The SP3 is a Tiny, Local Sub-Station, no Nukes involved ; )
Most do not seem to realize that their equipment will only ever only draw what they need, and that (even at peaks) is a fraction of a lot of power devices’ capabilities.
The SP3 is a Tiny, Local Sub-Station, no Nukes involved ; )
Most do not seem to realize that their equipment will only ever only draw what they need, and that (even at peaks) is a fraction of a lot of power devices’ capabilities.
That’s exactly what was thinking of but didn’t have time to post.
I just had 7 dedicated lines installed in my home theater. All 7 of the lines feed into a dedicated panel instead of the main panel used for the rest of my home.
I also upgraded all the factory power cords to Shunyata high current Venom cords and 9 of the standard outlets to Furutech NCF outlets.
One change I noticed right away is that the audio resolution of CDs played back using my Oppo is clearly discernible now all the way down to my preamp’s volume level of 1.0. Previously when the preamp’s volume level went down below the volume level of 10, the detail and dynamic range would start to fade out or if I had something playing at this low level, after several hours the resolution would be gone entirely until I manually raised the volume again. Now I play a CD all night long at level 5 and I come back the next morning and I can still clearly hear the details and dynamic range in the music.
If anyone knows, why this change would happen, I would like to know and thank you in advance.
Interesting. Is each of the 7 feeding a separate outlet location in your home theater room? I’ve read opinions on one side saying a dedicated circuit for each outlet is the way to go, versus a separate dedicated circuit for the entire room (assuming one circuit could provide the necessary power. The latter opinion seems to be based on the grounding working out better.
each of my pieces of equipment have their own dedicated outlet…no grounding problems…even put a grounding rod on each outlet…
To be up to code, all the grounding rods need to be tied together. It’s good practice regardless so there is no (less) difference in potential.
Yes each of the 7 dedicated 20 amp lines are feeding their own dedicated duplex or quad receptacles, which are just two duplex outlets.
@brett66, I agree, difference in potential, that phrase reminds me of my work for Florida Power and Light. I was assisting a lineman who while connecting two grounds was knocked off a latter by the shock. If I had not witnessed the event, I probably would find it difficult to believe.
Chas
While I have been long aware of the potential voltage differentials, I did not know it could carry this level of current. Yike.
Unfortunately, people read the phrase “isolated ground” and think this means to install a separate ground post for the circuit. This is not what the phrase means.
And yet in industrial applications we do have separate ground rods for machines.
This was in a large Ft. Lauderdale commercial area. Imagine two large areas, each several square miles, each having a substation to feed power to the areas. Well they have a border, where the overhead lines do not cross, ie no common ground. In this case Wilbur was to transfer a temporary construction feed to a large building under construction, fortunately only 220 not 4KV. The building was part of a commercial park that had several businesses within. I cannot recall this detail but the far end of this building was connected to a feed from one substation and Willy’s end had a temporary that was connected to the other substation. Willy was unaware of the building’s connections until the he tried to connect the grounds. He was in violation of safety rules to wear rubber protective gloves; but he thought I will just connect the grounds.
This is quite a scenario.
With a common power source and all the negative returns going to a common box?
And, if so, without tying the ground rods together?
The machine ground rods are “earth” connections to dissipate static electricity that would affect computers inside the control panel. Each machine should have its own “cabinet ground rod”. Installation instructions usually require this addition to protect the static sensitive circuitry inside.
Of course, a static ground - not what I was thinking of.
These machines have, in a sense, two grounds.
In a sense, it is like the grounding straps used when refueling airplanes, hanging from the bottom of heavy trucks, etc
Thanks for the explanation.
Correct. In fact 3 phase power does not use a ground (or neutral) in the same sense that single phase power does. 3 phase motors use 3 “hot legs” and no ground reference at all.The only need for a neutral leg is for 120v single phase requirements in the control circuitry.
Worse yet is the 120/208 three phase power that my shop has. Any 2 of the 3 legs to each other are 240 volts leg to leg. 2 of the 3 legs are each120 volts leg to ground. The remaining leg is 208 volts leg to ground. Be sure that the 208 leg is not connected to a 120v control or light circuit.
12 gauge is the lowest for a 20amp line, so go with 10 if not cost prohibitive.
Guys, what do you recommend for someone living in an apartment? I can’t run a dedicated line (at least can’t do economically), so what other options do I have? Is there anything I can do at the fuse box to help minimize noise going to my specific audio outlets?
Remove everything you can from the circuit used by the audio system. Remove the outlets on the circuit no longer used and wire nut the wires together to create as good a connection as possible and use a Power Plant, of course.
Of course, flip the breaker first and test every outlet in the path to be sure it’s not hot.
Do you have a fuse box or breakers? There is silver conductive paste that really increases conduction but one must be careful to not get it anywhere it shouldn’t be. Think of it as liquid/paste wire. I like to put it on the breaker panel contacts but you could put it on the fuse for the circuit.
How much does it help? Who knows but it’s likely to keep any potential corrosion at bay for years to come.
Strong caveat: Don’t do any of this unless you have a really good idea of what your doing. Dying is not worth any SQ improvement!
Thank you, @Baldy, neat stuff!