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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 1:33:15 GMT -6
What do we like for Surge Protection? I figured Furman's were good enough, but a quick google search and many people are calling them nothing but glorified power strips (which is strange when furman's site literally says these 115$ rackmount black units do in fact offer surge protection, but.. I digress) - Anyway, I really don't care, I just want my gear to be actually protected and I don't mind spending a bit more to do so, maybe not thousands, but a few hundred to a thousand, sure. Got some spikes in my microphone (connected to a furman) today from a damn mini fridge (connected to that same outlet) and this spurred the power and surge questions in my mind. So, please share what you use to protect your precious equipment! Thanks for any suggestions.
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Post by the other mark williams on Dec 18, 2022 1:59:04 GMT -6
Step 1 is to get anything with a motor off of the circuit the studio is on. What's your studio situation? Is it a bedroom in a house? Or a separate facility? Rented or owned?
As drbill can attest, even if a studio is well-grounded and surge-protected, nothing is likely to completely protect against a direct (or near-direct) strike, but everything kind of depends on how far you're able to go. A new, dedicated copper rod in the backyard on a studio-dedicated panel (or even sub-panel) is often best. But there are certainly other things you can do that are less $ than that.
I like some of the Furman units, I like some of the Tripp-Lite stuff, and I have my computer and drives and screen and mouse on a backup battery unit in case the power goes out in the middle of a session.
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Post by drbill on Dec 18, 2022 12:08:23 GMT -6
As drbill can attest, even if a studio is well-grounded and surge-protected, nothing is likely to completely protect against a direct (or near-direct) strike.Sigh..... I can attest. I can attest...... I'm still sorting thru some issues here 3 months after the lightning strike. However, even though I'm sure some of the surge protection / etc. helped, nothing really completely works. How much protection do you need if your area is prone to strikes? About 4-10X's as much as you are willing to spend or can possibly afford..... And it is worth EVERY penny.Sorry for the book, but this subject takes a book...read on if you dare/care. 1.) All our area's electrical infrastructure / wiring is new-ish (20 years old or so) and it's underground - so no electrical or lighting poles, no telephone poles, above ground transformers, etc. to act as lightning rods. 2.) The building is new as well, so no old $#!@#$ grounds, sketchy wiring or weird stuff. 3.) The structure has a high end Environmental Potentials surge protection system installed that Hedback suggested when I built the room. ($1000+). Connected to new copper ground rods. But I didn't stop there..... 4.) The studio itself has a dedicated SurgeX 420 sub panel which Hedback suggested that is completely isolated and separate from the rest of the infrastructure - $$$$$ ($2000+). Thanks Jeff!!!!!!! Also connected to new copper ground rods. 5.) ALL gear is plugged into decent to high end 1RU Surge protectors - Furman, Radial, Juice Goose, etc. ($2-3000+) 6.) Some of the 1RU protectors have Furman floor box extensions with surge protection. ($500+) So...some gear has 4 levels of surge protection on them. FOUR levels. ALL gear has at least 3 levels of surge protection. All of it decent to extremely high end. The sub panel is super high end and everything is powered off of it. I'm sure some of the surge protectors did their job - especially after some gear survived just fine. But.....other pieces fried. Some of the fried gear was turned on - I was in the middle of a mix and took a break - and some of the fried gear was turned off. Didn't seem to really matter. The Digital / Computer stuff was definitely affected more than the traditional outboard. There was definitely scrambled PRAM and stuff. Had some video monitors and video cards die. Routers, etc - scrambled. My nice high end Fujitsu Dual Mini Split HVAC system died - toasted. That was BY FAR the most expensive failure. Most gear that fried was not transformer balanced I/o gear. That might be part of the secret.... But some of the transformer balanced gear got a little out of spec and calibration. Needed some TLC. After much investigation and contemplation and learning more about the incredibly powerful voodoo of lightning from very heady individuals who know their $#!