I have this combo extension cord surge block from Furman. They make the same thing for Fender in red 
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Protecting equipment from bad power.
- Thread starter Big Hoss
- Start date
Personally I wouldn't run my rig off of any generator that didn't utilize inverter technology. Not cheap, unfortunately.
I play gigs on generator power a lot, and had an instance where the amps got fried.
Talked to my tech about it, and he recommended one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-8-Out...r=8-12&keywords=monster+power+surge+protector
I think that thing has saved me several times when playing with the generator or at older venues where power can be up and down.
It basically shuts down when the power goes above or below threshold. Which kinda sucks when you are in the middle of a song and the amps shut down for a few seconds.
But hey, better than having your amp destroyed.
I highly recommend one of these things. about $100 USD and worth every penny.
We plug everything into it on every gig.
I dunno how many joules it is rated, but probably thousands.
Talked to my tech about it, and he recommended one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-8-Out...r=8-12&keywords=monster+power+surge+protector
I think that thing has saved me several times when playing with the generator or at older venues where power can be up and down.
It basically shuts down when the power goes above or below threshold. Which kinda sucks when you are in the middle of a song and the amps shut down for a few seconds.
But hey, better than having your amp destroyed.
I highly recommend one of these things. about $100 USD and worth every penny.
We plug everything into it on every gig.
I dunno how many joules it is rated, but probably thousands.
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- Sep 5, 2014
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6125 joules and listed as discontinued....
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Oh I'm sure they make another version, my buddy just bought a similar one and uses it in his band since they started using a generator for the burning man stuff.
Looks like this is Monster Power's highest rated (Joules) item out now:
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exactly! this is the part that saves the gear:
"...automatically disconnects the PowerCenter itself and your equipment from both live power lines (line and neutral), and reconnects ONLY when power levels are safe. Unlike other surge protectors, T2 will NOT sacrifice itself when a potentially damaging power overload hits, and keeps on protecting with no reduction in performance."
That is the part that really saves the day. just shuts down when things go wrong, and powers right back up when all is well again.
"...automatically disconnects the PowerCenter itself and your equipment from both live power lines (line and neutral), and reconnects ONLY when power levels are safe. Unlike other surge protectors, T2 will NOT sacrifice itself when a potentially damaging power overload hits, and keeps on protecting with no reduction in performance."
That is the part that really saves the day. just shuts down when things go wrong, and powers right back up when all is well again.
Just something to remember about RCDs, they are designed to prevent personal injury from electric shocks and not to protect equipment.
Joules are for fools
A MOV is like $1
Add more and you get more joules
Plug power strips together and get more joules
And the don't say what voltage the MOV is set to break over. 250v? 300v? who knows
Now the engineer designing your amp does know what voltage and rating of MOV to use in order to give you a warranty.
It doesn't hurt to plug into another MOV but big expensive if joules for fools
A MOV is like $1
Add more and you get more joules
Plug power strips together and get more joules
And the don't say what voltage the MOV is set to break over. 250v? 300v? who knows
Now the engineer designing your amp does know what voltage and rating of MOV to use in order to give you a warranty.
It doesn't hurt to plug into another MOV but big expensive if joules for fools
I am an electrical contractor in Arizona and I have seen the wrath of lightning strikes, utility equipment failure etc.
Alot of people here will tell you that A rack surge suppressor will do nothing. I tend to disagree. But hey, it's pretty obvious which members think they know it all about everything on this forum.
I run a monster 2500 which had a 2775 joule rating, most don't even spec this rating. Which usually means it's low.
What it comes down to is the Joule rating, the higher the number the faster it "clamps" and protects the load connected.
And I like them also because there's plenty of outlets to plug your rack equipment into with one switch to turn everything on at once.
I think I spent about $150 to protect $5000 in gear. I Say it's a pretty good investment
Hmmm, this thread has got me all paranoid now, I'm thinking this monster 2500 sounds like a good investment for my gear...
Well, I did say that didn't I? They first and foremost protects personal injury, but can protect some equipment down the line. Watch that Furman sales pitch video, and listen all through it. About half way through, he said that you should determine that small equipment compared to larger ones and what it's worth. Small ones can't protect equipment. BTW It's the "ground breaker filter circuit" you should use, a variant on RCD as such. The electronics filter is a jungle, and maze, and elusive at best.
Well if the "insurance cost" - in the form of an expensive Furman surge/voltage protector - is the same as the fee to the insurance company? What then? Either you're insured by the gear thay you buy, or insured by a company who replaces your gear at little or no cost.
However, if it's you yourself that's going to be fried, no insurance company or gear in the world can help. Maybe the insurance company will sue the f*ck out of the bar, but it's little help to you, when you're already dead. Perhaps the people that comes on, after the incident, but I doubt it. The bar just have to close down, no one has that amount of money to buy them free for lethal workplace environment. Not a bar like that though.
