mellowgerman
Senior Member
Hello all, I was hoping that maybe someone who has experience with this kind of device (possibly having worked on some before?) might have a suggestion for trouble-shooting. About 3 years ago I picked up a Furman M-8x AR voltage regulator, with the intention of protecting my valuable bass rig, from the presumably iffy old wiring of the house we lived in at the time.
New, these units were around $650, but there was a B-stock model available for around $380 if I recall correctly. It was from a well-reputed retailer, so I decided to go for it. Once it arrived, I mounted it in the rack-case with my amp, plugged everything in, and it seemed to work just as designed and intended. In terms of set-up it's no different than a power strip. There is only an on/off switch, a series of outlets, and the power cable that plugs into the wall.
Anyway, about 6 months down the line, something went wrong. During that whole time it was only used at my house, responsibly, safely, gently, etc. It was never dropped, abused, sunken in a bathtub, etc. That day, I was using it in my music room and everything was working perfectly. It was plugged into the same circuit that my phone, lap-top, lamp, etc were plugged into. No issues. All good. Then when my band-mates arrived for rehearsal, I turned off the amp, moved it into the living room where we set up for rehearsal as always. Once again, there were plenty of other devices plugged into the same circuit. This time the guitarist's amp, my TV, our digital clock, another lamp, etc. When I flipped the power switch to turn on my rig this time though, the green "Protection OK" light came on, the little voltage meter portion was not lighting up. None of my gear was getting power. Again though, there was no indication what-so-ever that any issue had occurred. The lights didn't flicker, none of the other devices acted weird in any way, there was no hiss, hum, pop, boom, zip, nothing. Just that this supposedly SUPER RUGGED, ULTIMATE PROTECTOR AND INVINCIBLE TAMER OF ELECTRICITY was not letting power pass, nor was it indicating that anything was wrong via it's multiple warning lights. I tried different outlets throughout the house, every now and again, but the same result. I did notice that the "High EV" warning indicator super faintly blips right as I flip the switch, but it's so quick and faint that you can hardly catch it. This happens right as the green "Protection OK" light turns on. Again though, absolutely none of the other devices that were plugged in throughout my house took any damage or gave any indication of electrical issues. I would think if there was a problem at that moment with the electrical, bad enough to kill this 25 lbs behemoth, designed to be the ultimate protector of electrical equipment, it would have fried at least one other of the dinky cheap devices, right? Like the digital wall clock maybe? Or the computer speakers? Or the crappy desk lamp? Nope, everything was fine.
Both attempts to reached out to Furman, went completely unanswered and ignored. I was very polite in my email, humbly requesting any insight, suggestions, or referrals to any potential solution or somebody who could help. I would even have been happy to pay a repair service. Nothin but nothin... just like the Voltage Regulator. Like father, like son apparently.
So today when I was rearranging one of our storage closets, I came across the ol' power regulator, neatly tucked away in it's original packaging and stashed in the closet. I tried it out again, but of course, same result.
Now, I don't really have much of a need for this device these days since the power at this house, that we bought 2 years ago, is pretty good as far as I can tell. That said, before I throw this hunk of metal away, I figured I'd ask here and maybe over at talkbass as well, if any experienced folks might have a suggestion. I figure this can't be a super complicated device, right? I'm not saying I want to open it up and attempt to fix it myself, but do you guys think this could be worth taking to an electrician or an amp shop maybe? Since I don't really have a use for it, I'd hate to stick another $80+ of hourly expert pay into it, just for somebody to tell me that it's dead. That said, if the general consensus was that it shouldn't be hard to fix, I'd rather not just send it off into a land-fill.
So again, any advice, thoughts, ideas, or even good electrical failure puns would be greatly appreciated!
New, these units were around $650, but there was a B-stock model available for around $380 if I recall correctly. It was from a well-reputed retailer, so I decided to go for it. Once it arrived, I mounted it in the rack-case with my amp, plugged everything in, and it seemed to work just as designed and intended. In terms of set-up it's no different than a power strip. There is only an on/off switch, a series of outlets, and the power cable that plugs into the wall.
Anyway, about 6 months down the line, something went wrong. During that whole time it was only used at my house, responsibly, safely, gently, etc. It was never dropped, abused, sunken in a bathtub, etc. That day, I was using it in my music room and everything was working perfectly. It was plugged into the same circuit that my phone, lap-top, lamp, etc were plugged into. No issues. All good. Then when my band-mates arrived for rehearsal, I turned off the amp, moved it into the living room where we set up for rehearsal as always. Once again, there were plenty of other devices plugged into the same circuit. This time the guitarist's amp, my TV, our digital clock, another lamp, etc. When I flipped the power switch to turn on my rig this time though, the green "Protection OK" light came on, the little voltage meter portion was not lighting up. None of my gear was getting power. Again though, there was no indication what-so-ever that any issue had occurred. The lights didn't flicker, none of the other devices acted weird in any way, there was no hiss, hum, pop, boom, zip, nothing. Just that this supposedly SUPER RUGGED, ULTIMATE PROTECTOR AND INVINCIBLE TAMER OF ELECTRICITY was not letting power pass, nor was it indicating that anything was wrong via it's multiple warning lights. I tried different outlets throughout the house, every now and again, but the same result. I did notice that the "High EV" warning indicator super faintly blips right as I flip the switch, but it's so quick and faint that you can hardly catch it. This happens right as the green "Protection OK" light turns on. Again though, absolutely none of the other devices that were plugged in throughout my house took any damage or gave any indication of electrical issues. I would think if there was a problem at that moment with the electrical, bad enough to kill this 25 lbs behemoth, designed to be the ultimate protector of electrical equipment, it would have fried at least one other of the dinky cheap devices, right? Like the digital wall clock maybe? Or the computer speakers? Or the crappy desk lamp? Nope, everything was fine.
Both attempts to reached out to Furman, went completely unanswered and ignored. I was very polite in my email, humbly requesting any insight, suggestions, or referrals to any potential solution or somebody who could help. I would even have been happy to pay a repair service. Nothin but nothin... just like the Voltage Regulator. Like father, like son apparently.
So today when I was rearranging one of our storage closets, I came across the ol' power regulator, neatly tucked away in it's original packaging and stashed in the closet. I tried it out again, but of course, same result.
Now, I don't really have much of a need for this device these days since the power at this house, that we bought 2 years ago, is pretty good as far as I can tell. That said, before I throw this hunk of metal away, I figured I'd ask here and maybe over at talkbass as well, if any experienced folks might have a suggestion. I figure this can't be a super complicated device, right? I'm not saying I want to open it up and attempt to fix it myself, but do you guys think this could be worth taking to an electrician or an amp shop maybe? Since I don't really have a use for it, I'd hate to stick another $80+ of hourly expert pay into it, just for somebody to tell me that it's dead. That said, if the general consensus was that it shouldn't be hard to fix, I'd rather not just send it off into a land-fill.
So again, any advice, thoughts, ideas, or even good electrical failure puns would be greatly appreciated!