Your power sources - stabilizers, ups, inverters for hifi systems and TV

Donivlapog

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Hi all,

Could you tell me what you have connected as stabilizer or ups/inverter enroute the AVR, hifi other devices and tv.
 
Hi all,

Could you tell me what you have connected as stabilizer or ups/inverter enroute the AVR, hifi other devices and tv.
All AV Gears/Computers/Network Equipment are connected to individual Offline UPS (switching time around 5ms, 600 KVA); I couldn't go with OnLine UPS due to Noise Consideration.
 
Nothing. Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation ( CESC) is leagues better than almost all other electric service providers in the country. ;)
That’s really good to hear.
I remember the times when the words “load shedding“ was among the first words young children learnt :)
Hope the quality of power supplied is also good.
 
That’s really good to hear.
I remember the times when the words “load shedding“ was among the first words young children learnt :)
Hope the quality of power supplied is also good.
In my locality, there is roughly 2-3 load shedding in a year on average. CESC has improved the supply by leaps and bounds. I have not heard anyone having a CESC connection complaining any electrical equipment going kaput for voltage fluctuations in the past few years. Key is to have a good earthing. But it's the mess of wires by cable operators which is a concern and the mess contributes to those 2-3 yearly outages.
But, yes better be safe than sorry as THOR doesn't work for CESC! I have used nothing till now but I am contemplating a basic safeguard mechanism now.
 
That’s really good to hear.
I remember the times when the words “load shedding“ was among the first words young children learnt :)
Hope the quality of power supplied is also good.
Those days are long gone(late eighties to mid nineties ). :)
As far as voltage spikes and other electrical nasties ( RF, EMI etc ) are concerned I spoke with several experienced DIY-ers in Kolkata including the septuagenarian gentleman who designed my Dynaco Pas3 preamp , none of them thought those were any concern for houses powered by CESC. Music and related electronics have been a hobby in our house since at least 40 years , I don’t remember any mishap caused due to any supply line at least.
Of course quality of house wiring and proper grounding is the responsibility of the owner and not a concern of supply provider. That’s separate matter.

PS : I use Belkin surge protector strips only for convenience since I need 9 plugs , and I have 2 power outlets.
 
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Don't use anything for the AV system, UPS for PC. The other problem with power protection devices is that they may have limited power capacity. Are there any such power protection devices that can deliver 16A continuous at 230V~?
 
Could you tell me what you have connected as stabilizer or ups/inverter enroute the AVR, hifi other devices and tv.

UPS for the projector, audio processor and video processor: https://apc.estorewale.com/product/srv2kl-in/; Three minutes of backup at full load, allowing for proper shutdown when there's an outage. We do have generator backup in our apartment complex, but that takes about 10 seconds to kick in. So, unless the generator backup fails, the three minute UPS backup is a theoretical limit rather than a real-world one. HST, I do turn everything off if we're in the middle of a movie as I don't run the projector without air conditioning.

Everything goes through Furman power conditioners. While they were originally installed for protection, it became quickly clear afterwards that there was an issue with the quality of our mains power supply. I'm generally skeptical of purported transformative improvements from stuff such as power, cables and the like and stay away from them, but the difference wasn't subtle in my setup after adding the Furman. As always, YMMV.
 
Where I stay now, has very bad power supply. Voltage highly fluctuates from 130V to 220V. Also has high neutral to ground voltage. Also, this area is prone to lightening during beginning monsoon and end of rainy season. I lost

TV and Firestick is connected to an online UPS. Other devices are direct. No expensive audio gears.
I have ordered a mainline voltage stabilizer and a RCCB with surge protection device which will arrive next week. Though it's not the ideal situation, hope it helps to reduce damages to the electrical devices.
 
My APC double conversion UPS stopped working (burnt smell) a few months ago.
I suspect a voltage spike.
Still trying to figure out where to get it repaired in Bangalore as local experts are unable to source replacement parts.

Does anyone know if there are any stated minimum standards of service for state or corporation run electricity boards in India?
The GoI has this: https://powermin.gov.in/en/content/national-electricity-policy

If there are no commitments to minimum standards then we just pay for poor quality services and remain grateful that we get any power at all.
Currently (hope I am mistaken) no one is accountable for voltage spikes that damage expensive equipment.
We have no idea of the scale or cumulative cost of such damages as this data is not collected by anyone.
My guess is this will be high.
 
An excerpt from the linked document above:

“Further from the discussion in Chapter-4, it was observed that PQ problems in distribution system are not yet studied extensively by the Utilities. There is either none or only few power quality parameters specified in the Regulations of State Commissions.

Further the prescribed limits for the parameters which are specified are varying across different States. Also the standards specified by different State Regulators exhibits different level of efficiency. Moreover monitoring, management and control of power quality parameters, incentive/disincentive mechanism are not widely covered with clearly defined framework in place by the State Regulators.

Few of the power quality parameters are covered by some States in different Regulations such as Supply Code or Standards of performance. With increasing penetration of renewable energy, electronic equipment, non-linear loads, data centres and industries running on adjustable speed drives etc. there is a need of emphasizing separate Regulations covering exhaustively all parameters of power quality with a clear incentive/disincentive mechanism to ensure compliance of specified parameters.

The separate Regulations on power quality - shall ensure the effective monitoring and compliance.”
 
The impressive report concludes saying:

“The Sub-Group suggests that the regulatory framework should introduce the compliance audit of PQ parameters by Independent agency.

The power quality parameters should be published for awareness of the public and also ensures the stakeholders engagement through feedback system.

The distribution company shall carry out 100% audit by itself once a year and 5% random audit by the independent agency and shall file the audit report along with ARR truing up petition.”

Hope this is implemented. The report is from 2018. Mists of time are approaching…
 
Hi all,

Could you tell me what you have connected as stabilizer or ups/inverter enroute the AVR, hifi other devices and tv.

3 KVA pure sine wave online ups connected to living room for stereo (transport + dac + amp), and bedroom for HT (projector + bdp + Xbox + avr).
Transition during power cuts is seamless, and I only need a few minutes backup as the building has a generator that kicks in.
The ups is a bit noisy and is located on the floor above.
 
6kva for whole house supply.
Fortunately the utility supply is fairly consistent and voltage fluctuations are rare nowadays. (I have in fact two inverter system - 10kw solar inverter which is net metered. And the 6kva inverter with battery stacks.) I have a fair system of grounds and lighting strike protection….and ample MCBs, RCBs, RCCBS. SPDs. My power backups last for whole 1 day.

(2 years back, our locality had a huge voltage surge. My main SPDs got fried (the solar invereter). Non of my devices got affected…..my always on PCs, routers and NAS.)

I use a simple belkin surge protector.
 
I use a 4kva stabilizer for av equipment. In Maharashtra the voltage is always above 240v. Hence it is a must. I avoid ups to avoid harmonics screwing up the sound. I use ups only for my htpc and raspberry pi/allo devices.

EDIT:
My music room is fed by two 4kva stabilzer. Output of one goes to an UPS. This stabilizer protects the UPS. The output of this UPS goes only to raspberry pi/allo and HTPC.
The output of the other stabilizer goes to a high voltage cutout before feeding all my av equipment (TV, amplifiers, preamps, etc).
 
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