I tell you, if that happened i Sweden, the bar would've have to close down immediately. Without any further notice, or notice period. Not even a day. The power grid inspections here on all restaurants and buildings, no matter how shady or underground, are quite Stalinesque. If you can proof that it's the bars fault, which it is, since TV's fumed, and gear that didn't belong to you fumed, all guests/staff in the bar was jeopardized. Since we became members of EU, all flats, apartment and houses had to be converted to only have grounded outlets in the walls. No ungrounded outlets are allowed anymore no matter how old ancient the house is. And while they were at it, they changed out a few other things as well.
BTW, I don't know about that 'frying your equipment' thing. The only thing that should, or ought to, get fried is the fuse. And the fume that comes out, is from that one. I do think that lightning through EMP can f*ck up things pretty bad though, regardless of fuses (and surge protectors for that matter). It's almost impossible to protect you from that. It's not about the direct hit, but the EMP through air that even a faraday cage solution (which buildings and cars are built like) can't solve completely.
I think such a power strip from Furman, as someone pointed to before, will be sufficient enough in most cases. Don't play in bars then, if they have a shaky grid. All of your band could split the cost and run everything through your large huge and expensive Furman tank, while showing up on gigs. Don't know about the house PA and such though. Best thing is if the bar would invest in those kinds of things.
I think such a power strip from Furman, as someone pointed to before, will be sufficient enough in most cases. Don't play in bars then, if they have a shaky grid. All of your band could split the cost and run everything through your large huge and expensive Furman tank, while showing up on gigs. Don't know about the house PA and such though. Best thing is if the bar would invest in those kinds of things.
Don't know about the place where you're from, but the industrial standard here are 3 classes of surge protection: A, B and and home application protection. Class A is lightning protection which has no galvanic connection to ground, but if the voltage is high enough it connects directly. B is for some kilovolts to protect your home from transformer failure and the third is the one you put into jacks, it's for saving high ohm loads in case of neutral-failure. Ofc the last one isn't going to save your gear from lightning strike or failed galvanic isolations in transformers, but you could apply a class B into an amp, although it's not made for it.
i been using this "surge protector" strip for as long as i know.. am not sure if it will help my equipment if what op describes goes down any place am at..
I held an electrical contractors license many years ago, but have not kept up with the regulations since I discontinued my license. However, I think the only personal safety requirements we currently have for residential electrical systems is proper grounding/bonding, and ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) on any outdoor receptacles and receptacles within a certain distance of a water outlet. I am either reading your post wrong or you are mixing industrial and residential regulations, which may or may not matter.
Monster is overpriced and just gives surge protection and filtering.
You want a regulator because that deals with low and high voltage swings.
For instance at an outdoor gig with a generator, if you use a very long extension cord to keep the generator far away because of the noise, the voltage drop over the cord can be significant. Those Furman regulators keep you locked at 117V constantly. The way they work is if the voltage droops, you get less max currrent (at 90V about 11A on a 15A model). You also get all the surge protection and filtering.
Amps that have power shutdown features (usually your PA, not your bass amp) can be very sensitive to voltage. I once did an outdoor gig where once the PA hit a certain level because of band dynamics, it would mute for 10 seconds. I traced the problem to the voltage from the generator was only about 100V and when the amp drew more current this would droop further and the protection circuit would kick in. With a regulator, no dropouts at all.
You want a regulator because that deals with low and high voltage swings.
For instance at an outdoor gig with a generator, if you use a very long extension cord to keep the generator far away because of the noise, the voltage drop over the cord can be significant. Those Furman regulators keep you locked at 117V constantly. The way they work is if the voltage droops, you get less max currrent (at 90V about 11A on a 15A model). You also get all the surge protection and filtering.
Amps that have power shutdown features (usually your PA, not your bass amp) can be very sensitive to voltage. I once did an outdoor gig where once the PA hit a certain level because of band dynamics, it would mute for 10 seconds. I traced the problem to the voltage from the generator was only about 100V and when the amp drew more current this would droop further and the protection circuit would kick in. With a regulator, no dropouts at all.
Industrial standard is just a term stemming from the former meaning of DIN, if you by chance came across this sometime. Basically the Norma applied to electric devices stem from Industry, but are mostly applied to households and other everyday applications, too. Nobody here is obliged to install a surge protection of any kind, but they exist.
Also judging by your post security means are handled way differently at your place than mine.
It is not amps (current) that jumps open contacts, it is voltage. If the voltage got high enough to burst the TV's into flames my thoughts are that NO amount of protection would have been 100% effective at preventing damage to the other gear. Those transformers step down voltage a lot. (From 4000 to 240/120) If a transformer were to melt it may send the primary input voltage onto the line feeding the building. This would destroy most if not all of the equipment regardless of any installed protection circuitry. Further, the bar needs ALL of the building wiring replaced as it has been exposed to voltages that likely compromised the insulation. That place needs to have every inch of the electrical wiring inspected or replaced before they re-open.
