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Author Topic: Voltage Regulator  (Read 3884 times)

Mike Monte

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Voltage Regulator
« on: November 26, 2015, 08:57:59 PM »

Hello All:
As the year draws to a close and I add up my live sound expenses it seems that I have some money to spend on gear.
All of that being said, I feel that a moderately-priced Voltage Regulator could be a good investment.

This past summer I had three separate occasions where I had to run my sound rig from a venue-provided generator.

Two of the occasions there were no issues running my gear.  On one gig, though, everything worked (on gen power) except for the Crown XTI4000 power amp in my rack.....The amp kept going to fault.  I assume that the unsteady power from the gen was the cause.   I ended up having to run an extremely long (150') twelve gauge extension cable to wall power for that amp.   Once that amp powered up, the rig worked well... and the gig was fine.

Would a voltage regulator work well to even-out the power on a non-inverter generator??  20 amp minimum would work...40 amp would be great.

Your thoughts, recommendations would be apreciated.

Mike M   
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2015, 10:19:14 PM »

Hello All:
As the year draws to a close and I add up my live sound expenses it seems that I have some money to spend on gear.
All of that being said, I feel that a moderately-priced Voltage Regulator could be a good investment.

This past summer I had three separate occasions where I had to run my sound rig from a venue-provided generator.

Two of the occasions there were no issues running my gear.  On one gig, though, everything worked (on gen power) except for the Crown XTI4000 power amp in my rack.....The amp kept going to fault.  I assume that the unsteady power from the gen was the cause.   I ended up having to run an extremely long (150') twelve gauge extension cable to wall power for that amp.   Once that amp powered up, the rig worked well... and the gig was fine.

Would a voltage regulator work well to even-out the power on a non-inverter generator??  20 amp minimum would work...40 amp would be great.

Your thoughts, recommendations would be apreciated.

Mike M

I suspect the genset was unregulated for line frequency or was sufficiently undersized for the gig that voltage drop on peaks put the XTi into protect (US models won't work at 100v.).  We use our XTi/Xti002 amps on generator power without issues, but the generators on our gigs can't be picked up by 2 guys and put in the back of a van, either.

But for right now you don't know why your XTi didn't work.  If it's a line freq issue a VR transformer won't help, so I think you need to dig further.  If it's voltage you need to figure out if the generator is too small for the dynamic load of the PA and drops voltage under load; if that's the case you're simply out of juice and no majikboxen will fix it.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2015, 10:23:42 PM by Tim McCulloch »
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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2015, 10:19:46 PM »

Basing your course of action on an assumption rather than fact is risky.  Get yourself a good meter (Fluke) and learn how to check your power before risking gear, life and limb.

Or if you want, I have a rack of Macro-Techs I would sell...
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David Buckley

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2015, 10:34:47 PM »

... a moderately-priced Voltage Regulator

That is an interesting concept...
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Mike Monte

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2015, 08:12:41 AM »

Basing your course of action on an assumption rather than fact is risky.  Get yourself a good meter (Fluke) and learn how to check your power before risking gear, life and limb.

Or if you want, I have a rack of Macro-Techs I would sell...
Which particular Fluke meter do you use/recommend?

Mike M
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Mike Monte

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2015, 08:20:28 AM »

I suspect the genset was unregulated for line frequency or was sufficiently undersized for the gig that voltage drop on peaks put the XTi into protect (US models won't work at 100v.).  We use our XTi/Xti002 amps on generator power without issues, but the generators on our gigs can't be picked up by 2 guys and put in the back of a van, either.

But for right now you don't know why your XTi didn't work.  If it's a line freq issue a VR transformer won't help, so I think you need to dig further.  If it's voltage you need to figure out if the generator is too small for the dynamic load of the PA and drops voltage under load; if that's the case you're simply out of juice and no majikboxen will fix it.

The generator in question worked fine with my Crown K2, XS4300, Itech6000 on the gig.   The XTI4000 would not even "cycle-up" with no load present upon power-up.  All of the other amps cycled-up upon power-up and worked as per normal for the duration of the gig.  I even tried cycling-up the XTI amp first...

Mike M

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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2015, 09:02:02 AM »

The generator in question worked fine with my Crown K2, XS4300, Itech6000 on the gig.   The XTI4000 would not even "cycle-up" with no load present upon power-up.  All of the other amps cycled-up upon power-up and worked as per normal for the duration of the gig.  I even tried cycling-up the XTI amp first...

Mike M
As you didn't measure at the gig, everything here is speculation.  Get someone to put one of these under your tree: http://tinyurl.com/p9mbww2 and then do this at your gigs: http://tjcornish.com/articles/receptacle-testing.html  With generators, doing a line frequency measurement (which the meter I linked to can do) is also a good idea.

More directly addressing your original question, a voltage regulator isn't going to be able to handle powering your amps.  They are marginally helpful for things like FOH or stage backline, but aren't designed for high-power loads like amps.  Better than a voltage regulator is a double-conversion UPS device, at the cost of weight and battery maintenance, and the same issue of limited capacity.

The best solution is to always use a quality generator - a Honda EU series for the little stuff, and an appropriately sized trailer-mounted quiet diesel generator for larger stuff.
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Robert Piascik

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2015, 10:13:26 AM »

All of the other amps cycled-up upon power-up and worked as per normal for the duration of the gig.

I have experienced this same phenomenon when powering from a generator. In the heat of battle I wasn't able to figure out why, just work around it. Later back at the shop everything worked fine.
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Mike Monte

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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2015, 10:38:24 AM »

As you didn't measure at the gig, everything here is speculation.  Get someone to put one of these under your tree: http://tinyurl.com/p9mbww2 and then do this at your gigs: http://tjcornish.com/articles/receptacle-testing.html  With generators, doing a line frequency measurement (which the meter I linked to can do) is also a good idea.

More directly addressing your original question, a voltage regulator isn't going to be able to handle powering your amps.  They are marginally helpful for things like FOH or stage backline, but aren't designed for high-power loads like amps.  Better than a voltage regulator is a double-conversion UPS device, at the cost of weight and battery maintenance, and the same issue of limited capacity.

The best solution is to always use a quality generator - a Honda EU series for the little stuff, and an appropriately sized trailer-mounted quiet diesel generator for larger stuff.
Santa just ordered the meter.
MM
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Re: Voltage Regulator
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2015, 10:38:24 AM »


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