Really Dumb question: What does "transformer" mean on my floor-strip?

[rasputin1963]

It's like this: I have a floor-strip of electrical sockets.

 

 

My computer had been plugged into one of the sockets. I was noticing that sometimes SONAR X1 would crash for no explicable reason. About once per hour. Then I began to notice that its crashes coincided with the moments that my household's central A/C intermittently switched on (when thermostatically prompted to do so).

 

(Air conditioning a heavy draw on current? You haven't been in a Texas summer, I guess.)

 

I vaguely remembered that this floor-strip was supposed to be "surge-proof", but I'd thought that had something to do with lightning striking outside or sumthin. :confused:

 

I looked at the floor-strip, and two of the six sockets were labeled "TRANSFORMER".

 

Now I don't know what that means, but I re-plugged my computer into one of those sockets... and (touch wood) I haven't yet had one of those program crashes.

 

Did I do the right thing? Just what's going on here, technically speaking? Why would only two sockets be labeled "transformer" and not all of them? Are variations in electrical supply deleterious to a computer?

 

Signed, Electrical Moron

[ggm1960]

From my electronics education the only thing I know of transformers is that they are used either for isolation and/or for voltage/impedance conversions. I'd be inclined to assume that on a power strip they would be for isolation.

 

I'll just throw out my theory that says when the AC kicks in there is a sudden current spike on the line causing the voltage at the fuse box to dip, the transformer "pads" the computer's power supply for a couple milli-seconds, just long enough to avoid the spike problem.

[Tim Mayock]

There are no dumb questions! I have a sub panel for my studio and a 200 amp service. I don't think you should have that much of a surge if things are properly distributed in the edison sense. I believe you could purchase a product that has a battery/capacitor scheme and benefit, but i think, if it were me, I would look at the distribution of power in your house.

[WRGKMC]

First I doubt AC surges are causing only Sonar to crash.

It may make your whole computer to shut down but just one program?

Dont think so.

 

Most power strips like you have are surge protected. They have caps and choke coils

to prevent voltage spikes that can zap your gear. They dont have battery backup so if the

voltage dips, like a brown out, the circuitry cant make voltage/current that doesnt exist.

A UPS will have a battery. When the voltage dips or dies, a relay kicks off and it switches over

to the battery. Theres usually a warning alarm and you have X amount of time to

save your work and shut down. How long depends on the size of the UPS. A UPS will usually have

surge protection as well.

 

More expensive surge protectors have an isolation transformer.

The transformer isolates the incoming voltage from the outgoing voltage

so direct contact with the Outlet is eliminated. These too have surge protection.

The units are fairly large. If you've ever seen the back of a tube amp you'd see how large

a transformer is. The isolation box may be 4" x 4" by 8" to house a 15 amp 1:1 isolation transformer.

 

It wont fit into a normal power strip. If thats what you have then the word transformer may suggest

you plug gear into that AC jack that has a transformer and high current draw.

That might be the case you're dealing with. You can probibly google up the type power strip you have

and see what protection it provides.

 

Many of the cheaper strips are a big rippoff and you should note, the computers power supply should have

all the filtering it could ever need without aditional filtering (even in Texas where I too live).

Its better to be safe than sorry. A decent power strip shouldnt hurt anything.

*In your case you should have your breaker box checked out. The circuit breakers have clip type

contacts. If the main power bus is old and oxidized the breaker for your AC might be starting to

arch out and make a poor contact, or the breaker itself may be betting old and starting to fail.

 

You also have a motor start capacitor housed inside your unit outside that starts the compressor motor.

Those are good for maybe 10 years before thay start to short out. Then they may really suck the current down

to get the compressor motor rotating. The cap cost maybe $20 for a new one. I had mine go out and had no compressor.

The guy wanted to charge me $250 for a new one.Talk about a markup. I said no thanks and went down to the local electronics

outlet and bought a new one for $10.

 

In any case, you can connect a meter to your computer outlet set for AC and see if you see any major voltage fluctuation.

