Members moody Posted February 20, 2008 Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hi all. I was at a rehearsal the other night and something was going seriously wrong with the PA being used (not mine, nothing to do with me, lost all the highs suddenly but wasn't running at high volume - through two seperate powered speakers). In trying to figure out what the problem was I intended to turn of the (tiny little behringer) mixer to see if resetting it would solve the problem. In doing so I hit the big switch on the right that said on off. This ended up being the phantom power switch, not the on off switch - my fault entirely and I know you shouldn't turn phantom on or off while any mics are connected. All the amps were turned off at the time. However, the owner was incredibly worried that the phantom power just being on with no load connected to it would cause a problem. I've never heard of this? It doesn't sound right to me and I'm wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom on the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp09 Posted February 20, 2008 Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 umm if im not mistaken phantom power is generally turned on for anything that needs more power running into it like say a condenser mike. If you have everything normal and turn on the phantom power your just running power into stuff that doesnt need power. hahaha sorry for the "noob" explanation im just learning from a friend since 3 days ago haha sorry if you dont understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted February 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 umm if im not mistaken phantom power is generally turned on for anything that needs more power running into it like say a condenser mike. If you have everything normal and turn on the phantom power your just running power into stuff that doesnt need power. hahaha sorry for the "noob" explanation im just learning from a friend since 3 days ago haha sorry if you dont understand Not what I was asking. Think akin to running an amplifier with no load, In a solid state amp no problem, with a valve amp you'll kill the output transformer. What happens to running phantom power with no load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 20, 2008 Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 No worries at all, unfounded fear. It just sits there as an unterminated voltage source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted February 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 No worries at all, unfounded fear. It just sits there as an unterminated voltage source. That's what I thought, the guy said that every mixing desk he has ever had has had warnings against it - I think he has mis-read warnings about switching it on or off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sol-city Posted February 20, 2008 Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 Absolutly nothing bad will happen. The mics that need the power will use it, the mics that do not need the power will simply not "see" it and work normally. There is no "load" requirement either, so you are safe to leave it on. I would not recommend turning it on/off while the speakers/amps are on and the volume is up on the board. This can cause a fairly loud pop sometimes and could damage your speakers. Otherwise, you should be in the clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted February 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 20, 2008 Absolutly nothing bad will happen. The mics that need the power will use it, the mics that do not need the power will simply not "see" it and work normally. There is no "load" requirement either, so you are safe to leave it on. I would not recommend turning it on/off while the speakers/amps are on and the volume is up on the board. This can cause a fairly loud pop sometimes and could damage your speakers. Otherwise, you should be in the clear. Exactly what I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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