[Electronics] Power Conditioners

[saor]

I'm looking to get a power conditioner for my pc and music equipment - surge protection and 'filtering' the supply to reduce hum / static. I've had a look at the Furman series on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Furman-Series-Outlet-Conditioner-Protector/dp/B003BQ91Y6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402303118&sr=8-1&keywords=furman


But obviously the plugs & possibly the working voltage are US-based. The price is good though: Part + import = R1000.

Are there any good alternatives available locally, or anything you've ordered in that you could recommend? Preferably around the R1000 mark.

Thanks.

 

[itareanlnotani]

If you're getting a hum, then its most likely a grounding issue.

Power conditioners - are, for the most part BS.
If your power is experiencing regular surges, brownouts or spikes, then you need to talk to Eskom, and have that resolved.

If you want clean power, then you'll need to run equipment through an online UPS.

An online UPS is not the same as a bog standard UPS.
An online one doesn't provide Eskom power, it provides clean power. Ideally you want a Sine wave one, if you want to spend the money on this.

I think its a waste though.

That said, if you're running on Single Phase, and everything is running off of one circuit, you will see some benefit if lights and fridges etc are on that circuit, and causing issues.

Most houses are on 3 phase though, and plugs and lighting, and heavy duty stuff are usually on different circuits (or should be in your average house).

I'd probably lean towards an RF filter on the plug circuit at the db though (assuming you have issues, and its a separate circuit). Eskom or an electrician should be able to check / test / add that if it is indeed an actual issue.

 

[saor]

If you're getting a hum, then its most likely a grounding issue.

Power conditioners - are, for the most part BS.
If your power is experiencing regular surges, brownouts or spikes, then you need to talk to Eskom, and have that resolved.

If you want clean power, then you'll need to run equipment through an online UPS.

An online UPS is not the same as a bog standard UPS.
An online one doesn't provide Eskom power, it provides clean power. Ideally you want a Sine wave one, if you want to spend the money on this.

I think its a waste though.

Thanks .

I don't get a lot of hum - it's more just to protect the gear I've put my money into. I was under the impression these conditioners reduce any spikes / fluctuations in the supply, which go some way to protecting your gear. And they apparently function better as surge protectors than the cheap R100 strips at hardware stores.

What are you using for surge protection at your home/office?

 

[itareanlnotani]

If you're dead set on getting something then this is available here -

http://www.tripplite.com/sku/TLP606B/

Bear in mind that MOV based surge protection is rather useless for a number of good reasons, most of which being that after the first surge, you're not protected. It does have an EMI/RF filter though.

Again, I'd be more into finding/ fixing the issue (assuming there is an issue), rather than filtering it out.

 

[Electric]

Are you sure it's not just an issue with unbalanced cabling?

 

[itareanlnotani]

I don't use surge protection.

Some equipment is on UPS's, but thats more for power outages, than other reasons.

If I was in JHB, I would most definitely have surge and lightning protection on important circuits though, as they get a lot of lightning storms, and its quite common for equipment to fry.

If you really want to protect equipment, it needs to go onto an *online* pure sine wave ups.
For the most part, I find Eskom's supply to be decent (when its working). There has only been one time that I've seen it quite offsync frequency wise - it was running under frequency due to a power station issue, and my house inverter catered for that (I have solar, as described at http://goingsolar.co.za ).

 

[saor]

Are you sure it's not just an issue with unbalanced cabling?

Yeah sorry I don't know why I mentioned the hum/static - it's not really that big of an issue. I was more just wanting to add some decent protection into my setup. I haven't looked that deep into it yet - so these replies are helpful. I figured that with all this electronic gear/equipment I should maybe consider improving the source supply and the protection available.

 

[itareanlnotani]

Good reasons to get a line filter -

A fridge or freezer is on the same circuit as the plugs (possible on single phase), or you're running a fridge /freezer in the same room.
The compressor kicks in, generates rf/emi on the line, and you hear a click on audio.

You have fluorescent lights and the ballast is hosed - you'll hear a hum or sporadic interference.


Bad reasons to get a line filter -
I heard its a good idea, but actually have no issues.

 

[saor]

Bad reasons to get a line filter -
I heard its a good idea, but actually have no issues.

I figured it was a bit like insurance