Power

[gaz7224]

Hi all,

I'm getting a table made with racks on the one end.  It'll need to be against a wall, so I'm having it made so the rack section will swing out away from the wall so I can plug stuff in.  It's a corner unit, so it has to swing out, otherwise it'd be useless; no way of plugging wires in the back.  I was going to have electrical sockets mounted on the wall, but obviously this would impede the swinging .  So then I thought about having sockets mounted to the rack with one 'main' cable from the wall.  Today I came across a rack-mount power distributor, and this seems like the best solution

I found this one: http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/samson-powerbrite-pb10-pro--47393

It seems perfect (Practically speaking) as I could just run a really long power cable from wall to it (hopefully if it's a detachable IEC lead), and then just patch power inside the rack from it to other rack equipment.  I'm not sure how much power it can handle though (or needs to handle)?  I'd probably have 2 per rack.

Any advice welcome.

Gaz

[stainless]

I use "power conditioned"... even though the plugs are in the back, but I can switch everything on /off

That unit seems kinda pricey... I use 3 Furmans ... and it looks like i  may need a 4th (not that everything needs to be "on", but for convenience...  the typical current draw for most rack gear is pretty low

anything with a 'wall wart" can be a pian as it may partially cover an adjacent plug... but seems the newer power conditioners are taking that into consideration

and why is it some rack gear puts the power switch on the back??  what's up with that, knowing it'll be in a rack.

[gaz7224]

Thanks for your reply.

Luckily, so far all my toys have their power switches on the front.  But you're right, seems like a dumb idea to have them on the back, or generally any settings/buttons on the back.

Looked  on the furman site and they have two. 

This: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=03&id=M-10xE
and this: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=03&id=PL-8CE

I'm not sure which one is best to buy.  There's just over £100 difference between the two.

What one would you buy?

[stainless]

I'd get the one without the lights....  I've had both and the lights seldom got used

[gaz7224]

Will do.

I wasn't sure cuz the one has a few extra features like 'Isolated banks', and 'Voltage protection', but also a few gimmick features like lights.  I wasn't sure if it was worth the extra cash. 

Thanks

[stainless]

I just went and read the specs for both) with the surge protection (which is really what you're after most) and the noise suppression (equally important) I really think the additional features of the higher priced unit are more 'fluff' than "substance"

unless you live way out the country where voltage fluctuations may be more common, most urbanized areas are pretty stable otherwise the utility company would be getting constant complaints

here, the power "specs" are + or - 10%, so our 120VAC can be anywhere between 108 and 132 VAC...  though it's usually pretty close to 120

the only advantage to the individual banks is if  a piece of gear fails to ground it would only take down a smaller group of gear... but you still'd have to stop and investigate/fix/ or find a work around

and, yes I've been known to be cheap ... sometimes