Deang Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Your running large pond pumps on the same circuit as your audio system... Ack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Sell the amps and get an amp with a regulated power supply. Any of the smaller digital amps with universal switching power supplies will be basically immune to any voltage changes in your home. Those power supplies put out the same voltage with any input from about 90v to 240v input. Shawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lisa lisa lisa................ voltage is not the only issue at hand here. you know and I know but you seem to refuse to believe it. I mean your home still have the old glass screw in fuses........... Your running large pond pumps on the same circuit as your audio system.... YIKES!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lisa, I've got an awesome QSC SRA 2422 that sounds amazing and will send your woofers to another level. So if you would like to consider partial trading I am game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Amps test perfect. Not a thing wrong with them. The pulsing indicator light on one is due to my wall voltage too. I guess we're done. Thanks Craig for your help, shoot me an invoice. If the meter arrives in time, just toss it in a box. Thanks! You mean the one that only flickers on your home electrical system............ yup works perfect here. Yes, the one that couldn't have possible jangled a bit during shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Your running large pond pumps on the same circuit as your audio system... Ack! I asked a few friends today. They do not have any special box, etc for their outdoor outlets. It's just tapped from their house. I'm sure many homes are like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Your running large pond pumps on the same circuit as your audio system... Ack! I asked a few friends today. They do not have any special box, etc for their outdoor outlets. It's just tapped from their house. I'm sure many homes are like this. Are they also running 5k plus of audio gear on that? It's not an issue of what your friends do, or whether it is good for the pond. It is an issue of how to treat your audio gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Amps test perfect. Not a thing wrong with them. The pulsing indicator light on one is due to my wall voltage too. I guess we're done. Thanks Craig for your help, shoot me an invoice. If the meter arrives in time, just toss it in a box. Thanks! You mean the one that only flickers on your home electrical system............ yup works perfect here. Yes, the one that couldn't have possible jangled a bit during shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Amps test perfect. Not a thing wrong with them. The pulsing indicator light on one is due to my wall voltage too. I guess we're done. Thanks Craig for your help, shoot me an invoice. If the meter arrives in time, just toss it in a box. Thanks! You mean the one that only flickers on your home electrical system............ yup works perfect here. Yes, the one that couldn't have possible jangled a bit during shipping. Oh man your just amazing. I suppose all 8 output tubes were burnt to a crisp with huge burn marks in the getter silvering in shipping also. I suppose the constant fluctuation in bias readings causing you to constantly bias these amps were fixed in shipping also... I suppose shipping netted 4 out a 5 tubes that were in use in your other two tube components weak/bad also.... Wake up Lisa you have a problem with your usage and/or your household AC supply. Your in complete denial. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Pond pumps on the same circuit as all of your hi-fi/video gear? Uh, maybe you should consider a new 200 amp service and a dedicated circuit for your A/V stuff. If you have a raised foundation and your stuff is on the first floor, this isn't such a huge job. Call an electrical contractor and tell him what you need. When I did this a few years ago I couldn't BELIEVE how much quieter all my gear became over night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Lisa, It sounds like your house may be on the verge of an electrical "event". The indications of a problem seem certain from things I have read here over a period of time. Don't you worry about it? Heck with audio.....your house could burn down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Sell the amps and get an amp with a regulated power supply. Any of the smaller digital amps with universal switching power supplies will be basically immune to any voltage changes in your home. Those power supplies put out the same voltage with any input from about 90v to 240v input. Now that's what I'm talking about [Y] Totally immune power supplies [] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Oh man your just amazing. I suppose all 8 output tubes were burnt to a crisp with huge burn marks in the getter silvering in shipping also. I suppose the contact fluctuation in bias readings causing you to constantly bias these amps were fixed in shipping also... I suppose shipping netted 4 out a 5 tubes that were in use in your other two tube components weak/bad also.... Wake up Lisa you have a problem with your usage and/or your household AC supply. Your in complete denial. Craig Oh please, discredit me all you like. 1. The Jolida CDP tubes (amperex BB and Telefunken) were given to me USED when I bought it. I have NO IDEA how old those Amperex are. The Telefunkens are in the VRDs and you said they tested fine. 2. I sent THREE sets of peach tubes. I again got the Peach used with those tubes. ONE out of the THREE sets didn't test well. I've been using the EI which you said were great! I have no idea what "circuit" my pond pumps are. The outdoor outlet is on the back of my house. I'm assuming they are on the same circuit. I have NO IDEA what that even means - only that the outlet is on the back of the house. These pumps run 24/7 in spring, Summer, Fall. OK, this is a SMALL BACKYARD ornamental pond, not an estate sized pond. One pump is 250w, the other is 180w. Centrifugal. Lightbulbs last forever here, there are no fuses blowing, no dimming lights, etc. I see no tube mfr website that addresses voltage from the wall nor mentions that as a factor when biasing. Searching other forums, I see an average of 124 for people so far. My swings are within 4 points (5 max) which is less