A 5~10V variation is fairly normal. If you're getting a 20V fluctuation, no surge protector is going to help you with that and

you should contact your power company or an electrician to check out your house wiring.

[MikeRivers]

 

I vaguely remembered that this floor-strip was supposed to be "surge-proof", but I'd thought that had something to do with lightning striking outside or sumthin.

 

 

Most outlet strips have surge protectors built in. In an installation where there are a lot of power surges, the surge protectors are probably burnt out. They did their job (once or a few times) and are now no longer functional. The difference between a $6 outlet strip and a $30 outlet strip is that the more expensive ones sometimes have a light that comes on telling you that the surge suppressors are burnt out. The $150 ones have a "series mode" surgre protector which is like a low pass filter, and they almost never burn out.

 

 

I looked at the floor-strip, and two of the six sockets were labeled "TRANSFORMER". Now I don't know what that means

 

 

I don't either. That's certainly not a designation used on a basic outlet strip. If it cost $150 or so, then it might have an isolation transformer in it. Is there a brand name? Or better yet, can you find a web site that describes it?

 

It sound to me like what you need in your studio is a voltage regulator. Nearly all of those include transient protection and usually some EMI filtering as well, and will boost the voltage during the period where the air conditioner drags it down.

 

Something like this Tripp-Lite LC1800 should cover your computer and ancillary equipment nicely. They have a 1200 W and 2400 W in the same series.

[Tim Mayock]

WRGKMC is on to something, Only sonar? Could it be that it dies when it is the hottest time in your studio? The computer I am typing on dies in the heat. I built it and it is of "prototype" quality. This is not my audio computer I actually use a Dell for my Protools rig and it works great. It is quieter and better ventilated than my farmer intellect has previously produced. I'm not dissing the farmers! they grow things!

[MargeHowel]

As far as the power crashing one single application like that with the rest of the machine doing OK, I kind of doubt it (unless maybe some outboard equipment hiccups and maybe the exception handlers aren't written well and can't deal with anomalous I/O - but that's me trying to justify HOW that could happen, it's not my first thought)

 

As far as the outlets marked "transformer" -- are they turned "sideways" or are they spaced further apart from the others?

What that label can mean is not that they HAVE a transformer, but that they are designed to ACCEPT a transformer in the form of a "wall wart"

 

It's a bit of a ridiculous label, but they are out there. I mean you could just ask yourself "does my wall wart physically fit"?

I think it's more of a marketing "we thought about how annoying it is to not have wall warts fit and designed this especially to take care of that. We're you friend, give us money"

[MikeRivers]

As far as the outlets marked "transformer" -- are they turned "sideways" or are they spaced further apart from the others?

 

Duh! Why didn't I think of that? I don't dignify wall warts with the name "Transformer." Of course that's what they're for - not that someone with a wall wart to plug in couldn't figure that out just from looking at both pieces and putting them together right.

[philbo]

Could it be that the power strip turns into a robot when threatened by aliens?

[rasputin1963]

 

As far as the outlets marked "transformer" -- are they turned "sideways" or are they spaced further apart from the others? What that label can mean is not that they HAVE a transformer, but that they are designed to ACCEPT a transformer in the form of a "wall wart""

 

 

 

I'll bet that's it.

[nat whilk II]

I used to get pretty frequent blue screen crashes in Sonar, but X1 seems more stable.

 

Did you make any hardware changes recently? Get a new interface?

 

nat whilk ii

[rasputin1963]

 

I used to get pretty frequent blue screen crashes in Sonar, but X1 seems more stable. Did you make any hardware changes recently? Get a new interface? nat whilk ii

 

 

I went online to do a little sleuthing... and found out quite a few SONAR users have experienced crashes caused by the V-VOCAL unit. With V-VOCAL, after a while it just decides it's "had enough", then crashes the whole program.

 

So it's a Cakewalk issue... apparently not corrected since--gasp!--- 2003, when the V-VOCAL bug was first reported to them.

 

That said, the comments on this thread, on electrical issues as per my OP query, have been extremely useful and educative.