@ - a lot of it boils down to how your gear is designed / made and of course - your proximity to the voodoo. And believe me, voodoo it is. Powerful voodoo. So - spoiler - the Lightning did not CONTACT anything as best as we can tell.....read on. Even after that painful (both physically and emotionally) learning curve and being more baffled than ever - the conclusion that we came to - and even that is sketchy cause there's no "testing" that you can do after the fact - is that the ground potential (probably the wrong term) came up from the earth THRU the structure's foundation, wood and drywall, etc. to meet the opposing field of energy which was sitting directly above the structure. It came up thru the freaking air ions - not thru wires ( again, probably wrong term - till it connected just above the roofline. I don't want to know more. I want to forget.). My wife said the entire house SHRIEKED and shook a mega instant before the strike actually happened. And the strike itself...... Whoah. The strike itself was CLEARLY visible to me as I was for some insane reason standing outside in the light rain looking up at the structure - and it went off horizontal to the ground, directly over the roof about 50 feet off the ground when it exploded and about 100-150 feet away from where I was standing. I saw it happen. In a weird kind of slo mo real time horrific moment. I was lucky / unlucky enough to standing there actually looking directly at it. It knocked me and broke off one of my front teeth. We had a brand new roof, and I went up and checked it days later. ZERO signs that the lightning contacted the structure or roof. ZERO. To re-articulate - the strike when off horizontal to the ground and didn't contact the structure as best I could tell as I literally watched it go off. All that energy went off in the air above the studio. Did it contact wiring via the atmosphere? Probably. I dunno. But it did damage without direct physical contact after investigation. So.... there was no physical connection from the lightning strike to any wiring or the structure that I could find. As best I can tell, all energy was dispersed into the atmosphere IN and AROUND the house / studio. Wrap your mind around that for awhile. Lightning is unbelieveably powerful. It can cross air with no wires attached. It can blow up stuff that's turned off. It laughs at man's humble attempts to protect from it. I am blessed and happy to be walking upright - and every time I think about it I thank God - my creator / protector. I've been VERY close in the past, but this time was beyond too close. PS - BTW, we live in an area where the monsoons roll in in the summer time. We love it. We love the lightning storms and torrential rains, but please, please put me in a little lightning proof underground bubble next time.... LOL PPS - on the gear front - most everything is fixed now. Nothing horribly expensive. Mostly output IC's on certain pieces. Some other simple stuff like switch mode power supplies, etc.. I'm still getting the last of it up and running. Again, I feel EXTREMELY blessed of God to have witnessed and walked away from one of the most powerful things that nature has to dish out - up close and personal. Oh, and my tooth is FIXED so that I don't look like a toothless hillbilly (no offense to any hillbilly's, LOL) anymore. LOL PPPS - what I learned : 1.) The lightning strike BEFORE my lightning strike was at least a mile away. There is no way to determine where the next strike will be. I will not be nearly as cavalier next time. At the first sign of rain / lightning, I'm coming inside. 2. Gear will be shut down and unplugged from the wall. And even then, I'm not 100% sure it will be fully protected from a close or direct hit based on my past experience. 3.) Everything electrical is vulnerable. 4.) I will surge protect everything I possibly can at great expense, but I have come to the realization that relying on surge protection is akin to trying to outrun and catch a Ferrari going 200+ mph while running in your fastest high tech surge protected running shoes. It ain't gonna happen. aaaannnnnndddddd.... 5.) If you think your surge protection is working, it's cause you are not close to a real strike.Power on friends!!! |
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Post by aremos on Dec 18, 2022 13:39:43 GMT -6
Bill, very informative! Difficult to even fathom such occurrence.
