I've been reading up on "Topaz Ultra Isolator" isolation transformers, here and on other forums. People seem to generally have a good opinion of them - they're said to be quiet, and they have good rejection of common mode and some differential mode noise. Also, they can be had for pretty cheap on eBay and at surplus electronics stores.
My question is about the power plug I see on most photos of these units. Take this one for example:
Source: eBay link
The connectors for what gets plugged into the transformer look normal to me, but they might be special too. The connector that gets plugged into the wall is new to me. I've seen such connectors before, on high power / industrial equipment. And that's obviously what this is designed for. But the outlet on my wall won't accept this connector, obviously.
My question - is there any reason why I can't buy a unit like this, replace the plug with a "normal" (I don't know the names of the different connectors, it's the one that comes at the other end of an IEC cable) connector, and use it to power my stereo? My amps put together produce less than 50W of power, so I won't be drawing a lot of current from this unit. In fact I'd probably buy a ~ 1kVA unit, 2.4kVA means I'd be using it way below rated draw so I'm not sure what the regulation will be like.
Anyway, that's my question. Thanks in advance for any advice. Also, if you think that this isn't a good idea and there's some better way to remove noise from the AC coming into my system, I'd love to hear that. I've also read that these uints can be wired for balanced output with the kVA rating reduced to half, so that's something to explore as well if that's true.
Thanks,
Saurav
My question is about the power plug I see on most photos of these units. Take this one for example:
Source: eBay link
The connectors for what gets plugged into the transformer look normal to me, but they might be special too. The connector that gets plugged into the wall is new to me. I've seen such connectors before, on high power / industrial equipment. And that's obviously what this is designed for. But the outlet on my wall won't accept this connector, obviously.
My question - is there any reason why I can't buy a unit like this, replace the plug with a "normal" (I don't know the names of the different connectors, it's the one that comes at the other end of an IEC cable) connector, and use it to power my stereo? My amps put together produce less than 50W of power, so I won't be drawing a lot of current from this unit. In fact I'd probably buy a ~ 1kVA unit, 2.4kVA means I'd be using it way below rated draw so I'm not sure what the regulation will be like.
Anyway, that's my question. Thanks in advance for any advice. Also, if you think that this isn't a good idea and there's some better way to remove noise from the AC coming into my system, I'd love to hear that. I've also read that these uints can be wired for balanced output with the kVA rating reduced to half, so that's something to explore as well if that's true.
Thanks,
Saurav
ah ok. if its a 120v/60hz unit, you will be fine changing the plug.
the name for it would simply be an AC connector. i guess technically you could call it a 120v/15A three prong ac connector.
the twist-lock plugs lock into place and cant be removed by tripping over them, tugging at them, etc... they stay in place unless you press in and twist. they are for safety issues, or for things you dont want to ever go off.
i had a topaz before. it worked well. it was heavy and ugly though
the name for it would simply be an AC connector. i guess technically you could call it a 120v/15A three prong ac connector.
the twist-lock plugs lock into place and cant be removed by tripping over them, tugging at them, etc... they stay in place unless you press in and twist. they are for safety issues, or for things you dont want to ever go off.
i had a topaz before. it worked well. it was heavy and ugly though
i think mine was only a 600va or so. i used it for my cd player and tv i think.
it had a SLIGHT hum to it, just like a mechanical buzz from the xformer. it wasnt anything to be worried about really. with any music on, you couldnt hear it. only when it was the dead of night and completely silent could you just hear that "something" was on.
it had a SLIGHT hum to it, just like a mechanical buzz from the xformer. it wasnt anything to be worried about really. with any music on, you couldnt hear it. only when it was the dead of night and completely silent could you just hear that "something" was on.
Thanks a lot.
I think I'll try an isolation transformer or something similar. I don't really want to DIY this, even though most of the rest of my system is DIY, because I'm a little paranoid about power (which IMO isn't a bad thing). The commercial all-out balanced power solutions with full blown filtering and surge suppression are outside my budget, so I want to try this out piece by piece. And one reasonable approach seems to be to get a large isolation transformer, and then get power strips that have EMI/RFI filtering and/or surge suppression, like something from Tripp-Lite. For that matter, Tripp-Lite makes surge suppressors too.
