Thanks - I might just get a voltmeter and wire it up and then photo it at various times and build up a case based upon this as evidence, it's the cheapest way I reckon (£12).
I am pretty sure it used to be very stable in the past.
That is low.
The UK grid at this moment looks to be under heavy demand (frequency is quite low at 49.93Hz). Some utility companies have also adopted a dynamic voltage control where they reduce voltage to try and ease power requirements. That was trialled some years back in the North West of England and implemented.
The UK grid at this moment looks to be under heavy demand (frequency is quite low at 49.93Hz). Some utility companies have also adopted a dynamic voltage control where they reduce voltage to try and ease power requirements. That was trialled some years back in the North West of England and implemented.
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> 218 volts AC .... it used to be 246V
That's 13%. Wide but not TOO wide.
Your incandescent lamps (if any) should be swinging from quite-dim to burn-up-fast.
At my last house the service was bad and then upgraded, our "120" was 128V. And lamps did not last long (but were bright!). I played it dumb, called the company, said I thought voltage was "too high, I'm scared!!" A few days later it was 121V on the nose.
But *this* house has a too-long wire, we normally have 125V low-load, but dipping to 112V and even 108V on laundry day. That's quite similar to your 218V-246V. While careful measurement would show a 30% change of maximum power output, I would not expect any real change in a happy tube amp. (And yes I have run tubes on some over-volt and extended under-volt professionally.)
That's 13%. Wide but not TOO wide.
Your incandescent lamps (if any) should be swinging from quite-dim to burn-up-fast.
At my last house the service was bad and then upgraded, our "120" was 128V. And lamps did not last long (but were bright!). I played it dumb, called the company, said I thought voltage was "too high, I'm scared!!" A few days later it was 121V on the nose.
But *this* house has a too-long wire, we normally have 125V low-load, but dipping to 112V and even 108V on laundry day. That's quite similar to your 218V-246V. While careful measurement would show a 30% change of maximum power output, I would not expect any real change in a happy tube amp. (And yes I have run tubes on some over-volt and extended under-volt professionally.)
I have a problem where the amp makes a low frequency oscillation sound, followed by a thump/pop and then a rising in volume buzz. I turn it off, after having a quick look around with a DMM. At this time voltages are all over the place and the supply circumstantially seems super low.
My guess could be the voltage regulators because it's a bit low, or it's and unstable transistor somewhere....but it's just guess work for me at this point.
has done it 5 times or so over a month.
Lets get this straight - 218 volts on a British Electricity grid is------L--O----W --no ifs -no buts -no maybes .
Tonescout,s amplifier is showing all the symptoms of this VERY low UK voltage .
Compare that with the nominal USA electric grid voltage range of 114volts-126volts RMS ,the actual nominal voltage being 120 volts --a 12 volts range .
Then compare it with Britain- 216 volts up to say 253 volts (approx ) -nearly a FORTY volt range --- .
Then take your average mains transformer with ONE primary tapping usually bought from eBay/Amazon or China--- DESIGNED for the European market at a voltage of 230 volts RMS is anybody going to come on here and say --oh yes ! that's perfectly "okay " and it should function to full specifications running it at 216 volts ??
Would Americans be happy running all their domestic equipment at say 90 volts or much less?
Why do you think American has 240 volts and or several phases to run heavier domestic equipment on a separate domestic electrical circuit .
Tonescout,s amplifier is showing all the symptoms of this VERY low UK voltage .
Compare that with the nominal USA electric grid voltage range of 114volts-126volts RMS ,the actual nominal voltage being 120 volts --a 12 volts range .
Then compare it with Britain- 216 volts up to say 253 volts (approx ) -nearly a FORTY volt range --- .
Then take your average mains transformer with ONE primary tapping usually bought from eBay/Amazon or China--- DESIGNED for the European market at a voltage of 230 volts RMS is anybody going to come on here and say --oh yes ! that's perfectly "okay " and it should function to full specifications running it at 216 volts ??
Would Americans be happy running all their domestic equipment at say 90 volts or much less?
Why do you think American has 240 volts and or several phases to run heavier domestic equipment on a separate domestic electrical circuit .
