Briz Vegas Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) I just ran a meter on my power for the first time. Midday today I was getting 246.3 to 247.3 volts. I understand that Australia went from 240 to 230 volts in 2000 but that the infrastructure has not been changed. In my area the substation was only upgraded in the past 6 months to double it's previous size. You would think that the new substation would be up to spec. I'm pretty sure the system has been sounding better but to be honest I have made too many upgrades to be sure. I will be running the voltage test at various times over the next week. The highish voltage might go part way to explain why I have power issues with fuses and a preamp problem, or maybe not. I understood low voltage was particularly problematic but that is not the issue today clearly. PS, regarding the preamp, Caxton Audio have been excellent as usual. Despite the short week my pre amp was assessed, repaired and tested ready to go within a week. Excellent service. Edited October 12, 2013 by Briz Vegas
Nada Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 try reading your AC voltage late at night when the demand settles down - your likely to get >252VAC the Aussie standard is rather "flexible" 230V gets us in line globally but practically nothing has changed and the standard allows 230v -6% or +10% to allow 253VAC to be just fine. Be kind to your preamp. Eric McChanson's 240V to 220V step down transformer
aechmea Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 247 - 252v ever since they put new grey boxy thingos on some of the poles in the street. Previously 213 - 233v with pretty wild fluctuation. Low power devices like spinners and pre/processors etc. get exactly 240v from a Thor PS10. Power amps plug directly into the wall.
L J T Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Post code 4017 in Brisbane 239 is the lowest I have seen it. 249 is the highest I have seen it.
DoggieHowser Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 I've been using a set of Pure Power battery powered re generators to get 230V rock solid. 1
bzr Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 I've been using a set of Pure Power battery powered re generators to get 230V rock solid. I've just got the Pure Power+ 3000, have everything running through it & have the same results, just great.
DoggieHowser Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Who's selling PP now in Australia? Just checked the PP readout - input voltage in QLD 4154 is about 248-251V.
Jventer Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Who's selling PP now in Australia? Absolute Hi End 1
Monk Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Okay, silly question time, what do you need to do this?
Benje Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Voltage could be higher during daylight hours if there are a lot of PV systems near you and the weather isn't hot or cold, ie low Airconditioning loads. It shouldn't exceed 253 v as the PV inverters are meant to prevent adding more volts to the system in such situations. I understand that I a lot of local PV adds to the local voltage. Benje
rocky500 Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 241v to 247v in tuart hill 6060 at the moment. I see upto 251V into the night.
LogicprObe Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Okay, silly question time, what do you need to do this? Just something like this. Set it to the 500V AC range and stick the prongs into the power outlet! http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM1502&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=1060#1 1
Sir Triode Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 I get a stable 251V from my outlets. Doesn't seem to vary at all.
ThirdDrawerDown Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Next suburb over from point cook, anything from 230 to 260. 267 just before the most recent blackout. Apparently a Chinese billionaire owns half each of the two power distributors in Melbourne, the big ones I mean. I suspect he cares not one whit.
Addicted to music Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 There is a brand new gas powered generator that's in Laverton, just outside the kororoit Creek Road turn of from the West Gate. That's what supplies the the Western suburb in Melb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverton_North_Power_Station
ThirdDrawerDown Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 Hi pchan I drive past that plant often. I meant the electricity wholesalers ( distributors) are the problem. There's a couple of big players to give the illusion of market forces but its a monopsony supported by goldplating. Iwouldn't care except they can't deliver 240 v plus/ minus 5 volts reliably. In fact I think by law 225 to 255 is considered to be within tolerance. But they can't even do that reliably.
Addicted to music Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 It's just hit 250, It's no wonder I tell the family unit to physically disconnect when not in use. It's also why the product I support are all DC components, there are no AC electromechanical devices employed hence stability and reliability independent of mains.
Briz Vegas Posted October 12, 2013 Author Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) I got up to 248.3v late last night so it didn't change that much from the 247.3 I was getting earlier. OFF TOPIC. I was up after midnight due to a marathon listening session with my repaired preamp. David at Caxton Audio replaced a full set of diodes on my Conrad Johnson CT5 rather than just the faulty one, as is good practice in these circumstances I was told. People often report that recapping returns their gear to spec with nice sonic improvements. I had similar results with this repair. It sounded a bit shut in to start with but I also got the impression that the amp was performing better in the bass, the sound was bigger and smoother, there was more emotion to vocals........maybe more detail, maybe less detail. This confusion was partly because the highs were rolled off quite noticeably. This was a little unsettling so I decided to run it all evening hoping it might need "running in". I was told that the replaced diodes were massively over the required spec for the job they had to do but the original spec was retained in the repair. By mid evening things had opened up, highs were back and the sound had pretty much returned to what I was familiar with since my last upgrade (XPS2 power supply on DAC), BUT the extra detail, bass, real ness from the system just kept me listening until 1.30am. Really really happy with this repair, it's like an upgrade. The system now rocks harder, plays louder without strain, and every second track I was either hearing new refined detail or layers to music. Emotion and nuance from vocals are also much better. The detail was not at the expense of the improvements in " musicality" that I noticed when I first fired up the system. Of course this is what you would hope given that the CT5 is an expensive preamp full of high quality components like Teflon caps. I even pulled out some Miles Davis ( almost every audiophile over 40 has Kind of Blue in their collection) and the upright bass sounded fabulous. Very happy camper, if a little tired. Edited October 12, 2013 by Briz Vegas 1
Nada Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 In the Over-voltage Challenge 2013 Mr Chan is clearly in the lead with a crafty 256.3VAC scored early on a Sunday morning with minimal draw conditions from the grid. At this stage there seem to be no contenders able to come close to challenging this. However its a sunny day in Brisbane with the plague of home PV systems polluting the grid and upping the voltage. Will QLD get up?
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