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I live in the mid atlantic area and the temperatures have been in the 100s for the last few weeks. My audio system has not sounded up to par lately so I checked the bias on the tubes of my amps (VTL 300s). The bias was very low on all the tubes (each tube is biased individually). I adjusted it back up to normal and the sound was improved. The next morning when it was cooler I rechecked the bias and now it was high. I assumed that the local power company had decreased the line voltage due to the high power needs in relation to the heat and then increased it back to normal in the cool of morning. If this is the future then I am going to need some sort of power regulator before the amps. Comments.
Follow Ups:
My line voltage here in SoCal DOES sag on the very hottest days when AC use in the SouthLand is at maximum. I don't know if the power company 'turns down' the voltage or if it is a simple matter of physics.
I monitor using a Kill-A-Watt meter. (maybe 25$, these days)
When the line voltage drops to 115v, I start shutting stuff down.....computer, stereo and TV are 1st. AC gets set up a few degrees and I try to minimze refrigerator openings.
Too much is never enough
always a good idea to have a voltage stabilizer when running tube amps. my tubes don't drift at all.
.......GRAY OUT.......
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
The geo-political implications of climate change aside, I noticed on a very hot day here in Chicago recently that my Lenco turntable sounded a bit off, which I'd never heard before. Two days after this, the pole-mounted transformer outside my house failed, and after ComEd replaced it, all seems well again.
The thought did occur to me that some of sort of regulated supply might be in order if this we see many more summers like this.
"I noticed on a very hot day here in Chicago recently that my Lenco turntable sounded a bit off, which I'd never heard before. Two days after this, the pole-mounted transformer outside my house failed, and after ComEd replaced it, all seems well again. "
Taking your story at face value, fear not. In any case, what do you mean by "a bit off"? Was it a 24 bit table but sounded like a 23 bit table? lol
Anyway, ya gotta love government management. They take our tax dollars for infrastructure maintenance EVERY year, and then tell us that they need to have a NEW special fund to spend ANOTHER NEW 800 billion dollars for infrastructure maintenance - you know - roads and bridges and shovel-ready jobs. WTF? How long have they been neglecting these things?!!! I ask that rhetorically. I seriously can't ever vote for another Democrat or another government career employee ever again.
Don't even get me started on "jobs vs projects". I've had jobs, and I've had projects, and I'm well aware of the difference. What the Dems and Obama want are projects, primarily to funnel money into unionized labor, which kicks back a portion of that money to the Democrat Party. Hopefully, you didn't hear it here first.
by 'a bit off' I meant speed stability, which is usually rock solid.
I'll ignore the rest of your post, which is the usual right-wing drivel.
I know... I was making a joke. A "bit" off - get it? Hilarious stuff. Anyway... Yeah, those pole-mounted transformers can be hidden problems that don't show themselves until they fail completely. You happened to be the guy who was paying attention and thought something wasn't right. I wonder if your neighbors were unaware of the impending doom. They probably don't have Lenco turntables. (btw, I had a Lenco back in the mid-70s. Nice TT.) Over the years, I've heard more than one destroy itself - boom, and it's all over, usually in hot weather. Did your's do that?
btw, I made a huge mistake in my earlier post: The government doesn't maintain the electric utility infrastructure, the utility company does - as you said, in this case ComEd. But the government (at various levels - mostly city, county, state, some Federal) IS charged with maintaining roads and bridges and schools, and overall they do a piss-poor job of it, and then come along and want even MORE money to fix the mess they made. A good friend lives in the Chicago area and worked (recently retired) for a branch of the State. She told me a year or two ago, quote "The State of Illinois is broke". And don't even get me started on how Chicago has decayed under the decades of corrupt Democrat machine control. Maybe more Illinoians should listen to more "right-wing drivel". :)
Nope, my Lenco is fine. My Squeezebox didn't take to kindly to the outage, though, and I ended up having to reset it to factory settings.
My Lenco is connected to a TrippLite LC 1200, but apparently even that can only do so much.
"Nope, my Lenco is fine."
I knew my question about "did that happen to your's" was a bit unclear. I was asking about the transformer, not the Lenco - which I'm happy to hear is fine.
Oh, I don't know what happened to the transformer, I didn't hear anything that sounded like an explosion, but I was inside at the time the lights went out.
ComEd was on the scene pretty fast to replace it.
would have to run off of a solar panel ;-)
Upgrade to the latest VTL 450 it has auto bias, end of worries.
As others have said, voltage can sag during high demand times. A regenerater will solve that problem. There are several brands to choose from, get one that will be large enough for your amps.
Jack
or just a heat wave? Don't panic.....
Oz
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
I've noticed that temperatures in the northern hemisphere have been rising for several months. Another six months of this, and we'll be in deep doo-doo. I suggest that observers in the southern hemisphere begin monitoring their temperatures asap, and report their findings after 90 days.
The odds of that occurring by simple chance are fantastically small: 3.7 x 10-99.Climate change: it's real, it's here, and it's turning out to be moving faster than expected. We ignore it at our (and especially our children's) peril. See William McKibben's article in the recent Rolling Stone.
