Line/Power conditioners

    I know this subject has been brought up here before but there were too many posts for me to skim through...


    My last gig I experienced some weird power issues. The venue was old and I'm pretty certain that it was wreaking havoc on my kemper. I've never had to run anything else before but now I'm thinking that maybe I should at least take a look into it.


    Here's what was happening and after testing my kemper back at home and a couple other places, I'm confident that it was the building's power that was doing this...


    My clean rigs were fine and sounded as they should. However, my high gain rigs changed. By changed I mean, they started to become clean and lost the dirt/distortion/gain. My heavy gain rhythm rigs were more like a blues type gain. My really high gain lead rigs went down to where it was hard to produce pinch harmonics.


    Do any of you guys use a line conditioner when playing live? If so, what do you use to keep a constant power source going. I have protection here at home but I'm mainly interested in road stories/suggestions.


    Thanks!

    A lot of people here use an uninterrupted power supply, which conditions the supplied voltage and also ensures that in case power goes for a second, the Kemper does not have to be rebooted.


    As far as the problem you experienced, it could have also been a faulty cable going into the Kemper. Sometimes I have to twist my really old cable around in order for it to send the full signal to the guitar. Otherwise it sounds like you described, i.e. losing gain.

    I use the ART Pro Power conditioner (SP4x4PRO), I would not play without one. Too many places have bad power. I fried a keyboard module once, now never leave to a gig without a power conditioner.

    Quote from nightlight

    A lot of people here use an uninterrupted power supply, which conditions the supplied voltage and also ensures that in case power goes for a second, the Kemper does not have to be rebooted.


    I am not sure about the correct English terminology, but only the most expensive UPS will condition voltage, since the connected device is powered by the UPS' battery (we call them "continuity groups" in Italy).
    The cheapest ones (called "intervention groups" here) just transfer the mains to the device and trigger the battery when voltage goes under a certain threshold. Those are the ones you usually find at the computer stores. They are basically useless for what Richard is after. So be sure you get one with conditioning abilities!


    OTOH, the possibility for the Profiler to go on working w\o rebooting when the mains drop for 1/10" is priceless IMO (even tho this has never happened to me in the venues where I usually play).


    In order to stay on the cheap side but with a 100% performance, the complete "prevention kit" would hence be a UPS followed by a filter (since most UPS produce a very dirty sinusoid voltage) like this one:



    [Blocked Image: http://www.audiocostruzioni.com/r_s/accessori/monster-cable-hts1000/monster%20cable%20hts1000.jpg]


    The expensive side of things would be a complete, integrated device or a proper "continuity group" (as described above). But the latter are quite heavy, too.


    HTH

    Quote from viabcroce

    So be sure you get one with conditioning abilities!


    The UPS I use is batterie puffered and works also as a power conditioner. 2 plugs are puffered and conditioned. 2 plug only conditioned. (peak and surge protecting)


    I will sell my grandmother for 70 Euro if this is not good enough for the Kemper. :D


    During a power fault the Kemper can run for a little while and there is an acoustic Alarm signal every 10 seconds. Plenty time to make a normal shut down of the Kemper.
    I tried now approx 5 minutes and will switch the voltage on again, because the Alarm sound is awefull. ;)

    Puffered? :D


    All the UPS are gifted with batteries, but only the most expensive feed the user (the connected device) with the batteries' energy all the time. The cheapest ones switch the battery on only when the mains voltage falls.

    Not necessary the battery has to feed the output the whole time. The switching time from net to batterie is very short. ( ms)


    You can try (I did) to switch off the Power (using the switch of the Power distribution plugs before the KPA) and immediately switch on. (this takes longer time than some halfwave)
    Only to sou see the light of the power distribution plug become dark, but the Kemper still run.
    Advice to all children, does not do that at home after ! ;)


    That means that the Kemper has a Power supply unit which can handle small failures (don't know the english expression) very good. I assume a condenser puffering or something like that.
    The Kemper do not need labor condition. Therefore I can offer my grandmother for a small price. :D

    http://www.amazon.com/APC-J25B…ner-Battery/dp/B003GSLL2E

    Quote from viabcroce


    I am not
    sure about the correct English terminology, but only the most expensive
    UPS will condition voltage, since the connected device is powered by
    the UPS' battery (we call them "continuity groups" in Italy).

    http://www.amazon.com/APC-J25B…ner-Battery/dp/B003GSLL2E


    http://www.amazon.com/APC-J25B…ner-Battery/dp/B003GSLL2E


    This costs about $200 and conditions power as well as provides battery backup. It is heavy though.

    I picked up a demo Furman PL-8C from Sweetwater a week and half ago. I figured since I was making a pretty decent investment into my KPA it was worth the extra expense, plus my home is very old and the wiring is not the newest . For me its about peace of mind. And the lights on the unit are pretty cool, too. 8o

    Quote from stratattack

    I picked up a demo Furman PL-8C from


    Nice and value gear.
    Please be aware, that in case of a voltage drop the Kemper can not shut down with normal shut down sequence.
    I remember that Kemper once stated here that he do not recommend a conditioner because the Kemper is built also to run in unhealthy electrical condition.
    For me it would be to expensive without a voltage puffer. Surely it makes the situation not worse. ;)
    For me I prefer conditioning and buffering.
    And it needs not to produce laboratory conditions.

    Quote from Sharry

    Not necessary the battery has to feed the output the whole time. The switching time from net to batterie is very short. ( ms)


    The Alarm sound is awefull


    I know Harry, I've been using such devices myself for years :)
    The point I was trying to make is that when you use an "intervention group" (see my previous post) you need a conditioner as well, which would be useless in case of a "continuity group" (ibidem). But those are quite expensive.


    PS: the alarm is what I hate of these units. Unfortunately, I've not been able to find a good one where you can exclude it :evil:


    :)




    Quote from nightlight

    This costs about $200 and conditions power as well as provides battery backup.


    Yep, this one seems good. If conditioning and filtering took place after the battery it would be perfect.
    And yes, batteries are (still) heavy... I'd not place such a device in a rack, unless I have a roadie :|


    Does anyone actually use this Monster HTS conditioner? I mean, it is specifically designed for home theaters, correct? Is it safe (and effective) to use it with the Kemper?? Cheers!