Voltage at wall outlet

[pewternhrata]

What tolerance is acceptable? I never paid attention until I plugged in a surge protector with a display on it, 100 volts. Checked a few outlets around the house with a meter and all consistently 100 volts. I know a 10% tolerance can be normal, but this is almost strange to me.

 

[highfigh]

What tolerance is acceptable? I never paid attention until I plugged in a surge protector with a display on it, 100 volts. Checked a few outlets around the house with a meter and all consistently 100 volts. I know a 10% tolerance can be normal, but this is almost strange to me.

You can't expect answers if nobody knows where you live.

 

[Speedskater]

Take the meter to a friend's house in a different neighborhood.

 

[pewternhrata]

Guess that would help. Would be state side, northeast Ohio. They are townhouses. They are currently building more in my development. Checked this morning (construction crews are working) 95v.

 

[pewternhrata]

Found my better meter, 121 volts. Always have to double check. Now I'm assuming the monster hdp1800 is defective as it is showing 94 volts or is it just more of an astectic feature?

 

[everettT]

Found my better meter, 121 volts. Always have to double check. Now I'm assuming the monster hdp1800 is defective as it is showing 94 volts or is it just more of an astectic feature?

What does the monster display with nothing plugged in?

 

[pewternhrata]

What does the monster display with nothing plugged in?

Plugged it back in, didn't want to use it if something was broken. Now it's showing abnormal voltage.

 

[highfigh]

Found my better meter, 121 volts. Always have to double check. Now I'm assuming the monster hdp1800 is defective as it is showing 94 volts or is it just more of an astectic feature?

Are you checking between the hot and neutral? Check between hot and ground and if there's a significant difference, check the resistance between the neutral and ground. If it's more than about an Ohm, have the panel checked out. If the resistance is less than an Ohm, call the utility and ask about problems with the transformer.

If the construction crew is using a lot of power, complain to the utility.

 

[everettT]

I had one, I think the HTS3500 or close, I had odd readings from time to time but never any performance issues. Switched to a 30 amp rack mount tripplite when I had all the gear in a rack. Half the price of the monster, double the load.

Plugged it back in, didn't want to use it if something was broken. Now it's showing abnormal voltage.

 

[pewternhrata]

It's on again, I don't trust it though. Turns out a friend of mine has the same one with a broken power button. I can now switch out parts and be back in business.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... Now it's showing abnormal voltage.

What is the number?
If it is off that much, new, return it and get a refund.

 

[Speedskater]

Guess that would help. Would be state side, northeast Ohio. They are townhouses. They are currently building more in my development. Checked this morning (construction crews are working) 95v.

I live near Lakewood Park and have some very nice meters.
We just had a 1½ hour power outage. Just after lunch.
Right now the line is at 120V, but from week to week line voltage may be anywhere from 116 to 125V.

 

[pewternhrata]

I live near Lakewood Park and have some very nice meters.
We just had a 1½ hour power outage. Just after lunch.
Right now the line is at 120V, but from week to week line voltage may be anywhere from 116 to 125V.

I'm down in Medina.
As of now everything is up and running, swapped out the power buttons and good to go, monster is showing 121 volts, multimeter is reading 121 volts.

 

[pewternhrata]

The faulty one is making a slight hum around a relay, nothing looks burnt bulged or fried, didnt notice any cold solder joints. When I have time I'll check some values.

 

[highfigh]

It's on again, I don't trust it though. Turns out a friend of mine has the same one with a broken power button. I can now switch out parts and be back in business.

I hate to rain on your parade, but Monster is a company that sells BS, with a heavy layer of snake oil. They sell power products, they don't make them, unlike companies like Furman/Panamax, TrippLite, APC, Cutler-Hammer, SquareD, etc. I am a custom integrator and can't afford to sell products that fail, so I use Furman/Panamax, some TripplLite and for UPS, I have been using Minuteman, but that may change since their inverter/charger throws off a lot of RF and when I called to get some idea about how much noise their products produce, the guy could only wrap his head around audible noise, not RF- that didn't exactly instill confidence.

