Power Conditioner Recommendation

[ReynaldoPena]

Hello Everyone,

I recently fell victim of power surge (I guess, idk), after my Pro Tools Carbon stopped working, see post (https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=422913).
Would I need a power conditioner? This is my current setup.

• 2020 iMac (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/G...ina-5K-display)
• an Xbox Series X (https://amzn.to/3vS2Psc)
• a PS5 (https://amzn.to/3VXyCmi)
• 2 Kali LP 6’s (https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...ECAQQEQ&adurl=)
• 64” LG TV (https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...ECAMQCw&adurl=)
• 140w iPhone charger (https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...ECAMQCw&adurl=)
• Shure 58a receiver (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...rophone-system)
• Lamp (https://www.ashleyfurniture.com/p/am...2/L243144.html)

I run all these electronic devices on these two power surge protectors.

1. Power Strip Surge Protector,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078YLFFXL...p_mob_ap_share

2. Yeatel 2 Prong Power Strip-10 AC... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F1ZFM9P...p_mob_ap_share

Is my theory correct about what happened to my Carbon? Should I use a Furman power conditioner instead? If so, any recommendations can help.

I’ll be taking my damaged Carbon to my neighborhood authorized Avid repair center tomorrow.

[albee1952]

I am no expert, but I suspect you would be better off moving to a UPS. Look at this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GRY1W93...356845-20&th=1
If that one is too pricey, maybe the next model down(1300?). Be judicious on what connects to it as you don't need your speakers on it(I have my speakers on their own power strip that plugs directly into the wall outlet). From my own experience, avoid CyberPower units as I was burned twice(once with a brand new replacement for the first unit that failed)

[Darryl Ramm]

Why bother with any of this if you don’t even have any repair report back on the box… that might or might not give some clue if you have power supply issues or what took out the box. With no extra information I suspect this is probably more likely to be just a failure of the Carbon. Things fail, what you are doing does not have to be the cause.

And while a UPS (and ideally a good sine wave regenerating UPS) is the next time escalation tier I would want that protecting the computer and everything connected directly to it, and maybe core LAN components not just the Carbon. Or I’d not bother… might not be justifiable at all to go that path.

[ReynaldoPena]

I called Furman and understood circuit breakers a bit more. While the power strips shown above are 15 amp, we found out that my apartment’s circuit breaker feeds 20 amp to my outlets at home . Furman recommended that I get a 20 amp voltage regulator like the P-2400 AR (https://amzn.to/3CDi509). I asked myself why not the PL-PRO C 20 (https://amzn.to/3vQcuzC). After doing some research, power conditioners work with what’s connecting to them while voltage regulators work with what they are connected to while also applying their infamous LiFT technology https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threa....201956/page-2.


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[Darryl Ramm]

Much of this stuff stuff is just a marketing scam, up there with hospital grade power outlets for audiophiles.

Such utter BS here. It makes no difference if you have a 20A circuit to your apartment or not. They are just upselling you more stuff. And you likely don't have a 20A circuit to the entire apartment, you have something like a 100A panel, a 20A fuse in that panel to the circuit you are using is not going to do much to stop the transients that are the supposed concern here. So why not size your power protection to the size of the panel? Or the local step down transformer feed? Or...

[ReynaldoPena]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Much of this stuff stuff is just a marketing scam, up there with hospital grade power outlets for audiophiles.

Such utter BS here. It makes no difference if you have a 20A circuit to your apartment or not. They are just upselling you more stuff. And you likely don't have a 20A circuit to the entire apartment, you have something like a 100A panel, a 20A fuse in that panel to the circuit you are using is not going to do much to stop the transients that are the supposed concern here. So why not size your power protection to the size of the panel? Or the local step down transformer feed? Or...

IMG_2866.jpg
This is what I have. If im correct, that clear top one says 125W.


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[smurfyou]

Do not assume it was a power hit unless you (or someone qualified) finds evidence of it. If the only symptom is the Carbon not turning on then you have no way of knowing.

Furman distribution is useful but not a magic bullet for power issues. First diagnose the Carbon issue. Then plan what you need.

[Darryl Ramm]

There won't be anything here rated in Watts.

I'm not sure of the layout of these subpanels and have no idea of this installation. Something this old may have something like 60A going to it.

But why does any of this matter? My point was only as far as transients are concerned they don't care if there is a 20A slow blow fuse in the circuit to your precious box and sizing some filter based on that fuse spec seems silly. I could see some belief you want a "bigger filter box" so it might be able to trip the fuse... but that is not how these work.

You are assuming the Carbon had a problem because of your electrical supply. You are assuming that better power filtering might have helped. You are assuming that the sales rep/support weenie you spoke to at Furman is telling you something useful. That's multiple assumptions, and you have not got back any info on what caused the failure. And you might never know... power supplies fail all the time. Lots of electronics fail all the time, especially early life-stage failures (look up bathtub failures). And a technician may never be able to tell if say a failure of the power supply was caused by a power spike or not... but lots of types of failures might show it likely was not a power spike cause.

If for any reason the power in your apartment is awful... and the old panel might mean it is, or other apartment use nearby or heavy equipment like elevators might cause problems then you should see if that can get that looked at and/or I'd get a UPS. Where my gear is the (>100 year old) house still has knob and tube wiring in places, other stuff upgraded to code during repairs/renovations. A new main panel earth stake sunk in. I've replaced breakers and cleaned stuff up. PG&E made repairs to feeder lines that were causing intermittent problems etc. Nothing is on a Furman or UPS, but we've had storm/flood related power outages here now for a few hours a couple of times in the last week so a UPS seems tempting... but the cost to get one that is useful is pretty high, and they can be fire hazards. I have been spoilt by high-end UPS systems used in data centers. Large capacity and wonderful technology if somebody else is paying.

[ReynaldoPena]

Got a brand new Carbon on clearance from Sam Ash and a used Furman P-2400 on eBay. May return the Furman cause I’ll admit, instead of shutting off the Carbon, last two nights of its life—I unplugged the power strip straight from the outlet without first shutting down the Carbon. According to what others say, this raises the chances for spikes
https://www.google.com/search?q=shou...&client=safari.

Only question is, will this come to use as I’ve been thinking about buying a guitar. I’ll need a lead and a classical for bachata but that’s neither here nor there so we’ll see.

[smurfyou]

You are overthinking this. Unplugging it does not cause spikes. In fact it removes the cause of any spikes, electricity.