Back with another problem, only this time its making Mrs. Annan upset too.
I'm currently using a pair of Bottlehead Paramour 2A3 SETs and a Foreplay preamp for my listening pleasure and while I like the sound fine, I am starting to have a major issue.
When multiple electrical devices are running in the UN building at the same time, the music starts to sound like snot. Let's say the dishwasher, dryer and microwave are all running at the same time. Result: snot.
No problem, right? Just don't have them all running at the same time while you're listening and you'll be fine. Right? Right? Can you guess what's coming?
Well, I also started to notice that the lights flicker when the dryer is on. Its really noticeable. So, OK, just ignore it. However, now I notice that when its later in the evening, and sometimes on the weekends, the amp starts to sound like snot no matter what devices are on or off. It sounds like its really struggling--- like there's a bad connection or like the amp is NOT GETTING ENOUGH CURRENT.
Ding.
OK, I can handle the threat of the place burning down or exploding in a fiery ball of electricity, but snotty-sounding music I just can't handle.
I think maybe I will need to have the place rewired as perhaps there's not enough juice for a modern family such as the Annans to live comfortably. The place was bult in the 50's and I'm guessing you didn't need a lot of volts to listen to Murray the K on AM radio.
Should I call a real live electrician, get a backup power source (i.e., a UPS or a diesel-powered generator) or just listen to Murray the K on AM radio for the rest of my miserable life?
Kofi
I'm currently using a pair of Bottlehead Paramour 2A3 SETs and a Foreplay preamp for my listening pleasure and while I like the sound fine, I am starting to have a major issue.
When multiple electrical devices are running in the UN building at the same time, the music starts to sound like snot. Let's say the dishwasher, dryer and microwave are all running at the same time. Result: snot.
No problem, right? Just don't have them all running at the same time while you're listening and you'll be fine. Right? Right? Can you guess what's coming?
Well, I also started to notice that the lights flicker when the dryer is on. Its really noticeable. So, OK, just ignore it. However, now I notice that when its later in the evening, and sometimes on the weekends, the amp starts to sound like snot no matter what devices are on or off. It sounds like its really struggling--- like there's a bad connection or like the amp is NOT GETTING ENOUGH CURRENT.
Ding.
OK, I can handle the threat of the place burning down or exploding in a fiery ball of electricity, but snotty-sounding music I just can't handle.
I think maybe I will need to have the place rewired as perhaps there's not enough juice for a modern family such as the Annans to live comfortably. The place was bult in the 50's and I'm guessing you didn't need a lot of volts to listen to Murray the K on AM radio.
Should I call a real live electrician, get a backup power source (i.e., a UPS or a diesel-powered generator) or just listen to Murray the K on AM radio for the rest of my miserable life?
Kofi
Yo Koof WHAT UP!
How's that stereo for food program rolling? Is that woman on the bottlehead.com site impressed by major UN types like yourself? HOPE SO! Do you think she shuns sand amp guys but digs vacuum dudes?
Anyway, this happened to me too! I had an old overhead service line to the house and when the wind blew, the lights flickered. It was only on one of the legs coming into the house. The other was fine. To identify the problem, I put a VOM in the socket and you could see the voltage jump as the wind blew. Safety note! Never check AC voltage whilst bathing! And of course, always wear foil on your head for protection!
The other possible condition is that as a circuit is being used, the wire can warm slightly causing problems at the screw down terminals, most likely in the receptacles. This was particularly a problem with aluminum wire that reared it's ugly head in the home building business for a few years. Turns out, what was saved in copper was quickly spent in removing the charred remains of homes.
How's that stereo for food program rolling? Is that woman on the bottlehead.com site impressed by major UN types like yourself? HOPE SO! Do you think she shuns sand amp guys but digs vacuum dudes?
Anyway, this happened to me too! I had an old overhead service line to the house and when the wind blew, the lights flickered. It was only on one of the legs coming into the house. The other was fine. To identify the problem, I put a VOM in the socket and you could see the voltage jump as the wind blew. Safety note! Never check AC voltage whilst bathing! And of course, always wear foil on your head for protection!
The other possible condition is that as a circuit is being used, the wire can warm slightly causing problems at the screw down terminals, most likely in the receptacles. This was particularly a problem with aluminum wire that reared it's ugly head in the home building business for a few years. Turns out, what was saved in copper was quickly spent in removing the charred remains of homes.
Check - or better let check - your breaker panel and see how many appliances are on that particular circuit.
If too many - run a seperate line to your stereo.
Also check - or better have check - the incoming line size and main breaker.
Until the late seventies - my experience in canada - incoming services wer sized to between 50 amps to 100 amps. With all the microwaves, deepfreezes, computers and the room warming tube amps - the incoming service might not be sufficient - upgrade time. Talk to your local electrician and the power corp. I installed 200 amp service im my abode - more than i need, but comforting to know that everything i can throw at the wall outlets can be handled w/o flickering. And have two dedicated circuits just for the stereo system.
