Clean Power

[Silvertone]

I've been thinking about this for a while and now have been approached by a friend to help him out. In the days of yor some studios ran their power off two boat batteries strapped together. They'd chrage them in the down time and let them loose while the studio was running. My friend has a boat he is trying to outfit with enough power to run a small PA and recording set up.

Has anyone ever done this here on the board? Do you know what specific equipment is needed for the cableing and such? For studio ( land building) use should it be attached to a dedicated circut breaker for charging purposes? And for a studio on land is it worth it? It sure would make recording those single coil pick up's much easier for any studio owner. Even if you just swithced over to the battery for these types of tasks.

I've went to great lenghts when I built my building to make sure I have as clean and stable power as I can. However even the best system can get corrupted at times.

Any thoughts on this subject.

[Matt Syson]

Hi
Unless you are many hundreds of feet away from ANY AC power line / source then don't bother with batteries. You would need invertors to 'create' AC for so may bits of your kit which will undo the reason for going DC. Switching on a battery supply to a mixer desk with many capacitors in it (every one made so far) will cause severe switch on surge currents unless you have dedicated surge limiting systems designed in. All in all leave it alone unless you have to! If you are bothered by power 'noises' get some proper mains filters installed. A bit of care and inteligent design will produce a perfectly usable system without the necessity of going 'all DC'
Matt S

[squeegybug]

What you are considering has been around a long time - it's called true online UPS. This is a dual-inverter system that *always* runs off battery power, and most can have true sinewave output.

I installed a 2000 VA online Liebert a few months ago, and it has been the single greatest improvement I've ever made to my studio. The differences in audio are immediate and not subtle. Far more musical, no fatigue or harshness. The improvements in playback are even greater.

There can be a slight drawback, if you are using lots of transformer equipment -- the PWM conversions from these UPS devices can sometimes cause mild transformer hum in the room (not in the audio). I have mostly xfmr-less gear, so not a problem for me. If it is an issue then adding an isolation xfmr after the UPS is the proper solution.

Note I'm not talking about the little office-supply store "PC battery backup" devices - those are switching types and can cause more noise and distortion in an audio system.

Steve

[Silvertone]

Thanks Steve,

What does that puppy sell for and is it built buy the company UPS? Like I said it's for my friend boat. Thanks.

As for my studio, it was built from the ground up so power is not an issue. I have my own power transformer that feeds my building only from the power company and 6 ufer ground rods driven for grounding. A whole seperate panel feeds the mastering portion of the building, the kitchen, bath, office and lounge are seperated. On Bob Ohlsons suggestion I had the power company come back out 6 months later and tighten the lugs at the transformer, believe it or not it really helped the power from fluctuating slighty. I didn't have a noise issue but I could see the power swing slightly on my meters.

best,
Larry

[squeegybug]

UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply. The model I bought is made by Liebert, who is owned by Emerson Electric now. That one is probably $2k + new, but I bought it reconditioned with new batteries, I think they go for $450 or so?

Sorry if I misunderstood, I thought you wanted to run through batteries, and had wall power available to recharge. The online devices I'm taking about when unplugged from the wall will only run for 30 minutes or so at full 2000 VA load, up to over a couple of hours with smaller loads. May not be what you are looking for on a non-AC boat.

Steve

[Matt Syson]

Hi
Just re-read your original post. I take it you have no AC power anytime on the boat so there are a couple of ways.
First is a GOOD UPS type supply as mentioned earlier and explain to the possible vendor that it is running full time off batteries and that you need CLEAN AC.
Secondly it may be worth investigating having an alternator fitted to a pulley off the boat engine (( you don't say what kind of engine or boat you have). This may be more practical for running a PA rig as batteries cannot store much power, perhaps a couple of KWhours (2KW for 1 hour) is quite likely. Clean sinewave inversion is not particularly efficient. You need to be talking to 'power supply' professionals for the UPS route and maybe good RV technicians for an alternator.
Matt S

[1212]

hello

you should look into http://www.richardgrayspowercompany.com/index2.html

i have heard good things about these people.

their guy made real since to me on the phone.

i am about to invest in one of there products.

when i do i will give a report.


1212

[Kiwiburger]

For a boat? Go 12V solar powered. You can use car stereo amps for your PA system. If you want some serious recording equipment, use the Rupert Neve Portico stuff - it can run straight off a 12V battery. A laptop PC and you have an AC-free environmentally sensitive recording studio.