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 17:08:51 GMT -6
As drbill can attest, even if a studio is well-grounded and surge-protected, nothing is likely to completely protect against a direct (or near-direct) strike.Sigh..... I can attest. I can attest...... I'm still sorting thru some issues here 3 months after the lightning strike. However, even though I'm sure some of the surge protection / etc. helped, nothing really completely works. How much protection do you need if your area is prone to strikes? About 4-10X's as much as you are willing to spend or can possibly afford..... And it is worth EVERY penny.Sorry for the book, but this subject takes a book...read on if you dare/care. 1.) All our area's electrical infrastructure / wiring is new-ish (20 years old or so) and it's underground - so no electrical or lighting poles, no telephone poles, above ground transformers, etc. to act as lightning rods. 2.) The building is new as well, so no old $#!@#$ grounds, sketchy wiring or weird stuff. 3.) The structure has a high end Environmental Potentials surge protection system installed that Hedback suggested when I built the room. ($1000+). Connected to new copper ground rods. But I didn't stop there..... 4.) The studio itself has a dedicated SurgeX 420 sub panel which Hedback suggested that is completely isolated and separate from the rest of the infrastructure - $$$$$ ($2000+). Thanks Jeff!!!!!!! Also connected to new copper ground rods. 5.) ALL gear is plugged into decent to high end 1RU Surge protectors - Furman, Radial, Juice Goose, etc. ($2-3000+) 6.) Some of the 1RU protectors have Furman floor box extensions with surge protection. ($500+) So...some gear has 4 levels of surge protection on them. FOUR levels. ALL gear has at least 3 levels of surge protection. All of it decent to extremely high end. The sub panel is super high end and everything is powered off of it. I'm sure some of the surge protectors did their job - especially after some gear survived just fine. But.....other pieces fried. Some of the fried gear was turned on - I was in the middle of a mix and took a break - and some of the fried gear was turned off. Didn't seem to really matter. The Digital / Computer stuff was definitely affected more than the traditional outboard. There was definitely scrambled PRAM and stuff. Had some video monitors and video cards die. Routers, etc - scrambled. My nice high end Fujitsu Dual Mini Split HVAC system died - toasted. That was BY FAR the most expensive failure. Most gear that fried was not transformer balanced I/o gear. That might be part of the secret.... But some of the transformer balanced gear got a little out of spec and calibration. Needed some TLC. After much investigation and contemplation and learning more about the incredibly powerful voodoo of lightning from very heady individuals who know their $#!@ - a lot of it boils down to how your gear is designed / made and of course - your proximity to the voodoo. And believe me, voodoo it is. Powerful voodoo. So - spoiler - the Lightning did not CONTACT anything as best as we can tell.....read on. Even after that painful (both physically and emotionally) learning curve and being more baffled than ever - the conclusion that we came to - and even that is sketchy cause there's no "testing" that you can do after the fact - is that the ground potential (probably the wrong term) came up from the earth THRU the structure's foundation, wood and drywall, etc. to meet the opposing field of energy which was sitting directly above the structure. It came up thru the freaking air ions - not thru wires ( again, probably wrong term - till it connected just above the roofline. I don't want to know more. I want to forget.). My wife said the entire house SHRIEKED and shook a mega instant before the strike actually happened. And the strike itself...... Whoah. The strike itself was CLEARLY visible to me as I was for some insane reason standing outside in the light rain looking up at the structure - and it went off horizontal to the ground, directly over the roof about 50 feet off the ground when it exploded and about 100-150 feet away from where I was standing. I saw it happen. In a weird kind of slo mo real time horrific moment. I was lucky / unlucky enough to standing there actually looking directly at it. It knocked me and broke off one of my front teeth. We had a brand new roof, and I went up and checked it days later. ZERO signs that the lightning contacted the structure or roof. ZERO. To re-articulate - the strike when off horizontal to the ground and didn't contact the structure as best I could tell as I literally watched it go off. All that energy went off in the air above the studio. Did it contact wiring via the atmosphere? Probably. I dunno. But it did damage without direct physical contact after investigation. So.... there was no physical connection from the lightning strike to any wiring or the structure that I could find. As best I can tell, all energy was dispersed into the atmosphere IN and AROUND the house / studio. Wrap your mind around that for awhile. Lightning is unbelieveably powerful. It can cross air with no wires attached. It can blow up stuff that's turned off. It laughs at man's humble attempts to protect from it. I am blessed and happy to be walking upright - and every time I think about it I thank God - my creator / protector. I've been VERY close in the past, but