After witnessing what I did this evening I became curious as to what Furman claims the maximum overvoltage protection to be on their pro line of power conditioners/surge protectors.
The overvoltage shutdown for the PL-8 is listed as 140VAC
According to this customer plug at Musician's Friend:
Thanks to the Series Multi-Stage Protection Plus (SMP+) circuit in the Series II conditioners, damaging transient voltages are safely absorbed, clamped, and dissipated. Surge after surge, the unit will keep protecting itself and your gear. Furman's over-voltage circuitry even protects your gear from damage due to accidental connection to 220V outlets by shutting off the incoming power until it is corrected. With the Furman Series II conditioners, you can just put one in your rack and count on protected clean power forever. No more worries.
What actually happened was:
A sound company arrived for set up at an outdoor benefit concert in the parking lot of a local bar. The head guy went looking for an outlet and found what looked like a normal 117V box mounted to the bottom of a metal halide light just to the side of the stage. Instead of pulling out his voltmeter he asked the bar owner if the outlet was 120V and took it on good faith that it was when the bar owner told him "yes". It was not. 210V ate his Furman alive - fire literally shot out of the back of the unit - and went on to take out his entire rack of dynamics processing. 8 channels of EQ, compression and gates plus one powered sub! He might have had better luck with a lightning strike.
I'm wondering if there was some other factor involved or if the overvoltage protection circuit can't be counted on doing what it claims. Anyone else seen a failure like this?
The overvoltage shutdown for the PL-8 is listed as 140VAC
According to this customer plug at Musician's Friend:
Thanks to the Series Multi-Stage Protection Plus (SMP+) circuit in the Series II conditioners, damaging transient voltages are safely absorbed, clamped, and dissipated. Surge after surge, the unit will keep protecting itself and your gear. Furman's over-voltage circuitry even protects your gear from damage due to accidental connection to 220V outlets by shutting off the incoming power until it is corrected. With the Furman Series II conditioners, you can just put one in your rack and count on protected clean power forever. No more worries.
What actually happened was:
A sound company arrived for set up at an outdoor benefit concert in the parking lot of a local bar. The head guy went looking for an outlet and found what looked like a normal 117V box mounted to the bottom of a metal halide light just to the side of the stage. Instead of pulling out his voltmeter he asked the bar owner if the outlet was 120V and took it on good faith that it was when the bar owner told him "yes". It was not. 210V ate his Furman alive - fire literally shot out of the back of the unit - and went on to take out his entire rack of dynamics processing. 8 channels of EQ, compression and gates plus one powered sub! He might have had better luck with a lightning strike.
I'm wondering if there was some other factor involved or if the overvoltage protection circuit can't be counted on doing what it claims. Anyone else seen a failure like this?
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