Edits: 07/31/12
Political differences aside; might as well recognize it. I always feel guilty when I turn on my tube amp. My amp mirrors my unease though by not always turning on ;-)I have to admit that the 'science' behind global warming -- synonymous with 'climate science' nowadays (we only have ONE climate) -- is quite spectacular, and rivals our ability to map the Universe, probably the two areas of science that are the most exciting right now.
[I left out the biological sciences and solid state stuff. Well, we all have our biases ;-)]
Edits: 08/01/12
"I always feel guilty when I turn on my tube amp."
Why? Have the left-wing environmentalists gotten into your head? That's part of the campaign - make people feel guilty about their behaviors and choices.
Light up the tubes, run the air conditioning, and have more fun than a human being should be allowed to have!
:)
What is the correct temperature for the earth?
If I lived in Oklahoma, I would be scouting out locations by now ;-)Hear that Senator Inhofe!
Edits: 08/02/12
Here in Texas it was in the 70s in March/April, now in July it's 100 degrees.
At this rate it will be 1 million by Christmas and we'll all be running Class D.
NOAA data
Stockholm broke an 84 year old record in June for the lowest temperature.
While flying to Colorado recently, I sat next to an astronomer from France. She says their weather has been particularly cold and rainy.
On the other hand the last winter in the UK was the warmest for 300 years and the driest since 1888 when precipitation records began.
Since the winter temperatures were higher above average than they are below now we still have a net warming over all.
I'm still trying to figure out how the temp. was measured 300 years ago. Or 100 years ago. Or 3000
Scientists had amazingly accurate thermometers back then of course.
I went to Orchard Supply Hardware last weekend to shop for a thermometer. Lots of choices, then I started looking at the temp readings, almost every one was different.
How accurate are the temps Big Al's been feeding us? Tree rings and trapped gases are giving us actual, accurate temps??
But we do know there was an ice age fairly recently, it's definitely hotter since then, we're still here, the ocean hasn't swallowed us....yet!
Sure is a nice warm day in the bay area :-)
.
… in the medium to long term.
Everything else is merely anecdotal and of no particular consequence, except for the locals.
Bingo. Most people confuse "weather" with "climate". They think that if we have a run of 20-30 years of relatively warm weather that the climate IS changing. The man-made global warming crowd is happy to feed on this misunderstanding. There's a lot of money to be made by it, in a variety of areas, from research grants and government subsidies for so-called "green" initiatives, to carbon credits trading and non-profit orgs funding. (Not to forget all the cool conventions they have in places like Bali, Cauncun, Copenhagen, etc., all without the attendees having to spend one dime of their own money.A big part of the problem is that liberals just eat this stuff up, and don't even bother to seek out and study opposing research, consider other reasons for increased temperatures, or even think for themselves, they blindly follow along with the narrative.
Have a wonderful day. It's going to be 107 here today. :(
:)
Edits: 08/01/12
There is a LOT more money to be made by denying it.
Many billions of $ more.
Also 20-30 years is one generation and thus counts easily as climate change.
You mean that the sky isn't really falling? ;-)
Actually, every day, small pieces of the sky fall to Earth in the form of meteors.
That's why I always wear a helmut.
:)
I wear one made of tinfoil ;-)
.
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
Could be global warming or maybe it's just a warm summer and the problem will solve itself in the fall . :^)
When high demand is in effect, all the lines and transformers and such get stressed.
The problem may be local in your area stepdown transformer, in your home, or at the substation.
With tubs, Yeah, I would just not use them with a partial brownout..
Otherwise A Monster AVS2000 Voltage regulator will do the ju=ob. it has a huge device inside to keep the votage at standard voltage.
I used to own one, but really never needed it.Now I use Ps Audio P600 and a Furman REF20i for my power requirements.
For "global warming" in general, Class "A" and or Tubes tend to be regressive.
Though I should talk as I leave my stuff on 24/7
Edits: 07/29/12
"For "global warming" in general, Class "A" and or Tubes tend to be regressive."
True, but do you have any idea what a tiny drop in the ocean of electricity usage the reduction of residential power usage would be? (That was NOT a well-constructed sentence!) The answer to inadequate electricity supply is to expand and improve our electricity sources.
Let the tubes glow! :)
During heat waves, everyone with air conditioning runs it, and the power companies struggle to keep up with the demand. Thus, the voltage sags. Another option for constant voltage are the regenerative power conditioners from PurePower (www.purepoweraps.com/). There are other solutions as well. Wolcott tube amps go through an auto bias every time they are switched on.
"I assumed that the local power company had decreased the line voltage due to the high power needs in relation to the heat and then increased it back to normal in the cool of morning. If this is the future then I am going to need some sort of power regulator before the amps. Comments."
I'd suggest you get a line voltage meter, just to find out if your presumption is correct. Especially if the line voltage tends to fluctuate, and you need to watch it closely.
I've gotten around this by using Tripp Lite voltage regulators on the source and line stage...... I recommend only the older versions of these products (like the one linked- I use these), the newer versions degrade sonics.
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