power outage/surge

[abe1877]

Last night the power went out in my house for a split second. I have a 1067 and all of the settings were reset. According to the manual (and I've had power outages before and this didn't happen) it should not reset. It's an enormous pain getting everything back the way i like it.

Now, im pretty sure this was more of a power surge. My tv actaully looked screwed up. There was a kind of circular rainbow wave around the edge of the tv. It looked like it needed to be degaussed which usually happens everytime you turn it on. Anyway, i unplugged the tv and plugged it back in and it is working fine. That scared the crap out of me. I didn't want to have to get a new TV!

I have everything plugged in through a surge protector (albeit not a good one). Any thoughts on why it reset? I'm afraid some damage may have been done. Anyway to tell if there was? Everything seems to be still working though.

[aud19]

If everything's still working fine you should be ok... but instead of taking chances in the future you should look in to buying one of Rotel's new power condioners with surge protection. I'm guessing you're in the USA with the power blackouts/brownouts they're experiencing?

[abe1877]

yes. I'm in the US. Does anyone know why the unti would have reset it's memory though? The memory should not be affected by a power loss?

[Clepto]

It's possible that the surge corrupted the flash memory (or whatever memory stores settings, etc) and so it purged it to prevent corrupt info?

I have no technical basis for this, just a WAG.

Might consider surge supression WITH battery backup...

[Kevin D]

Common issue with all the 10 series receivers and pre-amps. Usually a quick surge will mess up the eeprom and reset it. Rotel recommends running a battery backup on the units.

Kevin D.

[abe1877]

thanks. so this could still happen even if you have a good surge protector?

can anyone recommend a good surge protector with a battery backup? any good website to buy it from would be a help too!

[Arneson]

Your simple surge device has a major flaw.
The metal oxide varisters in the "protection device" does a very good job of instantly crowbaring a big voltage flash to ground, or maybe a couple few minor surges.
This is great for everyone except for a big problem.
After it has saved your ass it no longer works, it's now done, and here's the catch, you don't know it!
So you me and everyone sits here thinking we have a surge suppresor's wonderful protection feature when it's actually likely that you have nadda.
But you say it has the lights assuring me it's Ok, well I don't think so and mine has six lights that don't mean squat.
The ten UPS units I have under every desk in every room however are another issue.
These have saved me over and over by keeping the unit powered when FPL goes whack,(Florida Power and Light), think huricanes and lightning.
My only complaint is the battery replacement and the insesant beep beep beeep from all over the house.
So I say, suppress this.

[aud19]

thanks. so this could still happen even if you have a good surge protector?

can anyone recommend a good surge protector with a battery backup? any good website to buy it from would be a help too!

APC is THE name in power conditioning/surge suppresion. Rotel also sells a re-branded pair of their units that would match your 1067's design :T

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=310

and...

http://www.rotel.com/products/accessories.htm

The 1040 is surge protection and power conditioning, the 1080 includes battery backup.

[abe1877]

thanks. the rotel 1080 is a bit pricey and i can't even seem to find it online any where for sale. the apc ones seem a little more inline with a reasonable price (for me). how long do the batteries last? how often would i need to replace them?

[Kevin D]

You won't find the Rotel's online, it's still a Rotel product only available at a dealer. The APC's are the same, just not with the cool look. As far as the batteries, since you're not really using them to run equipment for extended times you will probably see more life out of them. In general, expect about 2-4 years out of one.

Kevin D.

[Mark_C.]

I, too, suffered the power problems this past week when California nearly melted away. My power went out three out of four days-twice for extended periods of time. I have most of my components hooked up through a Monster power conditioner (glorified power strip). I lost all the memory settings in my Rotel 1066 pre/pro. I just finished resetting everything today and can only hope we don't have any more power outages. At least I wrote down my settings.

[abe1877]

it would be nice if they had some software that allows you to back up your settings on your computer.

[abe1877]

http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=MCMPHTS3600MKII

i know monster is a bad word around here (i would actually like to know why?), but anyway. i was looking at this power conditioner. It has something called "Tri-Mode™ power protection circuitry with audible alarm and auto disconnect". Does anyone know what this means?

What I am hoping it does is if there is a quick outage and reconnect it will keep it disconnected until i reset. I believe this is important because of the eeprom problem with the 10 series. I am hoping this would prevent the memory from clearing itself in the event of quick on and off. I don't really care for the battery backup of the rotel or apc if i don't need it.

I still would like the rotel 1040 (without the battery back up), but will this prevent any future memory losses? Can this be controlled through the outlet on/off delays?

[Arneson]

Does any one have pros and con experience or opinion on the whole house protection?
Will light bulbs, fridge, everything really last longer?
My house and the neighborhood was built in the mid 70's and my electrical main box is thankfully all copper wire.

More on topic,
I wonder if the Rotel has a 3volt lithium or a nicad for memory, most units I installed 5yrs ago are now needing these replaced.

[Kal Rubinson]

Does any one have pros and con experience or opinion on the whole house protection?

There are no cons.

Will light bulbs, fridge, everything really last longer?

Doubtful. The purpose is protection from surges. It won't cure warts.

Kal

[Kevin D]

More on topic,
I wonder if the Rotel has a 3volt lithium or a nicad for memory, most units I installed 5yrs ago are now needing these replaced.

