Home studio electrical

P

pktfrog

New member
I need to install the AC wiring for a friend's home studio. He wants several outlets and lighting (track lighting?). Can anyone give me some advice on making sure that none of the affore mentioned circuits interfere with the amplifiers or recording equipment? I've run AC wiring before, but never for a recording studio and I want to be sure I do it right the first time. If it is really complicated, please point me to a source on the web or a good book on this topic

Thanks to all!
Frog

[This message has been edited by pktfrog (edited 12-01-1999).]
 
Ribbit Ribbit Frogman:

I'm just going to give you a couple of thoughts about the wiring of the studio as I'm not an expert.

Make sure outlets are grounded.

Check into getting a "supply" box that cleans the electricity before it goes to the equipment. I guess there is a name for this type of "filtering" device but most electricians would know or you can check on the web. [dogpile.com]

You might get a surge surpressor/combo filter to feed the equipment?

Start recording.

Green Hornet
 
If you have room in your circuit breaker box,
run a new 20 amp circuit with 12 gauge wire to a bunch of outlets in your studio. (I have 12). Then run a separate circuit for lighting, switches and dimmers etc....

don't use flourescent lights!

Sincerely;

Dom Franco
 
It depends on how far you want go ( read: how much you want to spend ). Dedicated circuits, like Dom Franco describes, are a must if your looking for really clean power. That plus an isolated earth ground, just for those circuits, is a good idea also.
If you want to go past that, you get into isolation transformers, filters, suppressors, etc., like Green Hornet describes. That can get expensive for a 20 AMP circuit, and probably isn't necessary unless the power is really bad in the area.
 
When it comes to solving bad power problems, a really simple solution is to use a one or more UPS units. Your actual power can do some really weird things (spiking low or high)
but if you're plugged into a UPS you won't notice it at all. On the shielding issue- I may be all wet, but it's my understanding that this protection is usually applied to the affected equipment, not the power grid itself.
 
Well I don't want to get into code issues because they change from town to town. But it is almost always a hands down given that lights and outlets must be on seperate breakers. 14/3 wire is reccomended. that basically means that there are three wires wraped in the insulation, the third of which is a ground. I would suggest spending a few extra clams and picking up some gfi outlets. those are the kind with the little on off buttons on them. gfi is ground fault interrupt. dedicated breakers for outlets is a must though.
 
A must is that you keep you power for the studio equipment and you lighting on seperate curcuits. Seperating the wires as much as possible would be helpful also. You could also seperate the studio power with a AC transformer and run a sperate ground to earth. I do this in Echo Star's mobile rig, and I never experience ground loops or any of that crap.

MAKE SURE THAT THE AC FOR THE EQUIPMENT IS ON A STAR GROUNDING SCHEME!!!! If you don't know what this is, start asking around. Star grounding scheme's make sure that all components share a ground to the same point. THIS IS A BIT DIFFERENT SOMEHOW FROM HOW HOUSES ARE NORMALLY WIRED. I do not know in what way, but there is a difference.

Next. For the actual studio equipment, recommend to your friend a Line Voltage Regulator such as the one that Furman makes. I use this in my digital studio and have never had any problems what so ever. Basically, the regulator has a capture range between 95 and 140 V AC, it regulates the power to a constant 115 V AC if the input stays in between the capture range. YOU WILL GET FLUCTUATIONS IN POWER FROM THE POWER COMPANY. ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF RECORDING ON A DIGITAL FORMAT, YOU WANT CONSTANT POWER. A Line Voltage Regulator will do this for you. The Furman unit is just under $500 and worth every penny of it. It also provides the usual surge protection and AFI and RFI filtering of a normal power conditioner unit.

Good luck.

Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com
 
I've come to take this site for granted somewhat - it provides useful information and support - but it still impresses and surprises me sometimes. Like this thread. Loads of people knowing loads of stuff about something that never got talked about before.
 
Good point about the star grounding scheme, sonusman. The difference between that and standard house wiring is that the grounds from individual oulets are normally connected to each other, rather than to a single point. It's much easier to do it that way and it requires less wire.
The problem with this is that every ground connection in the chain introduces a small amount of resistance into the circuit. That means that the actual electrical potential (voltage) of the ground wire will be different at different points in the circuit. This is called a "ground loop".
The only way to insure that it doesn't happen is to connect all ground wires directly to a single point.
If you run that single point to a copper ground rod driven at least six feet into the earth, and don't connect anything else to it, you won't get as much interference on the circuit from lights, washers, dryers, garbage disposals, etc.
 
Thanks loudnaybor, I had that explained to me long ago, but that was so much learning ago for me..... :)

I agree dobro. A while back, Slackmaster 2000 (or as I like to call him, Slackman 2k) really got some things brewing in a thread concerning Operating Systems in computers. You wouldn't believe some of the information that was exchanged in that thread!!!

I always say guys, you are dead if are not learning! I never turn down learning about something, even if I really don't seem to have a need for the information. I usually find that at some point in life, that information comes in handy.

Well, I am not going to carry on here, I gotta get ready for work.

Ed
 
I might not know how to bounce tracks, but I know my wiring code. Run a 14/3 wire to each plug using a "isolated ground receptacle", the bare copper wire goes to the ground screw
on the metal box, and the red wire is taped up about 6 inches from the end with green tape.This now green coloured wire ( only 6 inches of it though. enough to go into the box)becomes the new isolated ground, and is attatched to the ground screw of the receptacle. The white wire hooks onto the silver screw of the receptacle, and the black wire hooks onto the gold or brass screw of the receptacle. There. a dedicated isolated circuit. One receptacle per 14/3 wire. And about the afore mentioned ground rod with all the wires runninr to it... you can only have one grounding point, and it must be at the MAIN SERVICE ONLY. and that's to prevent ground loops and faults and crap like that, except for barns and out-buildings. They can have their own grounding
point as well. Boy, hope that sounds o.k.
 
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