this time was beyond too close. PS - BTW, we live in an area where the monsoons roll in in the summer time. We love it. We love the lightning storms and torrential rains, but please, please put me in a little lightning proof underground bubble next time.... LOL PPS - on the gear front - most everything is fixed now. Nothing horribly expensive. Mostly output IC's on certain pieces. Some other simple stuff like switch mode power supplies, etc.. I'm still getting the last of it up and running. Again, I feel EXTREMELY blessed of God to have witnessed and walked away from one of the most powerful things that nature has to dish out - up close and personal. Oh, and my tooth is FIXED so that I don't look like a toothless hillbilly (no offense to any hillbilly's, LOL) anymore. LOL PPPS - what I learned : 1.) The lightning strike BEFORE my lightning strike was at least a mile away. There is no way to determine where the next strike will be. I will not be nearly as cavalier next time. At the first sign of rain / lightning, I'm coming inside. 2. Gear will be shut down and unplugged from the wall. And even then, I'm not 100% sure it will be fully protected from a close or direct hit based on my past experience. 3.) Everything electrical is vulnerable. 4.) I will surge protect everything I possibly can at great expense, but I have come to the realization that relying on surge protection is akin to trying to outrun and catch a Ferrari going 200+ mph while running in your fastest high tech surge protected running shoes. It ain't gonna happen. aaaannnnnndddddd.... 5.) If you think your surge protection is working, it's cause you are not close to a real strike.Power on friends!!! This was one of the funniest posts. Thanks drbill! Haha. Man, I cant imagine what that was like. Crazy. Since I don't have thousands to spend on surge protection nor any real power over the electrical system of where I work I'll probably just continue using 1RU surge protectors and pray mother nature doesn't decide I'm one of the unlucky ones. Luckily I do live in california so there isn't much lightning.
Someone should create a killswitch for all gear to power.... maybe just really really sharp knives hanging above each outlet like guillotines that drop with the press of a button. Eureka, come at me storm!
Btw mark I did do your step 1. Moved the fridge to a different outlet and that took away my audio surge/spike.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2022 19:39:47 GMT -6
I got a 4500W APC UPS second hand from work as they were throwing them out, it's a 3U rackmount that can run the entire studio for about 5 minutes on battery and supports graceful shutdown. They protect against anything really, they're used in many major technology centre's and less than idea business sectors prone to electrical / weather issues but they also cost a small fortune. It really depends on how much equipment you have as the bigger one's are obviously more expensive. If I were to buy one new for my studio we'd be looking at $8K roughly..
If Dr. Bill was looking at one I'd probably say a mil at least  .. |
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 19:56:04 GMT -6
Just as I think I won’t bother I’m tempted by this rocket fish 12 outlet thing that apparently protects up to 5000 joules of surge protection..... 170$ bucks
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 19:58:00 GMT -6
Looking at my 120$ furman specs they dissipate no more than 150 joules.....
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Dec 18, 2022 20:26:17 GMT -6
Ended up with a Furman P-2400 IT after a bit of going through the protection investigation. Wall -> Furman -> everything else. Various other Furman units in the racks that lead off from that.
I don't know if that's the solution but hope it works when it needs to.
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 20:50:23 GMT -6
Ended up with a Furman P-2400 IT after a bit of going through the protection investigation. Wall -> Furman -> everything else. Various other Furman units in the racks that lead off from that. I don't know if that's the solution but hope it works when it needs to. I read somewhere its the clamping down speed that matters not the joule rating... the confusion....
3400$ for your unit, wow. That's alot. Looks like its the best thing outside of doing an electrical project on the building! I'm not that ambitious but I am willing to spend in the 4-800 dollars range for something that will do something.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 20:53:27 GMT -6
99% of surge suppressions are pretty useless, not because of capacity but because they are only capable of protecting you from one surge and then th MOV is functioning as a piece of wire, no indication that they have done the job unless you open it up.
I have been saying for years someone needs to build a surge protector with 2 things.
1 an indicator that the MOV is dead.
2 a simple user replaceable MOV card.
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Dec 18, 2022 20:56:56 GMT -6
Ended up with a Furman P-2400 IT after a bit of going through the protection investigation. Wall -> Furman -> everything else. Various other Furman units in the racks that lead off from that. I don't know if that's the solution but hope it works when it needs to. I read somewhere its the clamping down speed that matters not the joule rating... the confusion....
