# Problem with Powerbase **URL:** \ **Category:** Power Components\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705 "2013-12-19T18:52:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/1 "2013-12-19T18:52:02Z")
I have got some problems with my Powerbase. It is giving off intermittent ‘trafo’ noise that worries me. The interval between the humming is about 5secs and the humming last for 3secs. It continues like this on a permanent basis. In a quiet room it is quite noticable and prominent. If I switch on the main load (P10 with or without load) the humming remains the same. Everything works like it should, so it is only the noise that is bugging me. If I switch off the power inlet to the PB the noise immediatly goes away (as expected) and when plugged in again it reappear. ---
**Author:** ![Elk](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/elk/32/1240_2.png) [@Elk](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Elk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/2 "2013-12-19T19:07:20Z")
Odd. Perhaps it is a loose component, such as an induction coil. ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/3 "2013-12-19T19:16:53Z")
I did some more testing to isolate the problem and what I wrote in my first post is not entirely true. As it turns out my subwoofers are connected to the secondary output of the PB. I bypassed my subs from the hi-load output of the P10 on purpose and went direct from the PB instead. Whether my subs are in standby or not changes nothing, but when I pull the power lead from the PB secondary output, the PB goes quiet. The noise is less prominent when only one sub is connected. ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/4 "2013-12-19T19:33:30Z")
Well, my conclusions seemed to be a little premature. It turns out that it is my sub PEQ amplifier that generates the said noise and not the PB after all. It is damned difficult to accurately locate the noise at this frequency (50 Hz). I have contacted Brian Ding at Rythmik on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Elk](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/elk/32/1240_2.png) [@Elk](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Elk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/5 "2013-12-19T19:47:13Z")
Very, very difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/6 "2013-12-19T19:49:41Z")
I will leave it over night and see. Maybe it is a temporary and local problem on the power line. I noticed that a thunderstorm just passed. ---
**Author:** ![Paul](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/paul/32/6_2.png) [@Paul](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Paul)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/7 "2013-12-20T06:12:48Z")
Thanks Frode, I was really struggling trying to figure out how the inductor could hum like that. Sorry to hear about your sub. ---
**Author:** ![wglenn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/wglenn/32/172_2.png) [@wglenn](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/wglenn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:51am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/8 "2013-12-20T09:51:48Z")
Does the hum go away if you plug the SW into the P10 directly? ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/9 "2013-12-20T10:07:54Z")
> Does the hum go away if you plug the SW into the P10 directly? 'No', and here is the reason; The sub manufacturer thinks it is superimposed DC, but during the middle of the night there are actuallly less dimmers on than what's normal. However, when I woke up this morning the noise was gone! :) My suspicion is a shipyard close by. They are feeding power to offshore vessels and I think this may create some problems. Having said this, I have never observed this before. I forgot to look at the oscilloscope on the P10 while the noise occurred. ---
**Author:** ![wglenn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/wglenn/32/172_2.png) [@wglenn](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/wglenn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/10 "2013-12-20T11:10:02Z")
Am I wrong in thinking that one would not actually hear DC on the line. Perhaps it is AC noise from the shipyard due to a poor power factor related to their facility. ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/11 "2013-12-20T12:22:16Z")
> Am I wrong in thinking that one would not actually hear DC on the line. Perhaps it is AC noise from the shipyard due to a poor power factor related to their facility. Transformer humming could be caused by DC. ---
**Author:** ![wglenn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/wglenn/32/172_2.png) [@wglenn](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/wglenn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/12 "2013-12-20T15:07:43Z")
Oh yes. I was thinking of the speaker. So, is the cone moving? ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/13 "2013-12-20T15:25:46Z")
> Oh yes. I was thinking of the speaker. So, is the cone moving? No, because the humming was present still with the sub amp in standby. ---
**Author:** ![wglenn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/wglenn/32/172_2.png) [@wglenn](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/wglenn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/14 "2013-12-20T16:02:13Z")
Gotcha. I understand. I hope that it gets better. ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/15 "2013-12-20T17:48:08Z")
It is fine now. Thanks, wglenn 🙂 Frode ---
**Author:** ![Elk](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/elk/32/1240_2.png) [@Elk](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Elk)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/16 "2013-12-20T18:28:32Z")
Great news 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![beefalo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@beefalo](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/beefalo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/17 "2013-12-20T19:12:36Z")
The p5 I have has a small intermittent buzz , it sounds like it is the toroidal transformer . It does not do it all the time either. But the two P10, s are silent go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Maniac](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/maniac/32/216_2.png) [@Maniac](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Maniac)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/18 "2013-12-21T03:09:19Z")
I wish the P10 would show DC offset on display and to be able to remove the DC on it’s output… ---
**Author:** ![beefalo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@beefalo](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/beefalo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/19 "2013-12-21T03:22:17Z")
??? Please explain ? ---
**Author:** ![Frode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Frode](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/Frode)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705/20 "2013-12-21T04:15:07Z")
I have the Vibex Two-6R DC blocking filter standing idle: [http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/vibex/1.html](http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/vibex/1.html) It would be interesting if the magnitude of the superimposed DC component could be found - and removed accordingly. [Next page](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/problem-with-powerbase/705.md?page=2)