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Powering rack gear?


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Hi folks,

 

I am putting together my first rack and I'm wondering about the preferred method for powering my mixer and effects. Should I leave room for a rack-mount power supply or power conditioner? What IS a power conditioner anyway? Any insight would be greatly appreciated...

 

Thanks!

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Hi folks,


I am putting together my first rack and I'm wondering about the preferred method for powering my mixer and effects. Should I leave room for a rack-mount power supply or power conditioner? What IS a power conditioner anyway? Any insight would be greatly appreciated...


Thanks!

 

A power conditioner is one means to plug a bunch of stuff in to an outlet.

 

A cheap-assed power strip is generally equally as effective.

 

Much depends on your level of need to look good in traffic.

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What is the advantage of having a voltmeter? I must say I quite like how those Furmans have lights on 'em...
:)

A real time LED volt meter can be useful if it's placed within operator's view at the brownist portion of your rig and you know the brown-out point of your rig... otherwise it's just some lights pointlessly winking and blinking away.

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My favorite thing about mine is the cool LED pull out lights -helps me see and makes my rig look sharp in the dark. I also like having the light on the back considering the in/out panel on my Mixwiz is folded under on top of my rack.

 

Really convenient in that sense. I use a second one further down for my amps, mainly because I got it for free and just had it available -it frees up room for plugging in other stuff...

 

It'd be nice to know they did more...

But I appreciate those simple aspects I listed above quite a bit really.

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Thanks for clearing this up for me, guys - you've all been most helpful :thu:

 

A real time LED volt meter can be useful if it's placed within operator's view at the brownist portion of your rig and you know the brown-out point of your rig... otherwise it's just some lights pointlessly winking and blinking away.

 

:confused: Aaaah, I see. It's just some lights pointlessly winking and blinking away! ;)

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Yes, most power conditioners are the same as a $10 surge strip mounted in a $20 rack body that sells for over $50.

 

Pros are: rack mounted, convient power outlet grouping. Pay extra for rack lights or metering. I do like mine with the LED number volt meters.

 

Cons: usually just basic surge suppression. Also usually sacrificial MOVs used so once the fry from a surge, the usnit will still PASS electricity with NO protection. The MOVs just send the overpower to the ground or return line vice sending it out the supply/HOT line. At 15 amp rating, not good to hook a bunch of high power amplifiers through it ;>(

 

Boomerwepsd

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There have been reports that partially fried MOV's can cause hard to track down noise in your system
:(
. If any are wired to ground they can also make for mysterious intermittent GFCI trips.

 

Yup...

 

I've replaced most of the MOV's with ZNR's in my system. More robust, reliable, and effective. I've done extensive testing on both, ZNR's are much more effective for surge limiting.

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A real time LED volt meter can be useful if it's placed within operator's view at the brownist portion of your rig and you know the brown-out point of your rig... otherwise it's just some lights pointlessly winking and blinking away.

 

:facepalm:

Until you play a club or old mansion that only has 1 or 2 15amp circuits for you, and their power is so awful that you can literally watch the power fluctuate between 105v and 118v, and watching your power draw go between 10-12A of power....

 

monster-pro3500.jpg

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I agree with Mark here.

 

Most "conditioner" products are essentially useless but "look sharp". It's a profitable market to sell shiny rack mount objects into. There are plenty of folks who eat this kind of crap up.

 

I do not use power "conditioners" on ANY of my rigs, haven't used them for 30 years, and have never had a problem ever. Currently I have 12 systems out at a 3 week long fair (our 25th year of doing this event) and never a problem.

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Most "conditioner" products are essentially useless but "look sharp".

 

 

This seems to be the general consensus. It's hard to remember that looks don't mean a heck of a lot in the audio world!

 

 

I do not use power "conditioners" on ANY of my rigs, haven't used them for 30 years, and have never had a problem ever.

 

 

Do you use a standard power-strip to power your rigs then? Any recommendations as to which ones to buy/avoid?

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Power conditioner's function do the exact same thing as surge protectors. But they also give you the convenience of having all your power cords pre-connected permanently, so you won't have to constantly hook them up every set-up. So I guess it makes things a bit cleaner. Plus, if you get a pretty standard one like this one:

 

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Furman-M8LX-Power-Conditioner-wLights?sku=181046

 

which comes with lights, it'll come in very handy. Unless you prefer the modern-method of using your cell phone as a flashlight.

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You don't necessarily have to waste 1U space in your rack to use a rack mounted power strip.

 

In my one of my bass amp racks, I mounted a Chatsworth 15 Amp power strip on the rear rails and a X2 wireless unit on the front rails. There is enough clearance between the 2 units for regular plugs and wall worts.:thu:

 

Another thing to consider is that it can be useful to have AC outlets available on both the front side and rear. I mounted a CyberPower power strip on the front rails of my effects rack.

All of the permanently connected stuff: Driverack, compressors, Lexicon, EQs, etc are powered from the rear outlets.

I use the front outlets for the mixer, laptop, etc.

Very handy.:thu:

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What about voltage regulators? Those that maintain a consistent voltage within say90 = 140 volts or so and keep it at 115 or whatever.. I have one of those i got at parts express..


Seemed like that could be a good idea

 

 

Until you have a problem with it. They do not generally handle dynamic loads very well, I have seen some spectacular failures that also took out what was connected. Most are ok for static loads.

 

I do have a used one available for sale if anybody is interested.

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