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Servo or relay type voltage regulator?

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Servo or relay type voltage regulator?

Postby eestrera » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:40 am
Hi guys, 

Just wanted to get your opinion regarding voltage regulators to be used for audio equiptments. There are some who prefer the servo type while others the relay type? What are the advantages and disadvatages of both? And what are you recommending to use based on experience. 

Would apreciate your inputs. 

Many thanks, 

eestrera
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Postby arnoldc » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:04 am
Earl, I've been using my Yaden (Servo) for many years now and has not failed once (nor require a reset) kahit nag papatugtog ako ng may bagyo (granting may kuryente). Considering pumuputok ma transformers ng Meralco sa area namin dahil sa mga illegal taps. 

I have no experience with the other type. 

OT: 

Pwede ba natin gawing plinth yung troso ng kamagong sa bahay? :D
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Postby tony » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:05 am
my experience with servo type like stavol, has been very good, i'd recommend it anytime.. 

relay types are like those that came bundled with pcs are actually glorified exptension cords, i stay away from them when i can..
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Postby alexg » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:18 am
Is there any voltage regulator that are fast? 

I am using a Stavol, a couple of months ago, there was a spike, my tube amp just hiccuped and continued playing. 

But my Samsung LCD TV, which is off at the time, but plugged on another Stavol, got busted power supply board (it is quite expensive to replace). I think the servo type is too slow for the Samsung. 

Thanks.
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Postby Jon Agner » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:17 am
alexg wrote:Is there any voltage regulator that are fast?

I am using a Stavol, a couple of months ago, there was a spike, my tube amp just hiccuped and continued playing.

But my Samsung LCD TV, which is off at the time, but plugged on another Stavol, got busted power supply board (it is quite expensive to replace). I think the servo type is too slow for the Samsung.

Thanks.


Same thing happend to me recently. in this case, my phonostage, which was plugged directly into the voltage regulator, sounded terrible, while the rest of the equipment, CD player, preamp, amp, which all have line filters, were functioning properly, I only realized the cause of the problem when my wife told me about the lightning strike near our place. While the voltage regulator was off at that time, I didn't physically remove the plug from the wall outlet.
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Postby tony » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:31 am
alexg wrote:Is there any voltage regulator that are fast?

I am using a Stavol, a couple of months ago, there was a spike, my tube amp just hiccuped and continued playing.

But my Samsung LCD TV, which is off at the time, but plugged on another Stavol, got busted power supply board (it is quite expensive to replace). I think the servo type is too slow for the Samsung.

Thanks.


what you needed there was a line conditioner, you can buy these MOV's from raon, costs less than a 100 per piece, get one rated for 250 or 260 volts and wire up 4 or 6 in parallel, make sure it is installed after the fuse. 

you can install them inside the stavol after the fuse, size is as small as a disk ceramic cap.... 

these will protect your equipment from voltage spikes...
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Postby ESaudio » Fri Aug 10, 2007 12:05 pm
You can get any Servo-type AVR especially Japan-made like STAC (1000 to 2000 watter) which is available at Sound Dimension, Quad Car Park.
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Postby alexg » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:54 pm
tony wrote:
alexg wrote:Is there any voltage regulator that are fast?

I am using a Stavol, a couple of months ago, there was a spike, my tube amp just hiccuped and continued playing.

But my Samsung LCD TV, which is off at the time, but plugged on another Stavol, got busted power supply board (it is quite expensive to replace). I think the servo type is too slow for the Samsung.

Thanks.


what you needed there was a line conditioner, you can buy these MOV's from raon, costs less than a 100 per piece, get one rated for 250 or 260 volts and wire up 4 or 6 in parallel, make sure it is installed after the fuse.

you can install them inside the stavol after the fuse, size is as small as a disk ceramic cap....

these will protect your equipment from voltage spikes...


Tony, 

What are MOVs? Thanks.
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Postby Hyperion » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:12 pm
MOV = metal oxide varistor 

Image 

Effective at stopping short duration (several microseconds) high voltage spikes (like lightning) BUT not effective in stopping high current surges or sustained over voltages. Usually used in cheap surge protector power strips and allegedly does not result to good sound when used in high performance audio line conditioners.
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Postby tony » Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:58 pm
Alex, 

i bought these MOV's from richland electronics in raon, like the one pictured above..
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Postby AUDIO8 » Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:24 pm
Hi eestrera, i've been using a lot of avr's servo and relay I use my servo with my SS amp (bryston 4bsst, rotel 1075) with no problem but when I switch to tube amps first time I plug it into my stavol the servo bog down twice I even use one for each amp but can't handle my tube amp. luckily a friend of mine introduce me to Lotus relay type avr (2000w) which is relatively cheaper than servo and can handle all my amp needs and as a bonus it improve the sound of my audio gears and happily using it for four years now.
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Postby tony » Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:17 am
BUT not effective in stopping high current surges or sustained over voltages.


The thing to do here is to install them after the fuse, say you have those mov's rated at 250volts, what they will do is blow the fuse in case of sustained overvoltage, for example a 110volt equipment accidentally pluged into 220volts, thus preventing extensive damage to your equipment. Otherwise, for transients lasting a few cycles they will absorb the energy, that is why having several in parallel makes for greater absorbing capacity.
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Postby alexg » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:06 am
tony wrote:
BUT not effective in stopping high current surges or sustained over voltages.


The thing to do here is to install them after the fuse, say you have those mov's rated at 250volts, what they will do is blow the fuse in case of sustained overvoltage, for example a 110volt equipment accidentally pluged into 220volts, thus preventing extensive damage to your equipment. Otherwise, for transients lasting a few cycles they will absorb the energy, that is why having several in parallel makes for greater absorbing capacity.


Thanks for the information.
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Postby eestrera » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:11 am
Hi guys, 

Thank you all for your inputs. The servo type seems to be more expensive when I looked around compared to the relay type. Is there any reason for this? 

Thanks, 

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Postby tony » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:06 am
eestrera wrote:Hi guys, 

Thank you all for your inputs. The servo type seems to be more expensive when I looked around compared to the relay type. Is there any reason for this?

Thanks,

eestrera


they use torroids which are more expensive to make... :D
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Postby alexg » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:28 am
tony wrote:Alex,

i bought these MOV's from richland electronics in raon, like the one pictured above..


Tony, 

Found some MOVs at RS, 240V at 1750A, would this be ok? Thanks.
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Postby tony » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:53 am
alexg wrote:
tony wrote:Alex,

i bought these MOV's from richland electronics in raon, like the one pictured above..


Tony,

Found some MOVs at RS, 240V at 1750A, would this be ok? Thanks.


i would get someting a bit higher say 250, but i guess if your line does not exceed 230 then that would be fine...three or four of those would even better.
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Postby alexg » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:16 pm
tony wrote:
alexg wrote:
tony wrote:Alex,

i bought these MOV's from richland electronics in raon, like the one pictured above..


Tony,

Found some MOVs at RS, 240V at 1750A, would this be ok? Thanks.


i would get someting a bit higher say 250, but i guess if your line does not exceed 230 then that would be fine...three or four of those would even better.


I just ordered 20 pcs of the 250V 5A (RS minimum quantity is 20 pcs) at P21 each.
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Postby tony » Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:10 pm
hey that's cheap.... :D :D :D
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Postby yucca » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:02 am
alexg wrote:I just ordered 20 pcs of the 250V 5A (RS minimum quantity is 20 pcs) at P21 each.


Hi Alex! If ever sobra, can I buy three? Tnx. 

@Earl - Lotus, Hossini and some brands available at True Value.

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