power conditioners

[Hdale85]

I'd say no 50 bucks more pretty sure the APC is a great deal better. Most of those monster units are nothing more then overpriced paper weights if you ask me. I wouldn't spend 100 on it anyways.

[june]

APC

http://store.audioholics.com/product/717/66232/apc-av-h15-1-5kva-h-type-power-conditioner---silver

BELKINS

http://www.buy.com/prod/belkin-pureav-pf31-home-theater-power-console-5605j-belkin-pureav-pf31/q/loc/111/207514356.html

Help with my decision

[Hdale85]

Well personally unless you absolutely must have black, I'd go with the APC. The Belkin is nice though so if you got it you're not making a bad decision. Both are excellent units that have gotten great reviews.

[june]

hello all,

is the Rotel RLC-1040 made by ACP?

[Hdale85]

Yeah I've heard from several places that the protection and filtration systems in it were designed by APC. Obviously the chassis and what not was made by Rotel though.

[PewterTA]

I've seen the inside of the Rotel RLC-1040 and it's identical to the APC. Even the Chassis is very very similiar, basically the face plate is the only thing they changed and jacked up the price with it.

[june]

thanks peter & doug,

I just ordered the acp unit.

[Thirsty93]

Here are numbers with EVERYTHING running:
power-340VH
21%
V out-124vac
I out-2.7A
vin-124vac
Freg-60hz

[Glen B]

Are these numbers from the APC unit with voltage regulation ?

[Thirsty93]

Are these numbers from the APC unit with voltage regulation ?

Yea,these are the readings I'm getting with everything running.That is with a normal setting also.

[june]

hello all,

just recieved my acp unit. do you guy run your coaxial cable thru this unit also? will it help with comcast's signal? i'm from collegeville pa (philly suburbs)

[Thirsty93]

hello all,

just recieved my acp unit. do you guy run your coaxial cable thru this unit also? will it help with comcast's signal? i'm from collegeville pa (philly suburbs)

i do :T

[wkhanna]

I got mine on Tue. but currently have it torn down to paint it black (that way it will sound better). These things are built well, V heavy gage steel chassis, a nice size & well shielded torroidal transformer, quality looking connections and soldering along with what appear to be good quality components at the board level.

AFA using the cable and phone/modem filtering…..I would recommend taking advantage of it. It will provide some level of protection. I use theses same options that are on my M* HTS 3500 MkII, and will use them on the APC after it gets its 'make-over'.

BTW, when I had our cable hooked up the Comcast tech told me if I used the filter for my digital cable TV signal, it would most likely cause a problem and I wouldn’t get a clear signal.

!!!!!NOT!!!!!

I have used it from day one with nary a problem. Why risk ‘umty’ thousand volts going to your nice new 42” plasma?

[Thirsty93]

I got mine on Tue. but currently have it torn down to paint it black (that way it will sound better). These things are built well, V heavy gage steel chassis, a nice size & well shielded torroidal transformer, quality looking connections and soldering along with what appear to be good quality components at the board level.

AFA using the cable and phone/modem filtering…..I would recommend taking advantage of it. It will provide some level of protection. I use theses same options that are on my M* HTS 3500 MkII, and will use them on the APC after it gets its 'make-over'.

BTW, when I had our cable hooked up the Comcast tech told me if I used the filter for my digital cable TV signal, it would most likely cause a problem and I wouldn’t get a clear signal.

!!!!!NOT!!!!!

I have used it from day one with nary a problem. Why risk ‘umty’ thousand volts going to your nice new 42” plasma?

What happens if you have a problem with your unit and you have to send it back?

[Glen B]

Yea,these are the readings I'm getting with everything running.That is with a normal setting also.

In understood that the reading were with everything running. What I meant by me question was, is it the model with voltage regulation feature ? Why are you getting 124V output for 124V input ? A voltage regulator is supposed to output a rock steady 120V regardless of the input.

[wkhanna]

According to the manual, when set to the 'Narrow' band of voltage regulation, the output voltage is limited to a range of 120v +/- 5%, or 114v to 126v.