We had a similar issue on one of our production plants some time ago. Mains supply sensitive devices such and motor control protection systems and network power distribution units were tripping alarms at random times. As quick short term fix, we installed a few cheap computer uninterruptable power supplies on the affected loads. To get a record of the supply voltage, we installed this device: Yocto-Volt - Tiny insulated USB voltmeter (AC/DC) ; we wrote a small script to use it as single-phase data logger and to send email alerts to maintenance. The collected evidence was enough to force the utility company to fix the issue.
I have on another project built a system for monitoring roasting temperature for coffee with a small drum roaster. However I have got lazy and not roasted for a while so I could use the main components and get one of these as it's build with easy to use (but over priced ) Phidgets CE-VJ03-32MS2-0.5 AC Voltage Sensor 0-250V (60Hz) - 3508_0 at Phidgets
and it works with a Mac ....YAY!I believe that Yocto Volt is been developed by a CERN employee. Documentation and code samples have been written by someone with hands-on experience on computer-based control/sensor systems. I selected this product for this reason, and also because it does have a internal buffer memory so you will not lose data while rebooting the computer etc.
No variac is required, the issue is already solved by a line interactive UPS (uninterruptable power supply) with AVS (Automatic Voltage Stabilizer) functionality. A sligtly more expensive dual conversion UPS does have a bigger compensation range also filters out the EMI (electro magnetic interference) coming from the wall outlet.
No variac is required, the issue is already solved by a line interactive UPS (uninterruptable power supply) with AVS (Automatic Voltage Stabilizer) functionality. A sligtly more expensive dual conversion UPS does have a bigger compensation range also filters out the EMI (electro magnetic interference) coming from the wall outlet.
In reply to Old Hector .
Scotland had 50 % wind power/renewable energy in 2015 getting near 100 % now .
Fact Scotland exports electricity to the National Grid .
Absolutely unquestionable fact ---
As I sit here at my PC I have plugged into the electrical mains a digital meter on this very cold Scottish December day when most of the population are running heating appliances----and the RMS voltage ---TWO HUNDRED and THIRTY TWO volts so much for "having to live off 218 volts AC " and I am at the end of a long run of cable from a local step down transformer .
In the summer it was 253 Volts as I posted at the time on DIY Audio .
So no I don't agree with "getting used to very low voltages" --French companies own several UK electricity providers importing to the UK large percentages of Nuclear power electricity .
By the way the UK government want all automobiles to be electric --tell me how is the UK going to, supply the charging power ?
Quick think by government uh -oh ! we have a change of heart nuclear power stations are now needed --- reality beats Eco and don't get me started on those living in rural areas where electric vehicles need long runs to reach banks etc.
Scotland had 50 % wind power/renewable energy in 2015 getting near 100 % now .
Fact Scotland exports electricity to the National Grid .
Absolutely unquestionable fact ---
As I sit here at my PC I have plugged into the electrical mains a digital meter on this very cold Scottish December day when most of the population are running heating appliances----and the RMS voltage ---TWO HUNDRED and THIRTY TWO volts so much for "having to live off 218 volts AC " and I am at the end of a long run of cable from a local step down transformer .
In the summer it was 253 Volts as I posted at the time on DIY Audio .
So no I don't agree with "getting used to very low voltages" --French companies own several UK electricity providers importing to the UK large percentages of Nuclear power electricity .
By the way the UK government want all automobiles to be electric --tell me how is the UK going to, supply the charging power ?
Quick think by government uh -oh ! we have a change of heart nuclear power stations are now needed --- reality beats Eco and don't get me started on those living in rural areas where electric vehicles need long runs to reach banks etc.
Bit off topic, but have you come across the scheme where the electricity companies rent the right to use your electric car for mass storage. Hence cars are linked to the grid, smoothing demand, and maximizing the use of renewables.
so this evening unstable and unusable amp. voltage AC 215-220V and I think this is my intermittent instability problem...only because at this low AC in the HT drops below 500 and this is what I have measured along with 400 or less on the AC after transformer in the HT. The voltage picked up a bit 222 V or so and the amp could be switched on and was nearly working - then you can hear the instability start. Could all be circumstantial I guess.
Maybe you should get one of these...
Prestige Series 240V | Furman Power | Purifying power for over 40 years.
Prestige Series 240V | Furman Power | Purifying power for over 40 years.