3400$ for your unit, wow. That's alot. Looks like its the best thing outside of doing an electrical project on the building! I'm not that ambitious but I am willing to spend in the 4-800 dollars range for something that will do something.
For sure, man. Not everyone's thing but there are other options out there. |
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 21:00:53 GMT -6
I read somewhere its the clamping down speed that matters not the joule rating... the confusion....
3400$ for your unit, wow. That's alot. Looks like its the best thing outside of doing an electrical project on the building! I'm not that ambitious but I am willing to spend in the 4-800 dollars range for something that will do something.
For sure, man. Not everyone's thing but there are other options out there. I'm curious Bat did you notice any difference sonically, these units supposedly block out unwanted noise, especially a unit of quality like yours - was that a noticeable change at all? |
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 21:04:04 GMT -6
99% of surge suppressions are pretty useless, not because of capacity but because they are only capable of protecting you from one surge and then th MOV is functioning as a piece of wire, no indication that they have done the job unless you open it up. I have been saying for years someone needs to build a surge protector with 2 things. 1 an indicator that the MOV is dead. 2 a simple user replaceable MOV card. So it sounds like getting a used 1000$ furman may be a big no-no..... |
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Dec 18, 2022 21:06:43 GMT -6
For sure, man. Not everyone's thing but there are other options out there. I'm curious Bat did you notice any difference sonically, these units supposedly block out unwanted noise, especially a unit of quality like yours - was that a noticeable change at all? It cut down on the hum and noise but honestly, it didn't make the drastic change for which I was hoping. It was definitely an improvement but wasn't a "holy shit" moment. The next step would be an isolation transformer at the panel I think but things are great as they are. IMHO if you have things running off of one dedicated circuit and have a good surge in front of all of it, you're probably pretty good to go. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 21:06:46 GMT -6
Ended up with a Furman P-2400 IT after a bit of going through the protection investigation. Wall -> Furman -> everything else. Various other Furman units in the racks that lead off from that. I don't know if that's the solution but hope it works when it needs to. I read somewhere its the clamping down speed that matters not the joule rating... the confusion....
3400$ for your unit, wow. That's alot. Looks like its the best thing outside of doing an electrical project on the building! I'm not that ambitious but I am willing to spend in the 4-800 dollars range for something that will do something.
Most of the expense of the p2400 IT is the fact that it is a 20 amp balanced isolation transformer. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2022 21:07:58 GMT -6
99% of surge suppressions are pretty useless, not because of capacity but because they are only capable of protecting you from one surge and then th MOV is functioning as a piece of wire, no indication that they have done the job unless you open it up. I have been saying for years someone needs to build a surge protector with 2 things. 1 an indicator that the MOV is dead. 2 a simple user replaceable MOV card. You must be talking about domestic, a lot of the business and enterprise class UPS systems are fully replaceable and they have self diagnostic systems so you don't even need to open them up to find out. They also filter out noise and usually have AVR..
Again, they're not cheap but considering if one has the need for a big UPS you probably have a lot of expensive equipment anyway. If you don't have much equipment then they tend to be cheaper (well, sort of)..
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 21:14:30 GMT -6
99% of surge suppressions are pretty useless, not because of capacity but because they are only capable of protecting you from one surge and then th MOV is functioning as a piece of wire, no indication that they have done the job unless you open it up. I have been saying for years someone needs to build a surge protector with 2 things. 1 an indicator that the MOV is dead. 2 a simple user replaceable MOV card. So it sounds like getting a used 1000$ furman may be a big no-no..... For surge protection yes, on the other hand like I was telling Ward the other day, T Mobile replaced their cel gear located right above my apartment and suddenly voltage was all over and some humm. Went to storage grabbed 2 Furman AR 1220’s problem solved. We have discussed this before but the biggest key to power issues is knowing the problem and then doing what is necessary to solve the problem, not calling your gearpimp and throwing money at the most expensive box you can. I have owned the Furmans for about 20 years from my days in Galveston where you couldn’t find an outlet that would measure less than 132 volts. A voltage regulator does just what the name implies it regulates the voltage. |
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Dec 18, 2022 21:17:11 GMT -6
I read somewhere its the clamping down speed that matters not the joule rating... the confusion....