No batteries, it's hard coded to the Eeprom. Quick on/off cycles corrupts it and when it detects the corruption it defaults it.

Kevin D.

[abe1877]

Would the rotel 1040 (without the battery back up) prevent any future memory losses? Can this be controlled through the outlet on/off delays?

[Kevin D]

Doubtful it will help the memory issue. With the outlet delays you want to set the receiver/preamp to come on first, amps later. Reverse for off. When the power fails you lose the delayed off (obviously) and setting it on a delayed on will most likely cause pops and snaps unless you can delay the amps even more.

Just get a cheap APC UPS and put it in between the 1040 and the receiver.

Kevin D.

[ICEMAN70]

Would the rotel 1040 (without the battery back up) prevent any future memory losses? Can this be controlled through the outlet on/off delays?

Well, we just had a power outage couple nights ago. The 1040 worked perfect shutting down every component in order. There was NO memory loss on my RSX 1057. All the settings where perfect. So far so good. :T

[Kevin D]

Well, we just had a power outage couple nights ago. The 1040 worked perfect shutting down every component in order. There was NO memory loss on my RSX 1057. All the settings where perfect. So far so good. :T

Without a battery backup how is that possible? If the power cuts off, there's no power to delay shutdown.

Kevin D.

[ICEMAN70]

Without a battery backup how is that possible? If the power cuts off, there's no power to delay shutdown.

Kevin D.

All i can tell you is, i had the RSX-1057 and the RMB-1075 ON at the time. Before the power went out i heard 2 cliks from the 1040 and saw the lights dimm in my system. I don't know if it was a delay shut down or not but i know my receiver light was last to go OFF.

When the Power came back ON i had the Line Boost and Line OK lights flash RED on the RLC-1040.The VIn= showed 104 Vac and the Vout showed 109 Vac. They are usually at 124 Vac. To reset everything i turned the conditioner ON and OFF.

Nothing happened to my settings on the RSX 1057. OSD settings was same as before.

[Kevin D]

Ah... Sounds like a low voltage situation before the total outage. This would put the 1040 in a safety off then the power went out.

I haven't checked the 1040 out much, do you have to turn the unit on after a power outage or is there an auto on? If it defaults to off after an outage, then yes it will certainly help the settings issue. It's not the outage that kills it, it's an instant return of power.

Kevin D.

[Marlboroman]

The RLC-1040 will resolve the memory loss issue just as good as the RLC-1080 will. The problem with the Rotel equipment is not loss of power but how the power is lost. When you have all the equipment connected to the new RLC units then they cut the power clean when the voltage drops below a certain point. Up until that point they will trim or boost the voltage accordingly so the connected units do not experience erratic fluctuations. I used to lose my settings everytime I lost power, which is very often, and ever since I installed the RLC-1040 into my system I have not lost my settings. This unit is a must for anyone who is serious about getting the best performance out of their equipment and protecting it. APC is backing the Rotel units with their warranty so they are lightning strike protection units along with voltage regulators and filters. I am very impressed with this unit and only wish that it had been available earlier.

[Blindamood]

I will probably be picking up an RLC-1040 in the near future too, for my theater room (in black, of course, to match my existing Rotels!). Currently using an APC H15 (it's equivalent) in my two-channel setup, and have been very happy with its performance. I think Rotel made a very wise move in partnering with APC.

[ICEMAN70]

I haven't checked the 1040 out much, do you have to turn the unit on after a power outage or is there an auto on? If it defaults to off after an outage, then yes it will certainly help the settings issue. It's not the outage that kills it, it's an instant return of power.

Kevin D.

No, you don't have to turn the unit ON after a power outage. The unit simply comes back ON. But the good thing is, it tells you on the LCD display what has happened. The Default setting on the unit is to have the 1040 ON after a power outage. I think you can also have it set to stay OFF.

[abe1877]

Can anyone verify if it will stay off after a power loss until you reset it?

[Clepto]

There are no cons.
Doubtful. The purpose is protection from surges. It won't cure warts.

Kal

Aw man, I was counting on the wart removal in addition to the surge supression! :lol:

[Arneson]

I have the APC UPS's all over the house and always thought of the equipement gaurentee to be like alkalines if they keak.
I don't think I would make a claim and hope I would never have to, but, has anyone?
Is it for real?

[abe1877]

I got this response from Rotel. The 1040 will solve the problem of the eprom resetting itself. No need for battery back up concerning that issue.

"The RLC-1040 does not remain off once power is back but it will solve the issue that you are having regardless. The reason that the unit is forced into a reset is because the power loss is not a “clean loss”. Power outages can happen many different ways but basically you have a massive fluctuation of power where it will spike and dip many times until it finally drops out completely. It is this fluctuating voltage that forces the EPROM to get corrupted and reset. The RLC-1040 does automatic voltage regulation which means it stabilizes the voltage so that the receiver will never see these fluctuations and if the incoming power to the RLC-1040 drops too low then it will remove power from the units connected to it in a “clean” manner. Basically it cuts the power completely with no fluctuations so the unit will never reset. All you need to do is set the power mode of your RSX-1067 to standby so that if you do lose power and regain it the receiver will come on in the standby mode instead of the direct mode where it turns completely on."