Thank you for reminding me of proper trouble shooting techniques. Last night I had one to many and when my friend and I got around to dealing with this issue we both just said screw it just purchase a regenerator. And we went back to drinking. LOL.
Moving forward instead of referring to my friend as the guy who works for the power company I will use his first name which is Ken.
Back to the problem:
1. I uncoiled the extension cord and the Cary powered on without a problem. So it works both coiled and uncoiled.
2. The 50’ extension cord has the following information imprinted on the jacket 16/3. I assume that means 16 gauge times three wires. The jacket diameter is 5/16”. I’d have to cut the cord to get the actual gauge of the wire.
3. I have tried it with shorter extension cords from 3 feet to 20 feet with approximately the same diameter and it does not work.
“I ask because of the test you performed where just as the breaker tripped you notice the voltage dipped from 118V to 112V. The VD, voltage drop, was due to a spike in current. Was it the protection relay switching in the Cary amp?”
4. Not sure what you are asking the 15amp breaker which is the on/off switch for the breaker trips it to the off position when I noticed this drop. Remember this happends after i go from standby mode to Active mode.
"Does it mean that the safety ground pin on the outlets is not connected to anything, so that the safety ground pin on the amplifier's power plug is not connected to ground through the power wiring? If so, that would be number 1 on my list of things to focus on in relation to the problem. It would also be a serious code violation and a serious safety hazard.”
5. Ken confirmed that all of my outlets in the apartment are grounding directly to metal wall boxes and conduit by design - negating the need for ground wiring including the circuit breaker box.
"I'd really like *him* to re-check the voltage from the outlet's LINE (smaller slot), to the GROUND pin and report the voltage. He's previously stated there's no stray voltage between the NEUTRAL and GROUND, so I'd like him to check for "resistance" between the outlet's NEUTRAL (larger slot)and GROUND if able."
6. Voltage from the “smaller" slot to the "ground" slot is 118 volts.
7. Resistance (Using the Omega setting on the volt meter) between Neutral (Large Slot) and Ground slot jumps between 13 and 17 units.
"To rule any chance of noise on the safety equipment ground I would think, for test purposes, a ground cheater could be installed on the power cord of the Cary Amp. With the problem the OP is having, unique only with his apartment, proper shutdown and power up could just be enough for the breaker to hold."
8. I tied a ground cheater plug with the stock power cord and the problem occurred.
"I would recommend the OP power up the amp with the 50' extension cord power off by putting the amp in "standby" first then turn off the switch/breaker. Remove the 50' cord and plug the amp directly into the wall receptacle. Wait at least 5 minutes to power up the amp again. (Power supply caps should be bled off by then?) I would then turn on the switch/breaker and see what happens. Hopefully the 20 second timeline will pass with no breaker trip event. If the breaker does not trip, fingers crossed, I would not get in any big hurry to push the power button on the front of the amp that starts the sequence to power up the amp in the "Active Mode". Wait at least a few minutes or so."
9. The breaker only trips after I take the unit out of standby mode and put it into “Active Mode”. I am powering the amp in the following manner. I first turn the circuit breaker switch from the off position to the on position. I then press the button on the front of the unit which takes it out to standby mode into the Active Mode”. Without the extension cord the 15 amp ON OFF circuit breaker switch on the back of the unit trips to the off position. After it switched to the off position I put the unit back into standby mode (pressing the front button to standby) and start the process over again. Not sure if your reccomendation is valid.
"Sailcappy, is there any chance that you can borrow a different conditioner from someone? Also, if by any chance you know someone who has an oscilloscope, and is knowledgeable about how to use it, a good experiment would be to view the AC waveform on it, and set it to trigger at a level a little higher than the nominal peak of the AC waveform (which is around 170 volts). Then see if it triggers, and what it captures if it does trigger."
10. Ken is working on getting a oscilloscope to test
11. I don’t know anyone in NYC to borrow a different power conditioner. I will ask a dealer to see if they will assist.
Moving forward instead of referring to my friend as the guy who works for the power company I will use his first name which is Ken.
Back to the problem:
1. I uncoiled the extension cord and the Cary powered on without a problem. So it works both coiled and uncoiled.
2. The 50’ extension cord has the following information imprinted on the jacket 16/3. I assume that means 16 gauge times three wires. The jacket diameter is 5/16”. I’d have to cut the cord to get the actual gauge of the wire.
3. I have tried it with shorter extension cords from 3 feet to 20 feet with approximately the same diameter and it does not work.
“I ask because of the test you performed where just as the breaker tripped you notice the voltage dipped from 118V to 112V. The VD, voltage drop, was due to a spike in current. Was it the protection relay switching in the Cary amp?”
4. Not sure what you are asking the 15amp breaker which is the on/off switch for the breaker trips it to the off position when I noticed this drop. Remember this happends after i go from standby mode to Active mode.
"Does it mean that the safety ground pin on the outlets is not connected to anything, so that the safety ground pin on the amplifier's power plug is not connected to ground through the power wiring? If so, that would be number 1 on my list of things to focus on in relation to the problem. It would also be a serious code violation and a serious safety hazard.”
5. Ken confirmed that all of my outlets in the apartment are grounding directly to metal wall boxes and conduit by design - negating the need for ground wiring including the circuit breaker box.
"I'd really like *him* to re-check the voltage from the outlet's LINE (smaller slot), to the GROUND pin and report the voltage. He's previously stated there's no stray voltage between the NEUTRAL and GROUND, so I'd like him to check for "resistance" between the outlet's NEUTRAL (larger slot)and GROUND if able."
6. Voltage from the “smaller" slot to the "ground" slot is 118 volts.
7. Resistance (Using the Omega setting on the volt meter) between Neutral (Large Slot) and Ground slot jumps between 13 and 17 units.
"To rule any chance of noise on the safety equipment ground I would think, for test purposes, a ground cheater could be installed on the power cord of the Cary Amp. With the problem the OP is having, unique only with his apartment, proper shutdown and power up could just be enough for the breaker to hold."
8. I tied a ground cheater plug with the stock power cord and the problem occurred.
"I would recommend the OP power up the amp with the 50' extension cord power off by putting the amp in "standby" first then turn off the switch/breaker. Remove the 50' cord and plug the amp directly into the wall receptacle. Wait at least 5 minutes to power up the amp again. (Power supply caps should be bled off by then?) I would then turn on the switch/breaker and see what happens. Hopefully the 20 second timeline will pass with no breaker trip event. If the breaker does not trip, fingers crossed, I would not get in any big hurry to push the power button on the front of the amp that starts the sequence to power up the amp in the "Active Mode". Wait at least a few minutes or so."
9. The breaker only trips after I take the unit out of standby mode and put it into “Active Mode”. I am powering the amp in the following manner. I first turn the circuit breaker switch from the off position to the on position. I then press the button on the front of the unit which takes it out to standby mode into the Active Mode”. Without the extension cord the 15 amp ON OFF circuit breaker switch on the back of the unit trips to the off position. After it switched to the off position I put the unit back into standby mode (pressing the front button to standby) and start the process over again. Not sure if your reccomendation is valid.
"Sailcappy, is there any chance that you can borrow a different conditioner from someone? Also, if by any chance you know someone who has an oscilloscope, and is knowledgeable about how to use it, a good experiment would be to view the AC waveform on it, and set it to trigger at a level a little higher than the nominal peak of the AC waveform (which is around 170 volts). Then see if it triggers, and what it captures if it does trigger."
10. Ken is working on getting a oscilloscope to test
11. I don’t know anyone in NYC to borrow a different power conditioner. I will ask a dealer to see if they will assist.