215 is out of tolerance for the UK. That is to low. It would be interesting to see how your incoming supply holds up under load. I could pull our mains down from its once nominal 240 to 245 volt all the way down to around 216 by heavily loading it. Four storage heater (total approx 12kW), an immersion heater, couple of radiators and it was starting to approach the nominal 24kW absolute max loading of a single phase supply fused at 100A.
48 hours with a chart recorder that showed the voltage plummet at midnight as the storage heaters were powered up had the then electricity board put several properties onto a much stiffer supply.
Is the amp the SP8? The PSU in that shows (curiously) that 210 to 250 is the accepted input range. I'm not sure I'd take that at face value without checking it first.
48 hours with a chart recorder that showed the voltage plummet at midnight as the storage heaters were powered up had the then electricity board put several properties onto a much stiffer supply.
Is the amp the SP8? The PSU in that shows (curiously) that 210 to 250 is the accepted input range. I'm not sure I'd take that at face value without checking it first.
I would get hold of your supplier tomorrow. Probably Eon or SSE do your area. It could be a loose connection in your service head or out in the road or even back at the transformer. Do your neighbors have problems? I am a sparky by trade and 215V is not normal. If it is a loose connection somewhere it needs sorting as it could be sat there glowing away quite nicely. Please do phone your supplier tomorrow.
Cheers
Matt.
Cheers
Matt.
As I in post #12 & post #20 and echoed now by Matt a UK Electrician --why haven't you done this yet --contacted your supplier ?
If I was still on a well known UK public help website I would personally take up your case with your supplier as you are certainly not alone in your complaint .
I have helped very many people in your situation when it came to domestic equipment and still get emails from my old website .
Action is called for you can be polite etc but you must impress on them you are paying for a utility service that has broken its contract with you by allowing a house supply voltage to fall below the legislative lower limit .
Who is your UK supplier I could even phone them (if needed ) to put the question to them if you have problems getting help from them ?
Complain about your gas or electricity bill or supplier | Ofgem
If I was still on a well known UK public help website I would personally take up your case with your supplier as you are certainly not alone in your complaint .
I have helped very many people in your situation when it came to domestic equipment and still get emails from my old website .
Action is called for you can be polite etc but you must impress on them you are paying for a utility service that has broken its contract with you by allowing a house supply voltage to fall below the legislative lower limit .
Who is your UK supplier I could even phone them (if needed ) to put the question to them if you have problems getting help from them ?
Complain about your gas or electricity bill or supplier | Ofgem
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Thanks Duncan
Tonescout, everything up to your meter and to some extent the tails to your distribution board are the distribution people's look out. It won't and should definitely not cost you a penny to get sorted. If it is a loose connection in your property somewhere after your meter and tails then it's for you to fix.
Is the voltage low at the closest socket you have to your distribution board? Also carefully and I mean be very careful as sometimes whoever installed the tails may leave some copper showing or even in one or two cases I have seen a single cooper wire out of the bundle bent back and sticking out. Feel with the back of your hand if either the concentric (generally these days) cable feeding your service head is hot or the tails too and from your meter.
Some modern smart meters have a contactor in them to remotely disconnect the supply. Don't get me started on that. Anyway if the meter feels hot it could be that.
All that said I would think it's a problem either in the road or at the sub station transformer. In which case your neighbors usually every third one will have a problem too. 3 phase is distributed alternately to each house.
Cheers
Matt.
Tonescout, everything up to your meter and to some extent the tails to your distribution board are the distribution people's look out. It won't and should definitely not cost you a penny to get sorted. If it is a loose connection in your property somewhere after your meter and tails then it's for you to fix.
Is the voltage low at the closest socket you have to your distribution board? Also carefully and I mean be very careful as sometimes whoever installed the tails may leave some copper showing or even in one or two cases I have seen a single cooper wire out of the bundle bent back and sticking out. Feel with the back of your hand if either the concentric (generally these days) cable feeding your service head is hot or the tails too and from your meter.
Some modern smart meters have a contactor in them to remotely disconnect the supply. Don't get me started on that. Anyway if the meter feels hot it could be that.
All that said I would think it's a problem either in the road or at the sub station transformer. In which case your neighbors usually every third one will have a problem too. 3 phase is distributed alternately to each house.
Cheers
Matt.
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