Power conditioner/ Power strip Question

[cheyenne]

Theres some conversation over at the Talkbass forum concerning whether or not you should plug your power amp into a power conditioner/power strip.

Here's a quote naming a furman power supply and a Stewart power amp.

If a Furman is rated at 15 amps and the amp itself is 20, then the Furman is essentially limiting the amp, no? This is what the folks at Stewart explained to me as to why I should never plug a power amp into one of the power strips. The amps have their own built-in protection. Granted, Stewart is a switching amp and the QSC is not.

Is this true? I've always ran all my stuff into a power conditioner. Should you or shouldnt you??????

[johnallg]

Scott, it would depend on how the conditioner works, what it is rated for, and what your amp draws. The folks at Stewart have it pretty well put.

What model Furman do you have? The DCM 1500 Carvin can draw 20A full load.

[atomic_punk]

My Furman saved my *** quite a few times when we had bad power or not enough power. I'd rather pop the fuse in that than blow my amp! Not to mention how clean it makes my rack with one "on" switch....AND mine has a built-in tuner! BOSS!

[johnallg]

Steve, you just pointed out all the good reasons to condition the power. With the abysmal wiring in most venues, power sagging and dimmer noise and hash, conditioners provide a lot of protection and cleaning of the power.

[whojamfan]

Happy with my power conditioners, as I too would rather it blow than the Amp and/or gear. Especially some of these places with dodgy power, and ya really never know untill you get there.

[cheyenne]

I wouldnt gig without one either. My old band played a nice "recently remodeled" VFW hall near hear a few years ago, and after setting up my rig and helping set up the drummers electronic drums, he hit the switch and BOOM!

It fried the Roland amp he was using for a monitor, and smoked my DOD power conditioner. BUT,, the Ampeg B2 that I was using at the time was spared. It was plugged directly into the DOD. It seems that the rewiring of the place was contracted to the VFW commanders nephew. (fresh out of high school). Luckily the PA and monitors were on a seperate circuit.

I can still smell that nasty burnt electronic smell.

I just found this information kind of interesting and thought I'd share. I had never heard talk of a power conditioner "limiting" an amp before.

[jps]

I always use one of these before plugging in to an unknown outlet.

[shamustwin]

What is that, Jeff and what will it tell you?

[blueflamerick]

That is a circuit tester. It tells you that an outlet is wired correctly or not.

[jps]

That is a circuit tester. It tells you that an outlet is wired correctly or not.

Not only that, but if you are playing in a bar this device zaps all the refrigerators and cash registers that are on the same circuit as the stage outlets, providing the band with a nice clean AC feed.

I wish! Really!!!