Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

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panoramic
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Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by panoramic » Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:40 am

So Hi, here's an interesting one.
I've been playing a good bit lately and I've noticed that my volume will drop on literally all of my stuff once in a while and if i put my amp on standby for a second the volume will return, it's not the amp as it happens on both of my amps, it's not the pedals as I have switched them all in and out a variety of times. It could be my power supply (i have a cheap-ass one) : https://reverb.com/item/53585931-yuker- ... y-shipping
same as that

I think it's a power conditioning problem but I am new to having this sort of issue, anyone else ever had this happen and what was the remedy?
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by Nico » Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:50 am

Find another circuit you can tap on OR unplug other electrical devices on this circuit. You could be pulling to much amps and your circuit could be on the verge of tripping the breaker.

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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by panoramic » Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:01 am

Nico wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 6:50 am
Find another circuit you can tap on OR unplug other electrical devices on this circuit. You could be pulling to much amps and your circuit could be on the verge of tripping the breaker.
I'll try this and see what happens, that side is where my AC and stereo are plugged in also
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by Nico » Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:12 am

The AC might be the culprit here.

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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by Embenny » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:03 am

Yeah, have you noticed that it happens when the compressor on the AC starts up?

That would be my prime suspect. I've lived in places where a fridge or AC compressor turning on would make all the lights dim for a moment. Those things use a lot of power.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by panoramic » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:13 am

mbene085 wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:03 am
Yeah, have you noticed that it happens when the compressor on the AC starts up?

That would be my prime suspect. I've lived in places where a fridge or AC compressor turning on would make all the lights dim for a moment. Those things use a lot of power.
It was off the last time this issue happened actually. Later today will try to plug it into the other side of my room (different circuit) and see what happens there. I believe that the apartment below mine is draining power in the place as well and it is affecting my stuff but I cannot confirm that.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by Embenny » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:30 am

Yeah, it's possible that it's an adjacent unit, since you don't know how the place was wired.

I had one apartment where our neighbour's laundry room was connected to our power for some reason. I spent a full year paying for their dryer to run before figuring it out, when our power bill barely changed while we were away on vacation. Got the utility company involved which forced the landlord to investigate.

Point is, apartment wiring can be weird and even if they didn't loop another unit into your wiring like mine, it could definitely be a neighbour's power use affecting you.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by panoramic » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:34 am

mbene085 wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:30 am
Yeah, it's possible that it's an adjacent unit, since you don't know how the place was wired.

I had one apartment where our neighbour's laundry room was connected to our power for some reason. I spent a full year paying for their dryer to run before figuring it out, when our power bill barely changed while we were away on vacation. Got the utility company involved which forced the landlord to investigate.

Point is, apartment wiring can be weird and even if they didn't loop another unit into your wiring like mine, it could definitely be a neighbour's power use affecting you.
During the last flux as it were I noted that they were watching their huge tv at bombastic volumes, i wonder if it was that. Either way I will try to play in the other outlet available later and see how that pans out.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by JSett » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:42 am

Have you got a decent DMM? Could be worth checking the power levels coming out the outlet. Also, have you tried without any pedals at all?
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by Embenny » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:55 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:42 am
Have you got a decent DMM? Could be worth checking the power levels coming out the outlet. Also, have you tried without any pedals at all?
Between the acronym and the follow-up question, I was wondering of there was an issue with these that I didn't know about :D

Image

But it could be tricky catching any issues with a standard multimeter. The issue could be visible in current or in voltage, it could be rare and intermittent, and the multimeter might not have the time scale resolution to display it when it does.

I feel like you'd need something designed to read over a long period and then graph the results, which certainly exists, but isn't a household tool.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by JSett » Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:07 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:55 am
Ahh, yes, that is indeed the wrong tool for the job :D

I think you could use a standard multimeter to see if it's something in the house making things shift (like, getting someone to fire up the AC while you watch for a sag in the voltage or current). You could also check it a few times a day, see how it fluctuates depending on neighbours' use of previously mentioned home theatre system etc.

Most AC power into a house is pretty solid enough to not suffer with many things being on at the same time, as most household items don't have a huge current draw. A large enough air conditioner could certainly be a solid contender though, hot water immersion heaters, old microwave ovens etc.
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Re: Weird power fluctuations at my apartment when playing

Post by øøøøøøø » Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:53 pm

I'd be more interested in grid-scale fluctuations than within the one unit. When the grid is under heavy load (e.g. a hot day), the power company will compensate, and sometimes they miss.

There are also sometimes local problems with utility power... once I had only 75VAC coming out of the wall. My tube amps sounded like shit (which is how I found the problem), but my neighbors didn't even notice, as most modern devices use regulated power (if voltage is lower than expected, within reason many devices can compensate).

The utility company didn't believe me, but finally sent someone out and sure enough, found a problem at the transformer.

Briefly--voltage and current are interrelated (to use a plumbing analogy, you can think of voltage as "water pressure" and current as "amount of water that's flowing"). Assuming the resistance (think "size of pipe") through which the current flows is held constant, allowing more current to flow will cause the "pressure" to drop, and vice-versa.

So all you need to do is set your multimeter to read AC volts, safely probe the wall outlet, and observe what happens under certain conditions.

If you try turning on high-current devices like HVAC, refrigeration, heat-generating appliances like clothes dryers etc.--and the voltage sags, then that's a clue... but your neighbor's television won't cause that. Your refrigerator really shouldn't, and if it does (without tripping a breaker) it's a grave sign that the romex or armored cable in your walls is undersized for the load and a fire hazard.

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