So that's my thinking at this point. If you have any advice or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Saurav
I think I'll try an isolation transformer or something similar. I don't really want to DIY this, even though most of the rest of my system is DIY, because I'm a little paranoid about power (which IMO isn't a bad thing
). The commercial all-out balanced power solutions with full blown filtering and surge suppression are outside my budget, so I want to try this out piece by piece. And one reasonable approach seems to be to get a large isolation transformer, and then get power strips that have EMI/RFI filtering and/or surge suppression, like something from Tripp-Lite. For that matter, Tripp-Lite makes surge suppressors too.So that's my thinking at this point. If you have any advice or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Saurav
a guy in another forum built a diy balanced power thingie. it had a 800va rating, balanced transformer, each outlet had its own filter, and hospital plugs. he lives near me, so i borrowed it. it did nothing on my system.
i have had the topaz and dual monster hts5100's on my system, and both made a pretty noticable improvement. i dont understand really how balanced power helps, but it didnt do it for me. it was a direct ripoff of a BPT unit.
i would try the topaz (as you mentioned, you can get them CHEAP, just watch out for shipping costs, yikes). if that doesnt do it, goto a local shop, see if you can loan out one of their "higher end" power units.
i have had the topaz and dual monster hts5100's on my system, and both made a pretty noticable improvement. i dont understand really how balanced power helps, but it didnt do it for me. it was a direct ripoff of a BPT unit.
i would try the topaz (as you mentioned, you can get them CHEAP, just watch out for shipping costs, yikes). if that doesnt do it, goto a local shop, see if you can loan out one of their "higher end" power units.
i can see why, its dangerous stuff.
however, not too much worse than a high-powered amp! i just got done building my filtered power cords (as seen on my site) and i was so worried before i plugged them in! i waited like two days and rechecked everything before i put them on anything.
its always a humbling moment when you go to plug in something you just built...
however, not too much worse than a high-powered amp! i just got done building my filtered power cords (as seen on my site) and i was so worried before i plugged them in! i waited like two days and rechecked everything before i put them on anything.
its always a humbling moment when you go to plug in something you just built...
I've read that elsewhere too. It might make sense to go straight to a ~ 2kVA unit if I want to do that. I was initially thinking of only putting my audio system on it, but my subwoofer is shared with the HT gear, so I guess it's kinda pointless to put some gear behind an isolation transformer if there is one shared ground path that's not isolated. Or I could unplug the sub from the HT stuff.
Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for the reminder.
"You can buy a topaz, and hook it up to supply balanced power. If you do, you will only get 1/2 of it's rated output."
Most of the Topaz (or other ultra isolation) transformers I have seen do not have tapped secondaries. I'm not sure how you are creating a balanced (center tapped) secondary. A little explanation would help.
You can force an AC balance with a pair of closely matched caps on the output. The center will be the common connection that you would tie to ground. If the caps are well matched and 5 to 10 uF you will probably get a better balance and definately lower noise that you would any other way.
The current consumption of the caps will be essentially free because its pure reactive. Be sure to fuse the system, so a shorted cap (the usual failure mecanism) won't kill your power. Or you can use X caps but they have a higher ESR.
However with an ultra isolation transformer the balanced story doesn't really help. You start with less than .001 pF coupling from in to out. Adding any connections to ground will degrade this and you end up with more noise.
(Some real trivia: the 3 prong parallel blade connector is technically known as a NEMA 5-15P. However no one calls it that, and asking for one at Home Depot will get you a blank stare.)
-Demian
Most of the Topaz (or other ultra isolation) transformers I have seen do not have tapped secondaries. I'm not sure how you are creating a balanced (center tapped) secondary. A little explanation would help.
You can force an AC balance with a pair of closely matched caps on the output. The center will be the common connection that you would tie to ground. If the caps are well matched and 5 to 10 uF you will probably get a better balance and definately lower noise that you would any other way.
The current consumption of the caps will be essentially free because its pure reactive. Be sure to fuse the system, so a shorted cap (the usual failure mecanism) won't kill your power. Or you can use X caps but they have a higher ESR.
However with an ultra isolation transformer the balanced story doesn't really help. You start with less than .001 pF coupling from in to out. Adding any connections to ground will degrade this and you end up with more noise.
(Some real trivia: the 3 prong parallel blade connector is technically known as a NEMA 5-15P. However no one calls it that, and asking for one at Home Depot will get you a blank stare.)
-Demian
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