Very low voltage---possible damage?
joeparaski
Posts: 1,865
Ok, so I finally got all this equipment hooked up. Now I know I should run a dedicated 20 amp power line but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
I powered it up and started pumping out some music and noticed that the 2 Monster 3600 MKII's are showing between 100 and 105 volts on the meter. Besides blowing the breaker, which hasn't happened yet, what, if any, damage can I cause to my system?
I powered it up and started pumping out some music and noticed that the 2 Monster 3600 MKII's are showing between 100 and 105 volts on the meter. Besides blowing the breaker, which hasn't happened yet, what, if any, damage can I cause to my system?
Amplifiers: 1-SAE Mark IV, 4-SAE 2400, 1-SAE 2500, 2-SAE 2600, 1-Buttkicker BKA 1000N w/2-tactile transducers. Sources: Sony BDP CX7000es, Sony CX300/CX400/CX450/CX455, SAE 8000 tuner, Akai 4000D R2R, Technics 1100A TT, Epson 8500UB with Carada 100". Speakers:Polk SDA SRS, 3.1TL, FXi5, FXi3, 2-SVS 20-29, Yamaha, SVS center sub. Power:2-Monster HTS3500, Furman M-8D & RR16 Plus. 2-SAE 4000 X-overs, SAE 5000a noise reduction, MSB Link DAC III, MSB Powerbase, Behringer 2496, Monarchy DIP 24/96.
Post edited by joeparaski on
Comments
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In my view its not much to worry about. Your probably on a 15A breaker and if you exceed the 15A you'll trip the breaker and keep in mind that the breakers do not trip on voltage. Furthermor, a dedicated 20A line will not change the voltages you are seeing now and I'm not sure how accurate your metering actually is. To assess that you'll need a VOM but be carefull if you don't understand what your doing.
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joeparaski wrote:Ok, so I finally got all this equipment hooked up. Now I know I should run a dedicated 20 amp power line but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
I powered it up and started pumping out some music and noticed that the 2 Monster 3600 MKII's are showing between 100 and 105 volts on the meter. Besides blowing the breaker, which hasn't happened yet, what, if any, damage can I cause to my system?
Seems awful low to me. You should have 120V +/-5% at your meter base from your power company. 20V of drop within your house seems excessive.
I'd put in a voltage complaint with your utility.
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At low volume, it's right up there near 120, as I crank up the volume it starts to drop to below 105. I'm not an electrician so I'm not sure how to interpret this. I've read that some folks run a seperate 20 amp wire to their gear, so I figured I do the same.Amplifiers: 1-SAE Mark IV, 4-SAE 2400, 1-SAE 2500, 2-SAE 2600, 1-Buttkicker BKA 1000N w/2-tactile transducers. Sources: Sony BDP CX7000es, Sony CX300/CX400/CX450/CX455, SAE 8000 tuner, Akai 4000D R2R, Technics 1100A TT, Epson 8500UB with Carada 100". Speakers:Polk SDA SRS, 3.1TL, FXi5, FXi3, 2-SVS 20-29, Yamaha, SVS center sub. Power:2-Monster HTS3500, Furman M-8D & RR16 Plus. 2-SAE 4000 X-overs, SAE 5000a noise reduction, MSB Link DAC III, MSB Powerbase, Behringer 2496, Monarchy DIP 24/96.
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Ever seen the lights dim when you fire up the hair dryer? You can get voltage drops from not having enough current. Test another outlet on the same circuit to be sure what you're seeing is real, then get that 20amp line in ASAP.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
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joeparaski wrote:At low volume, it's right up there near 120, as I crank up the volume it starts to drop to below 105. I'm not an electrician so I'm not sure how to interpret this. I've read that some folks run a seperate 20 amp wire to their gear, so I figured I do the same.
Who cares about voltage.....how does it sound
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What kind of wiring do you have in the house? If it is aluminum make sure all of the connections have an anti-oxidant.
If it is copper wiring I would suspect you have some armature wiring going on somewhere.
If you have an attic or crawlspace it is very easy to install a new line for that receptacle.
I personally consider anything over 3-5 volt drop to be a problem. -
HTrookie wrote:Who cares about voltage.....how does it sound
Carlo, the sound is clean but I still have to find the best "tune up" for the room. I started with the most basic setup first....cd to preamp...preamp to amp...amp to SRS (no eq's, no bi-amp, just a flat signal). I was a bit dissapoointed with the lack of good bass. Then I hooked up the graphic eq and boosted the bass a little and that helped.
Next setup was cd to preamp....preamp to surround sound processor, processor to main amp and subwoofer amp. Bass response took another jump with the subs but I expected more.
Then I had to leave for work. I definately have some dialing in and experimentation to do to get the kind of sound I want. The potential is there, I just have to find the best way to extract it.
If anyone has any suggestions I'm listening. There's a lot of gear and I know that I don't need all that. Gotta get the right combination.Amplifiers: 1-SAE Mark IV, 4-SAE 2400, 1-SAE 2500, 2-SAE 2600, 1-Buttkicker BKA 1000N w/2-tactile transducers. Sources: Sony BDP CX7000es, Sony CX300/CX400/CX450/CX455, SAE 8000 tuner, Akai 4000D R2R, Technics 1100A TT, Epson 8500UB with Carada 100". Speakers:Polk SDA SRS, 3.1TL, FXi5, FXi3, 2-SVS 20-29, Yamaha, SVS center sub. Power:2-Monster HTS3500, Furman M-8D & RR16 Plus. 2-SAE 4000 X-overs, SAE 5000a noise reduction, MSB Link DAC III, MSB Powerbase, Behringer 2496, Monarchy DIP 24/96.