3400$ for your unit, wow. That's alot. Looks like its the best thing outside of doing an electrical project on the building! I'm not that ambitious but I am willing to spend in the 4-800 dollars range for something that will do something.
Most of the expense of the p2400 IT is the fact that it is a 20 amp balanced isolation transformer. Yes, back to the OP, you can get surge protection for a lot cheaper. |
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 21:28:49 GMT -6
So it sounds like getting a used 1000$ furman may be a big no-no..... For surge protection yes, on the other hand like I was telling Ward the other day, T Mobile replaced their cel gear located right above my apartment and suddenly voltage was all over and some humm. Went to storage grabbed 2 Furman AR 1220’s problem solved. We have discussed this before but the biggest key to power issues is knowing the problem and then doing what is necessary to solve the problem, not calling your gearpimp and throwing money at the most expensive box you can. I have owned the Furmans for about 20 years from my days in Galveston where you couldn’t find an outlet that would measure less than 132 volts. A voltage regulator does just what the name implies it regulates the voltage. Okay, well I live in California so I'm not too worried about lightning, I am working in regular houses with lets say not super modern electrical systems that I can't mess with. I work in a townhouse which I can't tamper with the electrical system, the other place I work is my fathers house up in the mountains, house is probably built in the 1980's or 90's, low amp panel box. My concern primarily is protecting my gear against power outages, and also other things like fridges, appliances sending surges out to my equipment and causing spikes/pops - which was happening for the last week ; my mini fridge's compressor was causing a audio spike/pop in my microphone, I moved the fridge to a different outlet than my furman (where the mic is plugged) and the audio spike is much quieter but still there just a little.
I do have tens of thousands of $$$ in gear which I really don't want to see a portion of it break due to a power outage etc. and I'm also worried about my mic receiving these spikes from my damn mini fridge/other appliances that might come in the future.... That's where I'm coming from. If there is a Furman unit/ some other unit that you think would make a difference in that regard I'd appreciate it because my Furman M-8Dx does not seem to stop a mini-fridge caused loud audio pop/spike in my microphones. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 21:35:18 GMT -6
99% of surge suppressions are pretty useless, not because of capacity but because they are only capable of protecting you from one surge and then th MOV is functioning as a piece of wire, no indication that they have done the job unless you open it up. I have been saying for years someone needs to build a surge protector with 2 things. 1 an indicator that the MOV is dead. 2 a simple user replaceable MOV card. You must be talking about domestic, a lot of the business and enterprise class UPS systems are fully replaceable and they have self diagnostic systems so you don't even need to open them up to find out. They also filter out noise and usually have AVR..
Again, they're not cheap but considering if one has the need for a big UPS you probably have a lot of expensive equipment anyway. If you don't have much equipment then they tend to be cheaper (well, sort of)..