If too many - run a seperate line to your stereo.
Also check - or better have check - the incoming line size and main breaker.
Until the late seventies - my experience in canada - incoming services wer sized to between 50 amps to 100 amps. With all the microwaves, deepfreezes, computers and the room warming tube amps - the incoming service might not be sufficient - upgrade time. Talk to your local electrician and the power corp. I installed 200 amp service im my abode - more than i need, but comforting to know that everything i can throw at the wall outlets can be handled w/o flickering. And have two dedicated circuits just for the stereo system.
Getting way too many Emerson boom boxes, but its the food that counts, I guess.
Hmm... maybe I can track the voltage during the snotty sound periods against the normal, devoid of snot periods.
Any way you slice it, it sounds like a job for NOT KOFI!
NOT KOFI has recently been employed to clean the gutters, rake the leaves and change the oil in the real Kofi's car. In fact, there seems to be no limit to the tasks NOT KOFI can accomplish. I believe it may be time, once again, to put faith in the skills of NOT KOFI and call a real live electrician before the house burns down or Miles Davis does another underwater solo.
Any other advice before I engage the services of NOT KOFI?
Thanks,
The Real Kofi
Sorry, AK-- I didn't see your response when I was responding to Chipco.
Based on your response, it still sounds like a job for you-know-who.
Any idea on how much this little debacle might wind up costing me? The UN budget is pretty tight these days, especially with parts to build Thorsten's tube phono preamp on the way...
Oh, great. Tube phono pre. More power drain. More snot.
Kofi
Based on your response, it still sounds like a job for you-know-who.
Any idea on how much this little debacle might wind up costing me? The UN budget is pretty tight these days, especially with parts to build Thorsten's tube phono preamp on the way...
Oh, great. Tube phono pre. More power drain. More snot.
Kofi
How does your Gain Clone work? What's that runnin' on? Double A batteries? You built that tube amp, lived to fight another day. All this stuff has lethal voltage, you wimpering little baby.
Do what I do, if there are any doubts, just pull the main breaker (prevents the old zapola from backfeeds through a neutral) , test that the circuit's dead and tear into it. What's the worst thing can happen? Oh yeah, death by electrocution in a dark lonely basement.
Mrs. A. would think you to be mucho macho with a nice leather tool belt complete with "dikes", lineman's pliers, and assorted screw driver thingys. Very "butch".
Do what I do, if there are any doubts, just pull the main breaker (prevents the old zapola from backfeeds through a neutral) , test that the circuit's dead and tear into it. What's the worst thing can happen? Oh yeah, death by electrocution in a dark lonely basement.
Mrs. A. would think you to be mucho macho with a nice leather tool belt complete with "dikes", lineman's pliers, and assorted screw driver thingys. Very "butch".
Kofi Annan said:
It is odd that you get problems without your appliances on. That would indicate either a problem at your fuse or breaker box or something more general in the neighborhood.
Back in the dark ages (the 50's) some wiring was done with aluminum rather than copper. Old aluminum wire causes intermittent connection issues, arcing at connections and fires. The first thing I would do is check to see if some or all of your wiring is aluminum. If so replace it immediately.
A UPS with sufficient power could probably fix your music problem but won't help the lights flickering while the dryer runs. I'd get the electrician in soon!
ok, back to the "no appliance on" hint.
The problem could be few fold - if thats the word. It can indicate a:
loose power (hot) connection in the panel - to the main breaker if you have one (the biggest you will find in the center top or bottom)
a loose neutral wire in the panel , on the neutral distribution bar, either the main neutral or one or more of the circuit wires
a loose wire on the breakers somewhere
a loose neutral or hot connector on your wall outlet.
Any way - its no time to play around when you have little experience with line power, get an electrician to check all the possobilities.
A good one should be able to troubleshoot in about an hour or so - in can. funds 68$/hr, add taxes, traveltime...
The problem could be few fold - if thats the word. It can indicate a:
loose power (hot) connection in the panel - to the main breaker if you have one (the biggest you will find in the center top or bottom)
a loose neutral wire in the panel , on the neutral distribution bar, either the main neutral or one or more of the circuit wires
a loose wire on the breakers somewhere
a loose neutral or hot connector on your wall outlet.
Any way - its no time to play around when you have little experience with line power, get an electrician to check all the possobilities.
A good one should be able to troubleshoot in about an hour or so - in can. funds 68$/hr, add taxes, traveltime...
Another WAG (Wild A...d Guess)
Your problem may well be high frequency noise (hash) coming from the power lines.
Try snubbers across each secondary winding of the power transformer ahead of the rectifiers. 2R2 in series with 100nF should do it. Watch the voltage rating of the cap.