than many seem to experiencing. My voltage is within norm. And buying a voltage regulator with a margin of +/- 5 volts seems a waste to me. If there's other issues with my power like 'dirty', fine, but I'm not going to run out and drop cash on something without knowing for sure ALL the problems will be magically solved by a gadget that will keep my voltage where it's already at. I have let this meter sit in the outlets for hours/days and tested at all hours. My swings are very gradual throughout the day. And yes, if tube amps can't handle 121-125 which is NOT ABNORMAL, then of course I have to rethink my use of them. The only thing I'm willing to do is buy used and super cheap. Cheap enough to resell on Ebay for no loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted April 24, 2007 Moderators Share Posted April 24, 2007 Plug in a portable lamp or something where amps plug in and turn off the breaker to the pond and see if the lamp is on the same circuit. Just an innocent bystander here, I have know idea what the problem is, just a thought to see if it is the same circuit or what else is on that circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Can these amps be used with any semblance of extension cords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Lisa, It wouldn't be remotely good to plug those amps into an extension cord. Listen, there are claims your electrical service is bad. It isn't the voltage. We could run through some checks to see what is on the particular circuit you are using, what the current draw is, and what that circuit should be carrying. Easy enough to knock this puppy out and see if your electrical service is an issue. You obviously have a meter so this wouldn't be hard to do and you would have an answer. Let me know if you want to sort through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 As long as the extension cords are rated for the current you'll be drawing, then yes they can be used. It's really no different than the wires in the wall being longer. Outta curiosity - do you have quality speaker cable and good solid connections at the amp and speaker terminals? Any cold solder joints anywhere? Tubes are annoying in that intermittant connections can cause them to blow (like under 1ms). Shorts will do the same thing too, but that's common to all amplifiers. Didn't you mention one of your speakers sounded slightly different than the other? Btw, the reason you don't want pumps or any kind of electrical motor on the same circuit is because turning them on and off can generate huge voltage spikes - basically similar to a lightning strike. The other issue is the power factor, where the phase of the current lags the phase of the voltage. All motors reduce the power factor (which means the current lags more) which ultimately means that you don't get the full available power for that voltage. It effectively does the same thing as clipping the amp - again, not good for tubes. You'd have to have a pretty crappy power factor for it to affect your system at normal output - which might explain why it happens at power up (where there is a huge power draw for a short amount of time). Anyways, apart from voltage and pf, I don't think there really is anything else to measure to verify that your electricity is normal. Perhaps a device that can measure transients (or basically measure voltage over time) just to make sure you don't have inductive sources on the line? Putting all the audiophile hooplah aside...I can't help but observe that modern technology doesn't have these issues and in many ways the sound is going to be at least on par. Perhaps better in a few ways and perhaps worse in others, but overall it's pretty much the same. In the end, it's about enjoying the tunes and I can't imagine that you're enjoying yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I dont know how your circuits work in the US for homes. Over here we have a main box with circuit breakers in. These are rated usually at 10 amps for lights and 16 for power plugs. It is very easy to switch one circuit off to see what is on the same circuit. I did this when choosing the power point for the stereo as I did not want it on the same circuit as the refridgerator! I would imagine your pond equipment swtiches on and off much like the fridge this does cause spikes in the mains and should be avoided. Worth checking I would say - zero investment. As a "for what it is worth" - when I ran tube amps I used to bias every 3 months or so - I have never heard of anyone biasing twice a day!! Something is definitely wrong there and the power circuit would be a good guess. Also remember that instantaneous sruges may not show up on your meter - especially if this is a once or twice a day thing. Its also worth noting that checking the bias does not mean adjusting it - adjustment was required only one in every 2 or 3 checks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Extension cords........... please. This problem needs to be fixed not cobbled and limped along. We have went through this for a year now. Lisa you were the one emailing me frantically and repeatedly this morning telling me that if you turn the pond pumps off the wall sockets that feed your audio system jump up 3 volts to 127.5 VAC, turn the pumps back on and it goes back down to 124v to 125V THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE SIGN OF A PROBLEM. The voltage should momentarily drop and quickly recover recover in seconds if all things are as they should be. The tube that were being used for the most part of the last year were the tubes that were bad. The other tubes you sent were basically never used or used very little This is not about discrediting you. This about your absolute refusal to realize you have some problem some where on your end of this matter. I'm sick of wasting 100's of emails back and forth and countless hours on the phone. All of that and we still have accomplished zero...........I'm not paid for this you know......I have never made a red cent from you........ I do not have time for this garbage. If your not going to accept the advise of myself and countless others on this forum then why the hell do you ask for it? Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfandbark Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 If we are using buss fuses in the panel box what does that say for the wiring? Knob and tube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts