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How to setup a power conditioner to bass head?

#42
Amplifier products that are designed to CE EMC standards are tested to discharge disturbance immunity tests which verify that the products can withstand high voltage spikes and RF without damage. Since most quality amp products are tested to those standards, and are designed with this in mind, there is no need for additional feel good measures.

Also, for short duration, high rise time spike protection, inductance to protective earth ground needs to be carefully managed. The protective ground on a typical branch circuit (what you plug your amp in) has way too much inductance to be effective for such circuit protection. It is intended as a fault current return to protect against shock hazard, a condition where the inductance doesn't matter.

For real protection, heavy duty protectors located close to the service switch gear and solidly bonded to the earthing point will be more effective, and many will have inductive elements in series with the hot (and maybe the neutral) conductors but never the ground. The discharge shunt elements will be much more robust (and of course much more costly) devices as well.

Since I specialized in industrial controls early in my career, I have stayed current on this subject from the early days. Amp designs have become much more robust against these effects, though of course, some manufacturers do a better job than others. Cheaper power "conditioners" generally won't help the poor designs in spite of the marketing department's promises. Wherever there is easy money to be made, snake oil salesmen will come out of the woodwork to separate the fools from their money.

After 30+ years in the touring side of the pro audio industry, and running a sound company using hundreds of AC powered devices and NEVER using a power "conditioner", I have yet to have a single failure attributed to a power spike event. This includes consoles maybe 50x as expensive as a typical bass amp.
 
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#45
Just an FYI...

This is what a typical power conditioner with no lights looks like on the inside:
Powerconditioner_zps91652deb.jpg


This is what a typical power conditioner with lights looks like on the inside:
PowerConditionerwlights_zps0b02f35d.jpg
 
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#48
nashvillebill said:
Those round blue things are the MOVs which provide the surge protection. They only cost a few cents each.
Click to expand...
Around 1973/74 I started working at the GTE Sylvania TV plant in North Carolina. I was an assembly line troubleshooter repairing sets that failed during initial testing. My first day at work happened to be the first day that they went into production of SS televisions. Immediately, we had a rash of failures of the solid state components. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis revealed that the devices were being damaged by high voltage spikes, and the suspected culprits were electrostatic discharge (ESD) and power line spikes. Sylvania immediately initiated and EDS prevention protocol, but the failures continued. Next, they installed a simple MOV on every power outlet in the facility and added one MOV to the tv's internal power supply. Problem solved.
 
#50
JimmyM said:
Power conditioners are nothing more than glorified AC power strips that are rack mountable. However, they're useful in racks where you have several things you want to plug in but want to do it neatly. But anything over $50-60 and you're paying for the lights.
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I'm not in any way an engineer or an expert but I have a story to argue that a Furman power conditioner is just like a simple power strip.

I played at the LA marathon in a portable stage. Whoever set the generator had the voltage way over 120. I was the first one to connect my set up. When I plugged my rig the gauge showed over 200. I addressed the issue to the sound guy and they adjusted it to the normal settings right away. My rig worked perfectly and no damage was done for my amp nor the other band members' equipment. It basically saved the gig. Would a regular power strip endure the high voltage without frying?
 
#52
I bought this a few years ago for $150.. I still have it today and bring it with me anywhere my $2700 AmpHead goes with me..

Did I get ripped off? or even still need to be using this? it says the ones to get are ones with Voltage regulation and stabilization etc.. this one is good I think..


[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#53
BassHouston said:
I'm not in any way an engineer or an expert but I have a story to argue that a Furman power conditioner is just like a simple power strip.

I played at the LA marathon in a portable stage. Whoever set the generator had the voltage way over 120. I was the first one to connect my set up. When I plugged my rig the gauge showed over 200. I addressed the issue to the sound guy and they adjusted it to the normal settings right away. My rig worked perfectly and no damage was done for my amp nor the other band members' equipment. It basically saved the gig. Would a regular power strip endure the high voltage without frying?
Click to expand...

Any power strip should withstand the higher voltage. The Furman merely showed you the voltage was high (which I will admit is a nice feature), but it didn't regulate the voltage.

Note that there are more expensive voltage regulators but they are seldom necessary.
 
#54
Without powering up your equipment, a simple power strip should not fail, even on over voltage conditions. This is one of the conditions of an agency listing.

If the product has (or had) MOV protection, and the switch was in the on position. it's unlikely to impossible for them to survive IF the voltage was really 200V.

There are a few higher end Furman products that have over-voltage protection at startup, but most (like the PL-8) do not.

Ordinary products like the PL-8 will not (and can not) protect from an over voltage event of that magnitude. IF this is the type of device you are claiming saved your amp, I am calling BS on your claim so that others do not get the wrong impression about what these simplistic "conditioners" can do. It's just an impossible claim, sorry.
 
#55
agedhorse said:
Without powering up your equipment, a simple power strip should not fail, even on over voltage conditions. This is one of the conditions of an agency listing.

If the product has (or had) MOV protection, and the switch was in the on position. it's unlikely to impossible for them to survive IF the voltage was really 200V.

There are a few higher end Furman products that have over-voltage protection at startup, but most (like the PL-8) do not.

Ordinary products like the PL-8 will not (and can not) protect from an over voltage event of that magnitude. IF this is the type of device you are claiming saved your amp, I am calling BS on your claim so that others do not get the wrong impression about what these simplistic "conditioners" can do. It's just an impossible claim, sorry.
Click to expand...

Ok you got me I guess my claim is BS if you say so. The meter shows the voltage before actually powering the unit.
 
#57
BassHouston said:
Ok you got me I guess my claim is BS if you say so. The meter shows the voltage before actually powering the unit.
Click to expand...

Was the switch set to the on position on the power strip, or was the strip just sitting there in the off position? If in the off position, there's no problem because it wasn't electrically connected to the source therefore had no reason to (try to) protect the load. The meters are generally independent and pre-power feed with the meter's power supply designed to accept up to about 265 volts.

I just might have designed a few of these products in my lifetime... you might consider that before continuing down this path. It's not rocket science from my end.
 
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#58
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