One Horse Town
Joined: 04/04/09
Posts: 70
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Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
#1034735 - 22/02/13 07:53 PM
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I can see the advantage of not having power-strips on the floor but are these rack mount
units worth the money? I've also read comments saying that in the uk it's rare to
encounter the 'spikes' that manufacturers would have us all in fear of - true or false?
Any thoughts?
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Mike Stranks
active member
Joined: 03/01/03
Posts: 3058
Loc: Oxford, UK
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: One Horse Town]
#1034747 - 22/02/13 08:01 PM
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From the way you've written, I'm assuming you're in the UK... if nor ignore what follows!
 Simply put: you don't need power conditioners in the UK unless you're running off
some dodgy generator or something like that. But a rack-mounted distribution
system (excluding the conditioner) can offer a tidier semi-permanent means of distributing
mains to rack-mounted gear. That said, there are several here who have fastened a decent
"floor-board" into the back of their rack using cable-ties or some other means. Certainly
cheaper and meets exactly the same need.
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TheChorltonWheelie
Joined: 22/09/09
Posts: 867
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: One Horse Town]
#1034805 - 23/02/13 08:02 AM
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Quote One Horse Town:
I can see
the advantage of not having power-strips on the floor but are these rack mount units worth
the money? I've also read comments saying that in the uk it's rare to encounter the
'spikes' that manufacturers would have us all in fear of - true or false? Any thoughts?
As a PDU, the rack-mounted
strips are very useful, but for protecting you against brown-outs and spikes, no, they're
uncommon enough for you not to worry about.
However, I run a UPS in my rack,
albeit quite a small one, and that does protect me from people pulling the power out
(which does happen regularly), or if the circuit trips on stage due to over-load (which
definitely happens once or twice a year). My UPS gives me 2-3 minutes, which is enough for
the power to come back on, or enough for me to safely turn the kit off.
I put a
fused IEC chassis in my flight case, that's wired to the UPS, and then in turn the UPS
runs 2 * PDU's (into which all of the rack kit is connected). I also have a IEC chassis in
the flight case that can run external items, i.e. a gang socket, and that powers my laptop
and keyboard rig too.
The whole setup was about £150, including the UPS and
IEC chassis', and to be honest it has been worth every penny. Whilst the UK doesn't have
power surges like most countries, every stage/club/venue has an idiot that'll pull
out/trip over the power socket! :-)
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DGL.
Joined: 28/10/11
Posts: 239
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: TheChorltonWheelie]
#1034806 - 23/02/13 08:34 AM
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also if you own a digital mixer the advice from ALL manufacturers is get a UPS.
Digital mixers don't generally handle any kind of power faults too well.
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chris...
active member
Joined: 12/03/03
Posts: 4152
Loc: Glasgow
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: DGL.]
#1034837 - 23/02/13 01:46 PM
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My 01V happily comes back up to exactly where it was 
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Hugh Robjohns
SOS Technical Editor
Joined: 25/07/03
Posts: 18364
Loc: Worcestershire
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: chris...]
#1034839 - 23/02/13 02:04 PM
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But only after an embarrassingly long silence, and a few loud pops and bangs!
-------------------- Technical Editor, Sound On Sound
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Exalted Wombat
Joined: 06/02/10
Posts: 4200
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: Hugh Robjohns]
#1034846 - 23/02/13 03:10 PM
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Quote Hugh Robjohns:
But only
after an embarrassingly long silence, and a few loud pops and bangs!
It's only a computer of course. How
often does yours reset due to a power glitch? That's how much you need a UPS. (And a
power conditioner isn't a UPS.)
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One Horse Town
Joined: 04/04/09
Posts: 70
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Re: Rackmount Power Conditioners - are they worth it?
[Re: TheChorltonWheelie]
#1034900 - 23/02/13 08:13 PM
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Chotlton Wheelie
"I put a fused IEC chassis in my flight case, that's wired
to the UPS, and then in turn the UPS runs 2 * PDU's (into which all of the rack kit is
connected). I also have a IEC chassis in the flight case that can run external items, i.e.
a gang socket, and that powers my laptop and keyboard rig too."
Can you
recommend a specific UPS and IEC chassis? My knowledge of electrical stuff is limited.
One other thing - my gear is as follows: Yamaha dsr118 sub - 2xdsr112 tops - stage
piano+3modules and effects. Total wattage is approx 450 watts - some ups units I've
looked at only quote 260 watts output. As I said I'm not an expert on this stuff so can
someone put me right?
Thanks for your original comment.
Edited by One Horse Town (23/02/13 08:30 PM)
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