Members Zeromus-X Posted July 21, 2011 Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 One thing that always came in handy with our old system was that we had a Furman PM-8 with both a voltmeter and an ammeter in the rack. We hooked the subwoofer poweramp to it -- not for any protection or anything, but simply because when running sound from the stage, it made it simple to see what our power draw was. We knew how "loud" we were at any given moment by looking at the ammeter and seeing how far up it went. We also had the added advantage that we'd trip the rack breaker before the house breaker, which meant a downtime of 30 seconds in the event of a problem instead of having to find someone who works at the bar who even knew what a breaker box was and how to reset one. Anyway, now that we're using the powered JBLs, we've lost that little feature. I'm wondering if anyone makes an easy-to-read-from-across-the-stage in-line ammeter that we'd basically plug between the subwoofer and the wall outlet to monitor power draw? Obviously we could plug the subs into the Furman still, but I'm trying to avoid that, as it'd be a lot of nonsense power cable wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted July 21, 2011 Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 I've seen some 1 ft long inline plug units with a current meter/watt meter on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted July 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 I was looking at the Kill-a-Watt type devices but didn't know if they'd pick up the changes quickly enough. Since they seem to be made mostly for appliances and such, the peaks from a kick drum hit might be too fast for them. I've never seen one in person so that may not be accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted July 21, 2011 Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 They probably average out the peaks, but it maybe closer to the overload response of a typical circuit breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishmanrod Posted July 21, 2011 Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 The simplest thing would be an electrician's clamp on ammeter, but they are not typically that cheap, and you will want one that is analog, the digitals display units don't respond fast enough. As to across the stage, sorry, but that is going to be hard to come by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srp72ee Posted July 21, 2011 Members Share Posted July 21, 2011 The simplest thing would be an electrician's clamp on ammeter, but they are not typically that cheap, and you will want one that is analog, the digitals display units don't respond fast enough. As to across the stage, sorry, but that is going to be hard to come by. If you put the clamp meter (digital or analog) on the whole cord as it comes out of the wall - you better get zero amps - no matter what current your pulling. You would need to put just the line conductor of the cord through the clamp on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 26, 2011 Members Share Posted July 26, 2011 Clamp-on would be most practical, either through an adapter loop or with the hot broken out (illeghal except for testing purposes). Another option is an AC meter with a (correct value) current transformer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishmanrod Posted July 26, 2011 Members Share Posted July 26, 2011 If you put the clamp meter (digital or analog) on the whole cord as it comes out of the wall - you better get zero amps - no matter what current your pulling. You would need to put just the line conductor of the cord through the clamp on. Yep My bad. Aged horse's suggestion is valid for a legal install. A lot of money for the small convenience, though. I'm figureing if the OP doesn't know about clamp on meters, he is unlikely to know how to install a CT for an ac meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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