Yeah I’m talking about 90% of what someone is going to find in a pro audio dealer. |
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Post by OtisGreying on Dec 18, 2022 21:48:12 GMT -6
What about this thing? www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PLPROC--furman-pl-pro-c-20a-with-voltmeterIt has the same "clamp down voltage" as Bat's unit. Furman says it reduces noise and contains their most advanced surge suppression tech. And perhaps ericn, this bit of info they state addresses your concern regarding the MOV's dying and needing replacements? - "SMP+ (Series Multi-Stage Protection Plus) The Furman PL-PRO C's SMP+ surge suppression virtually eliminates service calls. Traditional surge suppression circuits "sacrifice" themselves when exposed to multiple transient voltage spikes, requiring the dismantling of your system, and repair of your surge suppressor. Not so with SMP+. With the PL-PRO C's SMP+, damaging transient voltages are safely absorbed, clamped and dissipated. No sacrificed parts, no service calls, no down time. " |
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 22:00:04 GMT -6
What about this thing? www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PLPROC--furman-pl-pro-c-20a-with-voltmeterIt has the same "clamp down voltage" as Bat's unit. Furman says it reduces noise and contains their most advanced surge suppression tech. And perhaps ericn, this bit of info they state addresses your concern regarding the MOV's dying and needing replacements? - "SMP+ (Series Multi-Stage Protection Plus) The Furman PL-PRO C's SMP+ surge suppression virtually eliminates service calls. Traditional surge suppression circuits "sacrifice" themselves when exposed to multiple transient voltage spikes, requiring the dismantling of your system, and repair of your surge suppressor. Not so with SMP+. With the PL-PRO C's SMP+, damaging transient voltages are safely absorbed, clamped and dissipated. No sacrificed parts, no service calls, no down time. " Is it going on a 20amp circuit? If not the PL Plus-c the 15 amp version is around $200 less. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2022 22:01:36 GMT -6
I do have tens of thousands of $$$ in gear which I really don't want to see a portion of it break due to a power outage etc. and I'm also worried about my mic receiving these spikes from my damn mini fridge/other appliances that might come in the future.... That's where I'm coming from. If there is a Furman unit/ some other unit that you think would make a difference in that regard I'd appreciate it because my Furman M-8Dx does not seem to stop a mini-fridge caused loud audio pop/spike in my microphones. Tell me about it, I've got a mini fridge in the front room and it cuts out the projector every time it pops on. The reason why I bought mine is because I suspected that my Shelford crapped out due to a power outage. Before that I didn't even bother with surge protection..
I mean Eric is right in a sense, a typical MOV (metal oxide varistors) isn't going to do anything against a large influx of power. Standard UPS PDU's (even APC business) use thermal fuses in conjunction which bricks the unit after a large spike but fortunately it does cut the power and protects equipment. Up against lightning? Who knows? I've seen people go to some great lengths with massive ground rods etc. for large telecomm sites. a massive UPS will protect you to a degree but direct flow or strikes will still take everything out. The cost of diversion protection alongside the massive lengths one has to go it's really not worth it..
For the four times it happens a year over here I just switch everything off and keep my insurance on speed dial. As for the rest, I'd consider something like a Tripp Lite 12 or APC PDU..
The Tripp will protect up to 2880 joules, it costs like $50.00? Has an insurance giveout of $150K in case something happens and on top of that if the MOV's start to fail it will brick itself. You might be getting line noise because the Furman isn't providing adequate protection..
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Post by ericn on Dec 18, 2022 22:21:59 GMT -6
I do have tens of thousands of $$$ in gear which I really don't want to see a portion of it break due to a power outage etc. and I'm also worried about my mic receiving these spikes from my damn mini fridge/other appliances that might come in the future.... That's where I'm coming from. If there is a Furman unit/ some other unit that you think would make a difference in that regard I'd appreciate it because my Furman M-8Dx does not seem to stop a mini-fridge caused loud audio pop/spike in my microphones. Tell me about it, I've got a mini fridge in the front room and it cuts out the projector every time it pops on. The reason why I bought mine is because I suspected that my Shelford crapped out due to a power outage. Before that I didn't even bother with surge protection..
I mean Eric is right in a sense, a typical MOV (metal oxide varistors) isn't going to do anything against a large influx of power. Standard UPS PDU's (even APC business) use thermal fuses in conjunction which bricks the unit after a large spike but fortunately it does cut the power and protects equipment. Up against lightning? Who knows? I've seen people go to some great lengths with massive ground rods etc. for large telecomm sites. a massive UPS will protect you to a degree but direct flow or strikes will still take everything out. The cost of diversion protection alongside the massive lengths one has to go it's really not worth it..
For the four times it happens a year over here I just switch everything off and keep my insurance on speed dial. As for the rest, I'd consider something like a Tripp Lite 12 or APC PDU..
The Tripp will protect up to 2880 joules, it costs like $50.00? Has an insurance giveout of $150K in case something happens and on top of that if the MOV's start to fail it will brick itself. You might be getting line noise because the Furman isn't providing adequate protection..
Broadcast guys always said nothing will protect gear against lightning, you can protect people, but not gear. Of course I’ll never forget one morning as I’m driving my wife to work seeing the station a very good friend was head engineer get hit with lightning. I woke him up before the station could. Of course I did make some good money that day. |
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