[wkhanna]

What happens if you have a problem with your unit and you have to send it back?

But once it is Black, I won't have a problem with it. :W

[Hdale85]

I think there is a way to change the power regulation settings but I haven't figured it out yet. It only regulates if the power gets way out of swing.

[wkhanna]

There are three optional settings for voltage regulation, the 'Narrow' function having the narrowest range of +/- 5%.

As I understand it, this is well within most equipment manufacturers requirements. Also, variations in frequency have a much greater influence on your equipment than voltage will. Again, I am no EE, but what I have read leads me to this assumption.

I would hope those with a more technical acumen for electronics might shed some light on this and correct me if I am wrong.

[Thirsty93]

In understood that the reading were with everything running. What I meant by me question was, is it the model with voltage regulation feature ? Why are you getting 124V output for 124V input ? A voltage regulator is supposed to output a rock steady 120V regardless of the input.

(H15)here is what the book says;
AVR range display-Narrow-102-132 Volts,Regulates to: 120 volts + or- 5%
Normal-97-139 Volts,Regulates to:120 volts + or - 10%
Wide - 92- 145 Volts,Regulates to:120 volts+ or - 15%
It also said
In the display shown,the input and output voltages are the same(the actual voltage may very depending on the power supplied by your utility.)In this case (both numbers being the same) both voltages are within acceptable ranges and thus the H15 does not have to "clean up" the out put voltage

[joetama]

Belkin PureAV PF31 What do you guys think of this one?

Had one, got the APC H15 and noticed an improvement in the overall sound. Less noise, didn't choke the amplifier.

I later got a Monster AVS2000 on a going out of business sale and my amps are now plugged into that and my pre-amps & CD/DVD are in the APC with common grounds run to every piece of equipment then to power ground & and outside ground.

It works nice this way. I live in RF hell, which is why the grounds were necessary. 4 TV transmitters, 2 FM transmitters, plus two buildings that look like antenna farms (with high power Paging, VHF relays, low frequency feed horns and other various nasty offspring of RF hell) with in 2-5 miles of where I live. The interference is so bad here sometimes my keyless entry in my car doesn't work. But, it has never failed when it isn't in my parking lot.

I need to get a RF field meter from work someday just to check out all the nastiness.

[Gianluca]

wkhanna

How will you paint your APC H15 black or the question really is what paint will you use that sticks to plastic and cassing of the unit. Regular spray paint??

I too have a silver one that does not fit in...

Thanks

Gianluca

[Chris D]

Actually, now that you've brought it up, I'm curious too. Haven't never heard of someone painting a component.

[Hdale85]

Get it powder coated so that it's piano gloss

[june]

hello all,

so it's more to this than just plugging in.......................... :E

[wkhanna]

June,

Just read the manual, it's actually pretty well written and simple to understand. And even with the default settings it will still do everything you need it to.

If you have a problem with anything specific, just post here, we can help you.

[wkhanna]

Get it powder coated so that it's piano gloss

Ha! That could cost nearly half as much as I paid for this thing! :E

I will most likely use a rattle-can of Epoxy based appliance paint for the steel chassis. The other option is wrinkle finish. I have had good luck with this stuff; I painted many engine valve covers and motorcycle engines with it. Once it is baked on it lasts a long time.

The faceplate is aluminum, I think. I have not had a chance to look real close to be sure, I’ll put a magnet to it in order to verify. If it is in fact aluminum, I could have it anodized. One of the products we manufacture where I work are aluminum ports for gas masks used by the military. We make nearly 5000 a day and every one of them gets black anodized. I know the plater very well and can probably get the face plate done V cheap. Otherwise, a carefully applied coat of paint will suffice.

There are removable plastic caps on the ends of face plate that cover the slot were the optional metal tabs for rack mounting go. A little rattle can black will be all they need.

I will take some pics and document this little project for you guys, if you want.

[Glen B]

wkhanna

How will you paint your APC H15 black or the question really is what paint will you use that sticks to plastic and casing of the unit. Regular spray paint??