A filtered power board for distributing power to the pre and power amps may also help.
Cheers,
Ian
Your problem may well be high frequency noise (hash) coming from the power lines.
Try snubbers across each secondary winding of the power transformer ahead of the rectifiers. 2R2 in series with 100nF should do it. Watch the voltage rating of the cap.
A filtered power board for distributing power to the pre and power amps may also help.
Cheers,
Ian
I'm not a baby you are!
Amazing what an ounce of international diplomacy will do for an argument.
That's two for the NOT KOFI solution. Check.
Make it three.
Eeeewwww! That sounds like something Kofi can do. Kofi's not into doing as much these days. He's way more into being.
OK-- I'll try the snubbers and call the electrician. Any of you geniuses feel like travelling to the UN building to check this out? There's a plate of whole wheat pasta and homemade marinara in it for you!
Kofi
So I went out and bought a $50 UPS with voltage regulation this week and believe it or not, it works like a charm!
I can still see the lights dim in the house when the neighbor turns on her blender, but then I hear this satisfying click from the UPS, letting me know: "Hey Kofi, I got your back on this one, G".
I ran the dryer, microwave, diswasher, proton accelerator and Mrs. Annan's 475 terawatt hair dryer and there was no noticeable degradation of peformance. Me and my new homedog Da UPS were drinkin' and clickin' all night long. You know how we do!
Now I only have the whole house-exploding-in-a-ball-of-electricity-and-fire situation to contend with, which can obviously wait.
Thanks for the advice!
Kofi
I can still see the lights dim in the house when the neighbor turns on her blender, but then I hear this satisfying click from the UPS, letting me know: "Hey Kofi, I got your back on this one, G".
I ran the dryer, microwave, diswasher, proton accelerator and Mrs. Annan's 475 terawatt hair dryer and there was no noticeable degradation of peformance. Me and my new homedog Da UPS were drinkin' and clickin' all night long. You know how we do!
Now I only have the whole house-exploding-in-a-ball-of-electricity-and-fire situation to contend with, which can obviously wait.
Thanks for the advice!
Kofi
Well, Mrs. Annan already threw away the box for the UPS (empty cardboard is like loose nukes to her-- she secures and disposes of them quickly and with impunity), so I'm not exactly sure of the model number. Its a Belkin and its got 325VA output with "AVR" (Automatic Voltage Regulation), which probably means its got a $.79 LM316 voltage regulator in it.
It was $50US and I got it at Best Buy. There were tons to choose from, but I got the cheapest one with AVR.
It has a backup battery, but I don't really care about that since its the line regulation I'm after. The battery likely plays a part in the regulation as the one-page, seventeen language instruction pamphlet that came with the UPS indicates that this gizmo generates a dummy sine wave that emulates 115V and 60Hz.
Please note that I am a Secretary General of the United Nations and not an engineer. That means I am not an expert and I don't know if this is a good or bad solution to a line regulation "brownout" problem. It works for me, but YMMV (for Canadians / Europeans, YKMV).
Also, I'm quite sure that some of the smart folks out there in DIY Audioland will be chiming in at some point to offer a better, cheaper DIY solution that will put my soution to shame. These recommendations will almost certainly begin with "Kofi, Kofi, Kofi...." or "I cannot believe that you...", so keep your eyes peeled for those.
What?!? Can't hear you! Music.... very... loud.... GZZZZZTT!
OK, I know I need to have this checked out. I'll call in NOT KOFI next week and let you know the diagnosis.
Thanks,
Kofi
I'm thinking it's probably like this one:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd...nt_Id=1&Section_Id=&pcount=&Product_Id=171855
I doubt you'll find a DIY solution cheaper. Can't believe how cheap this stuff is.
Still, a good idea to check out what's happening with your house wiring. Could be bad. Or at least hard on all your other appliances.
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd...nt_Id=1&Section_Id=&pcount=&Product_Id=171855
I doubt you'll find a DIY solution cheaper. Can't believe how cheap this stuff is.
Still, a good idea to check out what's happening with your house wiring. Could be bad. Or at least hard on all your other appliances.
This same thing started happening to me a few years ago. the UPS on my computer started tripping all the time and having to reset the clocks. Turns out the contacts in the 50 year old fuse box were going bad and causing small arcs. The arcs were eating the metal away leading to more arcs....
So we had the whole thing replaced with breakers and a fancy whole house surge supressor.
So we had the whole thing replaced with breakers and a fancy whole house surge supressor.
ray_moth - too bad about your power. I guess you can always complain, though I don't know how far that will get you in Indonesia. My power company here in California put up a new pole transformer right at the back corner of my yard. I am first in line for power distribution, meaning I can get up to about 125VAC at my wall plug, which is really good for the US. It partially compensates for the 80 year old wiring in parts of my house. The distribution transformer was originially about 4 houses away.
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