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Author Topic: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!  (Read 11797 times)

Scott Carneval

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Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« on: January 31, 2012, 11:18:25 AM »

Sorry guys, I have to rant here.  I just finished an install in a school auditorium where I used a Furman sequencer for the amp rack.  It is set to turn on the sources first, then the processor, then the two amps.  It works great, except when you switch the big ILLUMINATED red switch that says 'Power' you effectively cut the mains to the whole unit, which kills power to everything without sequencing it off!  Furman claims this unit to be 'foolproof' in their literature!  But who in their right mind would NOT switch off the big illuminated button when they're ready to turn everything off?

I called Furman tech support thinking I must be doing something wrong, SURELY they wouldn't incorporate such an illogical design into this unit, right?  Wrong.  The rep on the phone says this design has plagued them for 5 years, and the engineer who added the switch is no longer with the company.  The only solution at this point is to buy the next model up which is twice as expensive, but doesn't have the switch.  He suggested that I 'train' the client not to turn off the big red switch, but instead use the little black switch inconspicuously labeled 'Sequence'.  I said 'If I wanted to train the client I would just train them to turn it off in the proper order and not waste time with your damn sequencer!'  What a waste of time and money this thing was!
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Hal Bissinger/COMSYSTEC

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2012, 11:59:28 AM »

Options:
1) Put a door on the rack and lock it.
2) P-Touch labelmaker- DO NOT TOUCH!!
3) Use something even bigger for the sequencer button and locate it conspicuously elsewhere.
 
Actually I have no problem with the switch, there really should be one. It is the main power switch that will kill everything should there be a problem. It's probably a UL requirement.
 
-Hal
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Mike Caldwell

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2012, 07:55:09 PM »

Actually the model prior did the power up and down sequencing with the "main" power switch and like you said the Pro model has no master power switch only the sequence start button or the key switch. I never figured it out either.

g'bye, Dick Rees

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2012, 08:03:31 PM »

Actually the model prior did the power up and down sequencing with the "main" power switch and like you said the Pro model has no master power switch only the sequence start button or the key switch. I never figured it out either.

I think it has to do with having a pair of outlets wired prior to the sequenced outlets so you can run a couple of things without having to power up the entire system.  I put one in a church and ran the CD player/burner and a 7 disc CD duplicator off the un-sequenced outlets, then put the mixer, Wireless gear, Graphi-Q and amps on the sequenced outlets. 
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Mike Caldwell

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2012, 08:16:09 PM »

I generally try to use the Pro Model, the key switch is actually a good selling point and it also has a pair of unswitched outlets.
The big red power switch is an inviting target for people just to reach for and turn off! In my experience no amount of labels and instruction will keep it from happening.

I want to tell you what you could do but I won't!

« Last Edit: January 31, 2012, 10:34:01 PM by Mike Caldwell »
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Tom Young

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2012, 09:00:11 PM »

I generally try to use the Pro Model, the key switch is actually a good selling point and it also has a pair of unswitched outlets.
The big red power switch is an inviting target for people just to reach for and turn off! In my experience no amount of labels and instruction will keep it from happening.

I want what you could do but I won't!

I'm not sure if its what you refer to, but I just installed a sequenced AC system using the PowerLink from Furman and it had to be mounted in a dual-bay rack below the FOH mixer. On the front panel of this device each sequence has a 3-position mini-toggle switch and they need to be in the middle position for sequencing to occur when the master (key) is hit.

Due to this location, it's only a matter of time before someone changes switch positions (not realizing what they do) or bumps one of the switches with their knee. It is not easy to see what position they are switched to.

So I hacked a 1-sp vented security panel (guarding the switches while allowing the LED's to be seen as they sequence on or off) and screwed it in place over the switches. Problem solved.

As is often the case: the design engineers need to get out into the field a little bit more.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2012, 09:04:14 AM by Tom Young »
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Mike Caldwell

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2012, 10:46:12 PM »

I need to proof read what I post!!!!

What I was trying not say would have been something about modifying the power switch on the original unit in question.

I'm actually in the finishing stage of an install where there is a Powerlink in a remote room that gets initiated from a PS Pro in the sound booth. The Powerlink is controlling MP20's at the flown powered speaker locations.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2012, 08:35:11 AM by Mike Caldwell »
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Brad Weber

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2012, 07:07:01 AM »

I think it has to do with having a pair of outlets wired prior to the sequenced outlets so you can run a couple of things without having to power up the entire system.
I think you are correct, although their use of "switch" and "switched outlets" both on the device and in the manual make it a bit confusing to understand that all outlets are tied to the "Switched Outlets" switch but that two of them are independent of the "Sequence" switch.
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Tom Young

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2012, 03:14:56 PM »

I think you are correct, although their use of "switch" and "switched outlets" both on the device and in the manual make it a bit confusing to understand that all outlets are tied to the "Switched Outlets" switch but that two of them are independent of the "Sequence" switch.

The manufacturers of these devices seem to lack skill in clearly instructing how the control terminations need to be done. I always seem to be on the phone with tech support when installing Furman, SurgeX and Lyntec sequencing systems and they always agree that their instructions suck.

Oh well.
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Tom Young
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Jonathan Kok

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Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2012, 03:32:15 PM »

The manufacturers of these devices seem to lack skill in clearly instructing how the control terminations need to be done. I always seem to be on the phone with tech support when installing Furman, SurgeX and Lyntec sequencing systems and they always agree that their instructions suck.

Oh well.
Also be nice if they'd come to an agreement on 'normal open' vs 'normal closed'.  Had a Middle Atlantic RLM-15-1C go down, went to replace it with a Furman MP-15 I had in stock...nuh-uh.
Integrating 'Status' outputs on each sequenced step in units like the P8Pro would be too much to ask...
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Furman PS8RII Power Sequencer is useless!
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2012, 03:32:15 PM »


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