Use Krylon Fusion For Plastic spray paint. When I replaced my car's pitted chrome molding, instead of throwing away the old one, I sanded off the chrome finish and used automotive paint with flex additive to paint it body color.

http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic/

[wkhanna]

Thanks for the tip, Glen.

I finished the 'make-over' for now. I did not paint the plastic endcaps yet.
Not sure if I will, I'll see how it looks when I get hooked up and in the rack.

[Hdale85]

Says we need a password to see the album...

Did you end up just painting the front or getting it anodized?

[wkhanna]

Opps ops:

Sorry, it's fixed now.

I just used a 'rattle can' of textured black.

[Hdale85]

It's still asking me for a password...do you have that album set to private?

[wkhanna]

Even when you use apc for the password?

[Hdale85]

Oh didn't notice that haha! My bad

But no that password isn't working either.

[wkhanna]

Crap!

I hate photobucket sometimes! :M But I am no IT expert by any means, either! ops:

I will upload some pics here, and if anyone wants more details, I be glad to help out.

[Johnloudb]

That looks really nice. I think the silver ends look nice - I'd leave it like that, myself. Not that all black would look at all bad.

[Thirsty93]

Thanks for the tip, Glen.

I finished the 'make-over' for now. I did not paint the plastic endcaps yet.
Not sure if I will, I'll see how it looks when I get hooked up and in the rack.

Dang,I am really impressed with your skills son...Looks AWSOME!! :T

[wkhanna]

How To:

I’ve had a few requests, so here is an abbreviated process for performing the make-over.

Remove the three screws on the back that secure the top cover, and slide it straight back towards you.



With the top cover off, you can see the clips that are on the face plate which secure it to the chassis. There are rubber pads that act as stops which prevent the clips from coming loose.





They have adhesive on one side, you need gently pull these away form the clips.





I found it easiest to un-hook one side at a time. The clips are fairly stiff, and it takes some pressure to bend them back. You need to do the top & bottom clips at the same time. Once you have one side off, it helps to put a little pressure on the side of the face-plate to help when disengaging the clips on the opposite side.

Remove the two screws on each of the plastic end-caps.
You can see the clips on the face-plate here, too.






Now remove the five screws that hold the front panel display to the face-plate. There are two on each end and one at the top-center. Do not remove the smaller screws at the center section that hold the black thin metal shielding.



There is the chrome plated plastic APC insignia on the face that needs to come off too. It has three posts that go all the way through the face-plate. They melt the ends at the factory to keep it attached; I just used a screwdriver to break away the melted bitts and was able to then carefully pull it out.





Reassembly is the reverse of this process.
(I have always wanted to say that, after years reading Haynes auto repair manuals) :roll:





OK, any questions?

[Glen B]

Thanks for the tip, Glen.

I finished the 'make-over' for now. I did not paint the plastic endcaps yet.
Not sure if I will, I'll see how it looks when I get hooked up and in the rack.

Good job. :T It looks nice with the endcaps left in silver.

[Hdale85]

I guess I'll have to be the one to disagree and say that I think it would look better all black

[PewterTA]

With the sides of the unit silver I'm tempted to say leave the endcaps silver. But black would also look good...

Heck of a job you did there Bill!!!

But do you like the unit now?! ha ha

[wkhanna]

Thanks for the complements, guys.

If you do this, remember that all the surfaces need to be V clean. A wipe-down with some denatured alcohol is always a good idea.

The other thing that often causes problems is handling before the paint has thoroughly dried. I have learned this the hard way, and now never touch anything I have painted till the next day. Resist temptation!

But do you like the unit now?

Well, AFA I'm concerned it sure looks better, but the more I see it, the more I think I'll paint the end-caps black, too. Regardless, I am absolutely sure it will sound better now that it’s black, even though I have yet to hook it up in my system.

BTW, this is the paint I chose:

[PewterTA]

Now if you can get a black RB-1090 and get rid of "your" silver one to me, your system is going to sound better than ever!

I'm sure you'll like the differences with the APC over the Monster unit.

[Hdale85]

Yes Monster is for noobs haha.

[Thirsty93]

I nominate bill for the tweek of the week..