Power Conditioner 15 to 20 AMP adapter: Is this safe?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
jcooke
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:33 am
Location: San Diego

Power Conditioner 15 to 20 AMP adapter: Is this safe?

Post by jcooke » Tue May 23, 2006 5:10 pm

I bought an AR-1220 that has a "funny" plug. They have adapters that you can buy to allow you to plug it into your wall, is this safe? Also will this conversion affect the sound?

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FURADP1520

Thanks,
Jcooke

spankenstein
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 639
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:58 pm

Post by spankenstein » Tue May 23, 2006 5:31 pm

The "winky" plug is for a 20A circuit. As long as you don't pull over 12A you'll be OK.

jcooke
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:33 am
Location: San Diego

Post by jcooke » Tue May 23, 2006 5:37 pm

spankenstein wrote:The "winky" plug is for a 20A circuit. As long as you don't pull over 12A you'll be OK.
How Do I know how many amps my gear pulls?

Thanks,
Jcooke

ctmsound
george martin
Posts: 1259
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2003 10:43 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Post by ctmsound » Wed May 24, 2006 7:55 am

Are you plugging that unit into a 15 amp wall socket? Just keep in mind, if you did, you just wasted money when you could have bought the 15 amp version. Having a 20 amp regulator plugged into a 15 amp circuit now makes that piece a 15 amp regulator. The LED lights on the front should tell you what you're pulling from the wall. I imagine you can pull up to 15 amps with it, not 12.

jcooke
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:33 am
Location: San Diego

Post by jcooke » Wed May 24, 2006 8:50 am

I guess I could have gone with the AR-15, although the ar-20 I got was pretty cheap on ebay, $302 + $45 shipping. The guy did a dutch auction with 2 of them. Dutch auctions are usually good news for the buyer!

Thanks,
Jcooke

justhitthebutton
gettin' sounds
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:00 pm
Location: houston tx

Post by justhitthebutton » Wed May 24, 2006 9:39 am

if youre handy, you can just go to home depot and pick up a 3 prong 15 amp plug and replace the one that is on there all together. all homes in the US use 15amp outlets. you can add up all the amperage off your gear + 3% for spikes and that should tell you what it would draw in the worst case scenario. if its more than 15 amps then you will need to move some gear to another outlet on another circuit/breaker. or have your breaker replaced with a higher amperage. the 20 amp version is not going to make anything sound any different at all. its just a matter of how much gear/amperage it will allow to run on it.
can it really look better than it sounds?

jcooke
gettin' sounds
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:33 am
Location: San Diego

Post by jcooke » Wed May 24, 2006 10:19 am

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll probably just get the adapter from furman though. That's good info about the amps from my gear though.

Thanks,
Jcooke

spankenstein
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 639
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:58 pm

Post by spankenstein » Wed May 24, 2006 9:09 pm

You really shouldn't run more than 80% of the rated current on a circuit, hence the 12A that I suggested. Do not change the outlet to a 20A unless you cahnge the breaker on the circuit, doing so will only cause confusion when someone puts something on there at a later time that needs a 20A circuit and they start popping breakers or causing fires.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 70 guests