I borrowed their Dr Noise box to find out how much noise I had on my house's power and when their power strip was connected, I could hear a baseball game broadcast (I live within a mile of a lot of TV/Radio broadcast antennas) but when my cheapo from OfficeMax was connected, it was totally quiet.

 

[TheWarrior]

I hate to rain on your parade, but Monster is a company that sells BS, with a heavy layer of snake oil. They sell power products, they don't make them, unlike companies like Furman/Panamax, TrippLite, APC, Cutler-Hammer, SquareD, etc. I am a custom integrator and can't afford to sell products that fail, so I use Furman/Panamax, some TripplLite and for UPS, I have been using Minuteman, but that may change since their inverter/charger throws off a lot of RF and when I called to get some idea about how much noise their products produce, the guy could only wrap his head around audible noise, not RF- that didn't exactly instill confidence.

I borrowed their Dr Noise box to find out how much noise I had on my house's power and when their power strip was connected, I could hear a baseball game broadcast (I live within a mile of a lot of TV/Radio broadcast antennas) but when my cheapo from OfficeMax was connected, it was totally quiet.

I owned the surge protector in this video. It failed after a few years and as I recall, had a similar hum issue.

Monster spends all their money to keep the name proprietary, and produces cheaply made products in the process. The above is good advice!

 

[highfigh]

I owned the surge protector in this video. It failed after a few years and as I recall, had a similar hum issue.

Monster spends all their money to keep the name proprietary, and produces cheaply made products in the process. The above is good advice!

I have posted several times that I was in the equipment room during a thunderstorm while I was working on a system- at one point, lightning struck outside and I heard a loud snap in the room- it was near the ADT cellular transceiver, so I looked in that direction and saw that one of the LEDs was blinking. I have yet to find their ground and it's not grounded to any of my stuff. The AV system never skipped a beat and it has been in the rack for almost 11 years, now. Easrlier this year, I replaced the preamp for the house audio from an old B&K to a Parasound P5 and a couple of months ago, I replaced the old Denon AVR-987 (like the AVR-2807, I think)- they're still remodeling, so I have no idea how it sounds but the video is switching and it definitely looks better than before, so....the power unit is a Furman ElitePF 15i. In their office, I have a Minuteman Enspire 700 and while the homeowners were in the office, again during a thunderstorm, the power went out when he was in the middle of creating some kind of document. He saw that everything stayed on and said "Well, that just paid for itself" and finished what he was doing.

My main system has a Panamax rack unit- not expensive, but it handles a good jolt and shuts off if the voltage drops below 90VAC or goes above 140VAC- I don't like high voltage surges and IMO, 180VAC is too high for anything that doesn't have the ability to automatically handle anything between 100-240VAC.

 

[Verdinut]

I live near Lakewood Park and have some very nice meters.
We just had a 1½ hour power outage. Just after lunch.
Right now the line is at 120V, but from week to week line voltage may be anywhere from 116 to 125V.

That voltage range is acceptable within 5% of the 120V norm.
If it varied beyond the +/-5%, I would suggest that you get an APC H15 or a Furman voltage regulator / conditioner that keeps the voltage within that safer range for sensitive digital electronics.

 

[highfigh]

That voltage range is acceptable within 5% of the 120V norm.
If it varied beyond the +/-5%, I would suggest that you get an APC H15 or a Furman voltage regulator / conditioner that keeps the voltage within that safer range for sensitive digital electronics.

They're in range if the voltage is +/- 10%. It seems like nit-picking, but they sell power, not voltage. 10% won't hurt anything unless it's extremely sensitive and the voltage peaks sharply, often. Remember- it can peak negative, too.

 

[Verdinut]

They're in range if the voltage is +/- 10%. It seems like nit-picking, but they sell power, not voltage. 10% won't hurt anything unless it's extremely sensitive and the voltage peaks sharply, often. Remember- it can peak negative, too.

Maybe acceptable for digital electronics, but 108V is not very good for a 120V motor nevertheless.