power conditioners

P

productive

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I couldn't find much information on this subject:

i wanted some general information on power conditioners, why you need them, and the differences between the $40 power conditioner and the $500 ones. Is this something that i need to invest in for a home studio? I also play guitar for a band that plays live often. How would getting a power conditioner for my rack help me (beside protecting my equipment).
thanks a lot.
-kyle-
 
First level is a surge suppressor, after that comes power conditioners, which filter out line noise. Next step up is a voltage regulator, which provides a constant voltage as well as the other functions. You can also get UPS that provides some or all of those functions.

I have a Furman AR-1215 voltage regulator, which seems to be a nice unit, for my portable rack. For the studio rack, I have an APC rackmount UPS that regulates voltage, but it's a little noisy, and has a giant transformer, so I isolate it in a seperate, quiet part of my rack.
 
Joose Goose makes some nice units. I really like their sequenced ones for my rack so everything turns off and on in order
 
This might.

Powerware Ferrups 1.4kVA / 1 kW UPS / 60 Hz regulator, rack mount.


I have one of these in a short standalone cabinet. It was 96 pounds before you added the deep cycle marine battery. :eek:
 
so most power conditioners offer protection against surges and stuff,

but what about the line noize? so some of these units can make sure you have less humm or buzz in your equipment?

is that it?

or doesn't that "anti line noise" option do much?

'im about to buy me a US (8 outputs) power conditioner for all my US equipment,
i'm from belgium so i work with 220 volts,
so i got one big stepdownconverter (220 -110) and i'll attach a PwrCndtioner to this so i can connect all my compressors and stuff

or isn't it a wise idea to plug equipment in that powermachine, then into a stepdownconverter?

cheers,
earworm
 
We had a really bad power problem on a show once. In hindsight, it was our hurried setup that caused the problem because we didn't meter everything the way we should have. Basically, we tied to a circuit whose electrical wiring looked right, but was wired with the wrong color cables. It was an older building and we had tied to a circuit with "delta" legs. End result was that one leg was 110, and the other 220 instead of 110. We were in a big hurry, turned on the distro, and then went to FOH. The first thing we noticed was that the first Fuhrman Power Conditioner in line didn't have any of the voltage meters reading at all. Thats was kind of curious. In a quick attempt to see if the power conditioner's lvoltage lights were just not working, we flipped the on switch. Instantly a large pop and three huge jets of smoke flew out the back. Of course we quickly turned it back off. The whole incident took between 1 and 2 seconds. Then we went and metered and discovered the problem. After rewiring the power tie we quickly discovered that the now stinky burnt smelling Fuhrman power conditioner still worked, and that in the whole outboard rack every unit worked except for a blown fuse in one compressor. That incident alone has completely sold me on Fuhrman power conditioners. It was only one of the regular $120 ish Fuhrman's. The Fuhrman power conditioner on that one show alone paid itself off and 5 or 6 more in saved repair costs on the rest of the outboard rack. Not to mention saved us from having to do the show with no comps gates and FX.
 
wow,
i didn't know power conditioneers could be That important,
to me they always were....... machines to connect lots of equipment to..
u know, with the 8 110volts outputs

i bought one today, my very first one


so this kinda means that i can record the sound of thunder and lightnin when the storm is bursting above my house?
 
They are fairly overlooked. It's like insurance. You don't realize how important it is until you need it. then it may pay itself off 10 fold or more in an instant:)
 
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