Power Fluctuation between 210V to 230V - do i need to invest in CVT/servo

[raja2001]

Have been doing lot of reading about CVT/servo transformers in this forum which has been discussed many times.

Started measuring the power fluctuations in my area in bangalore south to see how bad or how good is it.

In a given hour it varies about +/- 10V.

At 6pm - 210V
At 7pm - 220V
At 11pm - 230V
At 2am - 235V
At 11am - 215V

Within a short interval of 5-10minutes, havent seen it vary more than 1-2 V. It is possible that it is winter now and in summer things might get worse.

Have a Denon AVR, Epson Projector, Sony PS3, Voladyne SW, Sony LED TV to protect. Do you folks feel i need to get a CVR or a servo transformer for this type of fluctuation - what is considered bad or sort of a thumb rule with variations in voltage to go in for a CVT or servo.

If this variation is tolerable, i will just invest in a UPS for now for the projector.

please let me know if any of you are in the south bangalore/jayanagar/jp nagar area and have faced issues with fluctuations.

Am using this V-guard stabilizer 4 KVA model (http://www.vguard.in/stabilizer/voltage-stabilizers/stabilisers.htm#AC) right now. Above output measure is directly off the mains and not after stabilizer.

 

[baijuxavior]

That voltage range is one I'm dreaming of. In my place the voltage fluctuates between 140 - 220. At night the voltage can fall below 120V. Worst case is the sudden drop in voltage from say 220V to 150V. In my opinion, you don't need to install a servo stab/CVT. If you want buy a vguard digi series stabilizer. Also use a good quality spike buster.

 

[anilva]

Depends on how much you value your equipment. Servo/CVT is better than normal stabilizers. However you need to make sure that there is surge/spike protection in one form or the other, as surge/spike is more dangerous than normal voltage fluctuations.

Cheers.

 

[raja2001]

Hi Anilva,

It was not clear to me if servo/CVT are recommended when voltage varies beyond 1%/5%/10%/? of the recommended rating for the devices.

For example if my device is rated for 220V/50Hz. To me it appears like 10V variance seen at my residence should be within tolerable limits for the device as it is just +/- 5%.

Have tried reading the manuals of the devices, but they dont talk much about the power part.

So wanted to seek opinion on if the servo/CVT is recommended only when variance is larger than 10% of recommended value - basically what is the threshold for decided to get these devices ?

Will surely invest in a surge protector. Reading the forum appears like Belkin gold series 8 socket is a good choice.

thanks.

 

[raja2001]

Hi Baiju,

wow ! that is some variance in the input voltage ! I will read up if the digi stabilizer is different than the one i have from v-guard and invest in one.

Dont mind going for servo/CVT if it is really necessary.

thanks.

 

[Kittu]

@raja,

Check this thread.

http://www.hifivision.com/audio-vid...er-games-servo-stabilizer-cvt-online-ups.html

 

[Shivam]

In a given hour it varies about +/- 10V.

At 6pm - 210V
At 7pm - 220V
At 11pm - 230V
At 2am - 235V
At 11am - 215V

Within a short interval of 5-10minutes, havent seen it vary more than 1-2 V.

With that kind of voltage, I would rather buy just a power conditioner with surge suppressor and that's all.

 

[prankey]

I agree, no need to invest in anything else than a decent surge suppressor. Get a UPS which may also have surge suppression built in (most Microtek Home UPS's do).

 

[raja2001]

Thanks all. Based on the feedback, will look for

1. Surge protector from Belkin.
2. UPS - we already have plans to install UPS for the whole home, so probably will invest is a good one that will help my projector etc as well.
3. Will check further on the power conditioner, want to buy some monitoring device for this, so see how bad is it.

 

[Shivam]

If you plan for a UPS then make sure that it has pure sinewave output and not square wave or hexagonal waves (which are frequently marketed as sinewave too).

 

[ValueBuyer]

If you plan for a UPS then make sure that it has pure sinewave output and not square wave or hexagonal waves (which are frequently marketed as sinewave too).

How to find out whether it is sine wave or hexagonal wave.

 

[Shivam]

How to find out whether it is sine wave or hexagonal wave.

Either go through the detailed specifications if the company is trust worthy. Microtek for example names a lot of UPS/inverters as sinewave but in specifications lists them as trapezoidal waves. Similarly a few of the international companies also do so.

The best method is obviously to check with an Oscilloscope.