My120V, P20 reads 420 watts and 49% capacity. Does that make sense?
Do you have it in 15a mode?
Yes 15amp
I think that might make some sense. How many amps does it show?
5.03 amps—ooops–it changed it’s mind. It’s now at 52%; all else the same.
That number makes sense. The percentage at on the 15a ties directly with amps used over 10a. So 5a is 50%. I think 20a setting does amp percentage based on 15a total.
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Not sure how PS Audio determines capacity but it would be somewhere south of 15A X .8 = 12A. Electrical loads that run for 3 hours or more (most of us using our gear) require a 20% derating based upon the fact that standard circuit breakers aren’t built to handle continuous loads (3 hours +). That gets you to 12A max when using the 15A side of the P20. Now account for loses in the regen process and maybe it does make sense.
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Thanks guys.
Didn’t know about the circuit brkr limits and the 20%. So that said, it does make sense.
I played my P20 using 15 amp circuit connect for its first month of use and it always read near the 200 watt usage with a lot of loud volume playing. When I switched over to a dedicated 20 amp circuit, the wattage reading dropped to 175 ish. I am using a floor speaker with a 86 sensitivity spec. driven by PSA M700 mono amps.
I have used the clean procedure (DeGuass sp?) once per month.
This product amazes me.
Chas
I owned the P300 - had it in a room next door with an electric fan 24/7 …
Then the P600; then the PPP.
Eventually the P10: The very first model of which I could say there were no downsides [e.g. heat].
And finally, the P20 - without a doubt the most awesome regenerator from PSA yet. I’m glad you’re enjoying yours; so am I!
@RonP - I just reconfigured my rack and I wanted to add some observations to the collective P20 consciousness. My system had the (4) Sboosters and all my PSA gear hooked to the P20 and was about 420watts, 5.4A, 38% load using the 20A input. I then got rid of the Sboosters, down to 375watts, 5A, 30% on 20A input. I then moved the P20 from 2nd shelf from bottom over BHKPRE to bottom w/ BHKPRE over the P20. In doing this I went from 11.5in poles to 13in poles, removed the P20ft and added Voodoo pods under P20. So, let the P20 operate for a few days, on 24X7 as usual and same playing. Before the reconfiguring, the worse case heat sink temp (laser measurement) was 115F. Now the worse case is 105F. Measured many times with volume mid way as it was before. So, adding an inch space above P20, where there was very little to start, seems to help the temps and I assume longevity. The point is, be careful how you restrict convection in this P20. A common sense point; however, heat sinks are on the side of P20 with plenty of heat exchange, not restricting the Q flow. Don’t think all the heat is exchanged through just heat sinks… convection plays it part as the heat is moving out of the top of the unit too and having at least a few inches of exchange is a good idea for longevity.
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My 250 watt amp is very hot. My P20 barely warm.
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@RonP - yeah, I was restricting the convection with less than an inch above the P20 and after I got it to ~2in above, the difference is about 10F. Now some of that is a loss of 45watts moving the Sbooster load. A combination of the 2 events. I just wanted to note how important space above the P20 is to cooling. Right now, my P20 is just barely warm.
This Eteckcity laser thermometer is like $20 and useful with putting numbers on hot, warm…