabilizer which made a light crackling noise from the moment I plugged it in, but everything seemed to be working. But one night soon after that the crackling got really loud and the stabilizer died on the spot.

By now all my gear was dual voltage so I decided to just run it from the 110v outlet via a surge protected power strip. Now one of the Adam speakers appears to have died - won’t switch on at all, no light no nothing. Checked the lead, the plug fuse, all good. So it seems it is the speaker.

So, it has to be the outlet, right, even though it is only 110v and the gear can take up to 240v? Or the wiring in the house? Though we’ve had no problem with any of the other outlets. I know nothing about electrics, so interested to hear any opinions or suggestions from those in the know. Been a protracted and painful (not to say costly) exercise trying to set this up. Thanks a lot.
 
I can't really help because the US convention of having multiple voltages in a home is totally alien to the UK - but we do have three phase in venues, so we have 240V plus 415V across two of the three phases. The snag with all this is that you can get issues where there is a common neutral - usually bonded to the ground at some point. As I understand your system - two pin connectors are reversible so one is line, and the other neutral, and your 220V comes from line to line connection - as in NO neutral. when you have a system using all kinds of adaptors then certain combinations can give you floating voltages that get grounded accidentally and this can create serious current dumping through equipment that sometimes isn't designed that well. The warning was the 'slight crackling' - I'd certainly suggest you get a real electrician in to check this because if you have killed some of your equipment, that is secondary to killing you. If some combination of kit and adaptors has cause something to die, then you need to find out why quickly and avoid it progressing to you. Our British system often gets laughed at, but our system does tend to prevent these things - thank goodness as 415V is a serious threat when things go silly.
 
I don't think the OP is in the US. Our power is nominally 120V, and I don't know of any higher voltage in a residence except connections for electric ranges and clothes dryers, which use a different connector and are only provided where those appliances are placed.
 
You’re right! I’m in the Middle East... Used to be all US 110v but now a nationwide conversion to UK 220v is in process. Hence some houses have a combination of both types of outlets. My studio has only 110v outlets, into one of which I have plugged a power strip to accommodate those pieces of gear that are dual voltage but fitted with UK plugs. The things fitted with US plugs go straight into the other 110v outlets. The power strip is not a converter, so in theory everything should be running on 110v, right?
 
I assume you've tried every bit of kit individually into a know working outlet? So you know if it's the individual items or the outlets where faults are. Your system does appear to be all 110V - You need to track the problem down by a systematic approach. What is the voltage stabiliser doing? Do you actually need it?
 
I had a problem a few years back with the service drop to my house. What I was noticing was when I started my table saw the overhead incandescent lights were getting momentarily brighter. The lights were on the other half of the 120v supply leg from the breaker box than the saw. The transformer in the street supplies 240v to the house with a neutral. I metered each leg of the 120v supply and one was about 110v and other about 130v to neutral which normally wouldn't damage anything. Full voltage measured 240v. I had some suspicions the neutral was compromised and causing a voltage unbalance when a heavy load was drawn on one of the legs and by not returning through the neutral was causing a voltage surge on the other leg. The utility company came out, verified what I had thought and found a loose connector on the neutral tap at the service transformer feeding the house. The repaired neutral tap fixed the problem.
Where your electric supply is being split two different voltages somewhere it may be possible there is a similar problem and the voltage is becoming unbalanced enough to toast your gear. If you have access to a voltmeter and feel comfortable checking the voltage you might be able to determine if there is a problem, otherwise call the utility company and have them check it. An open neutral or one that isn't connected well can be dangerous.
The sketch below shows a normal balanced 110v on each leg with a good neutral. The other sketch is what the voltages might be with an open neutral and the current flowing though the loads rather than returning through the neutral. The voltage on each leg will follow ohm's law for a given current through each load resistance on each leg.
 

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That was pretty much my thought too - In a venue near me I fried a computer when we had a neutral fault and the 240V went up to 415V. It took ages to find out where the neutral had failed, but luckily they did.
 
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