Surge protector

Gassage

If you google Olson Electronics in UK then they have so many options it's untrue and very cheap. Pete Cornish uses them in his rigs. I have one and it's brilliant. Even measures the current on an LED dial..

hotpickups

Yep they look pretty comprehensive but so many options I really don't know which one to go for. Also no prices which is always worrying

Rocker

Getting electrocuted is not such a good idea my friend. A few quid spent on basic test equipment, such as what @ICBM suggested, could make all the difference. I am an electrician. I know what electricity can do.

Gassage

hotpickups said:

Yep they look pretty comprehensive but so many options I really don't know which one to go for. Also no prices which is always worrying

Give them a call- they're really helpful

hotpickups

I plan to first thing @Gassage. Thanks again

Gassage;400493" said:

hotpickups said:

Yep they look pretty comprehensive but so many options I really don't know which one to go for. Also no prices which is always worrying





Give them a call- they're really helpful

ecc83

Voxman said:

ecc83;399886" said:

Not needed for decent kit IMO.Certainly not in UK anyway.Dave.

Not true. Firstly, digital gear is more susceptible to power surges and 'dirty' electricity. Secondly, the quality of electricity and wiring safety can vary enormously at venues when gigging or rehearsing and impact on both gear safety and performance even with conventional valve amps. A surge protector with filtering both protects and reduces or elliminates mains noise.

This question comes up regularly over at soundonsound.com where there are some very experienced PA  and location guys and the general opinion is surge protectors are not needed on decent gear neither are so called "conditioners" which can in fact feed crap into a local earth path.

Dave.

Voxman

I use the Belkin Gold mainly with my Vox Tonelab and Valvetronix amp which are digital and more at risk from surges and more sensitive to mains noise. The Belkin definitely helps reduce or eliminate noise and gives me peace of mind that this type of gear is protected from surges. I use one with my computer too...and digital gear is not dissimilar.

There is arguably less of an issue with a straight all valve amp. But this is all a matter of choice and opinion. With my gear I prefer to err on the side of caution. YMMV.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

hotpickups said:

I'm pretty sure the venue would be ok for that. Not really wanting to buy a tester for venues wiring ideally. So are you saying @ICBM that a straight forward surge protector like the one mentioned would be good if all the above is ok etc?

To protect against minor power surges and spikes, yes. Probably not necessary, but it wont do any harm.

A tester is under a fiver though. Also probably not necessary, but if you're even aware that you should think about this sort of thing and not just plug in and trust the wiring, it really is worth having one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ced+plug+in+socket+tester&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=23543929952&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7944053056436869339&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1nqi80ucqg_b

Just out of interest, is there any point in having RCD on your adaptors for home use? I think most homes have RCD anyway (we have a fuse box in the garage with trip switches on it which I assume are RCD), but I figure a bit of extra safety (especially considering how well-built our house is ) ) wouldn't hurt. (I also realise, as you said above, that RCD doesn't eliminate all risk.)

Also, is this socket tester the same thing? http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/mains-socket-tester-wd53h There's been a lot of talk (at least on wikipedia) about fake electrical stuff being sold on amazon and ebay, and I didn't find any on amazon which were being sold by Amazon (which I assume, maybe naively, would be less likely to be fake).

ICBM

If the consumer distribution box has RCD trips there is no advantage to extra ones.

The consumer unit ones are extremely sensitive, I've tripped the one for my workshop a couple of times by accidentally shorting something when working with the amp plugged in but switched off at the wall - which I do on purpose sometimes to keep it earthed - which means that it's tripping from whatever tiny voltage is present on the neutral.

The Maplin socket tester does the same job as the one I posted, which was only because it was the cheapest I could find on a quick search! Unlikely to be dodgy even if cheap, really. If it works at all there's really nothing that can be wrong with it, all they are is three neons connected between the live, neutral and earth. If the ones between the live and the other two pins light and the one between the neutral and earth doesn't, the socket is wired correctly.

Dave_Mc

Thanks

Yeah our trips blow all the time. The stupid lights in our living room and hall are always blowing it (they're those sprays with several small lights, I think they're prone to overheating and blowing ) ).

hotpickups

Gassage said:

If you google Olson Electronics in UK then they have so many options it's untrue and very cheap. Pete Cornish uses them in his rigs. I have one and it's brilliant. Even measures the current on an LED dial..

Wow! Just been quoted £146 for a 6 plug surge protector from Olson. I know it's like buying a motorcycle helmet scenario i.e. how much you value your head but £146? The Belkin it is then

ecc83

Dave_Mc said:

Thanks

Yeah our trips blow all the time. The stupid lights in our living room and hall are always blowing it (they're those sprays with several small lights, I think they're prone to overheating and blowing ) ).

Have you checked your average incoming mains voltage? (if you know how to do so safely!) .

"Our" last but one workshop was at an average of 254volts! If you put two 500va  Variacs on at the same time a 32A breaker was likely to trip.

The utility companies are only checking the sub taps as and when work needs doing.

Dave.

Voxman

Make sure its the Belkin GOLD. 

hotpickups

Voxman said:

Make sure its the Belkin GOLD. 

I can't see any 'GOLD' mentioned in the product title @Voxman ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Surge-Master-8-Way-Protection/dp/B00009RIP8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414937410&sr=8-2&keywords=belkin+surgemaster+8+way+surge+protector

Dave_Mc

ecc83 said:

Dave_Mc said:

Thanks

Yeah our trips blow all the time. The stupid lights in our living room and hall are always blowing it (they're those sprays with several small lights, I think they're prone to overheating and blowing ) ).

Have you checked your average incoming mains voltage? (if you know how to do so safely!) .

"Our" last but one workshop was at an average of 254volts! If you put two 500va  Variacs on at the same time a 32A breaker was likely to trip.

The utility companies are only checking the sub taps as and when work needs doing.

Dave.

Thanks. I don't know how to do that ) We had an electrician in a couple of times and he seemed to think it was just the lights' design (or the light holder, I suppose), but I have no idea if he checked our mains voltage...

Our normal lights don't blow any more than you'd expect, I'm guessing they'd be blowing too if there was a problem with the mains voltage?