Good evening all, I am in the process of researching a Line
Filter/Conditioner or in more general terms a Mains filter. I got
this idea when I saw Best Buy charging $149USD for one.

Here is a link for one such device...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1533362 98823

Something a little more pricey...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1695121 07216
---

Schematics for a similar device, this is the one I refer to below.

http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/surge.htm

Another link for a similar device...

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nuukspot/...nditioner.html

So, I found the above website with basic schematics and a shopping
list for such a device. I mildly understand the science behind this
and feel confident building such a simple device. I do have some
questions though.

1.) I can't find the exact inductors that are mentioned in the page,
at least none in stock. I have found other Inductors that are
similar but have different uH ratings.

For instance he recommends 50uH @ 15A inductors, and I have found 56uH
@ 10.2A. I understand that I can't put any more than 10A current or
~1100W of power on this circuit but... Will this provide the same
filtering as the recommended versions? More over, if it will or will
not can you point me in the direction of an explanation?

2.) Will either of these devices help produce a conditioned and/or
constant voltage at 120V? I'm sure I am talking crazy but this is
what the sales guy was feeding me at the store.

Thanks everyone for any info you can provide.

Comments, flames, RTFM's and "have you tried google?" are always
accepted.

-sublemon

On 2009-05-21, sublemon sublemon wrote:
Good evening all, I am in the process of researching a Line
Filter/Conditioner or in more general terms a Mains filter. I got
this idea when I saw Best Buy charging $149USD for one.

Here is a link for one such device...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1533362 98823

Something a little more pricey...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1695121 07216

---

Schematics for a similar device, this is the one I refer to below.

http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/surge.htm

Another link for a similar device...

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nuukspot/...nditioner.html

So, I found the above website with basic schematics and a shopping
list for such a device. I mildly understand the science behind this
and feel confident building such a simple device. I do have some
questions though.

1.) I can't find the exact inductors that are mentioned in the page,
at least none in stock. I have found other Inductors that are
similar but have different uH ratings.

For instance he recommends 50uH @ 15A inductors, and I have found 56uH
@ 10.2A. I understand that I can't put any more than 10A current or
~1100W of power on this circuit but... Will this provide the same
filtering as the recommended versions? More over, if it will or will
not can you point me in the direction of an explanation?

the device pictured is for a 240V system, for 120V different MOVs
should be used. possibly different inductors too, I've not thought
that much through.

2.) Will either of these devices help produce a conditioned and/or
constant voltage at 120V? I'm sure I am talking crazy but this is
what the sales guy was feeding me at the store.

No, these devices do not regulate the voltage, they only remove very
short-term fluctuations from it. anthing that can be measured in
milliseconds (eg the voltage dip when you turn on a vacuum cleaner, or
circular saw) will get through.
and if the supply voltage is high or low the output will not be
noticeably better.

On 21 May 2009 08:31:24 GMT, Jasen Betts wrote:

On 2009-05-21, sublemon sublemon wrote:
Good evening all, I am in the process of researching a Line
Filter/Conditioner or in more general terms a Mains filter. I got
this idea when I saw Best Buy charging $149USD for one.

Here is a link for one such device...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1533362 98823

Something a little more pricey...
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1695121 07216

---

Schematics for a similar device, this is the one I refer to below.

http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/surge.htm

Another link for a similar device...

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/nuukspot/...nditioner.html

So, I found the above website with basic schematics and a shopping
list for such a device. I mildly understand the science behind this
and feel confident building such a simple device. I do have some
questions though.

1.) I can't find the exact inductors that are mentioned in the page,
at least none in stock. I have found other Inductors that are
similar but have different uH ratings.

For instance he recommends 50uH @ 15A inductors, and I have found 56uH
@ 10.2A. I understand that I can't put any more than 10A current or
~1100W of power on this circuit but... Will this provide the same
filtering as the recommended versions? More over, if it will or will
not can you point me in the direction of an explanation?

the device pictured is for a 240V system, for 120V different MOVs
should be used. possibly different inductors too, I've not thought
that much through.

2.) Will either of these devices help produce a conditioned and/or
constant voltage at 120V? I'm sure I am talking crazy but this is
what the sales guy was feeding me at the store.

No, these devices do not regulate the voltage, they only remove very
short-term fluctuations from it. anthing that can be measured in
milliseconds (eg the voltage dip when you turn on a vacuum cleaner, or
circular saw) will get through.
and if the supply voltage is high or low the output will not be
noticeably better.


@Jasen ... thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't expecting usenet to
come through so fast!

After reading your message I decided to do some more research and
found the information I needed. I was confused at first as to what I
was wanting and what the devices did.

I think what I was looking for was a conditioned or balanced power
source, but the transformers on the low end are about $110 US (Toroid
type) and about $350+ (brick style) on the higher end. And this is
for a +60/-60 that range from 800 to 2kVA. A lot of planning is in
order on my part to see what my system amperage and wattage will be.

I found that we have 120 on one leg of the power source and
essentially 0 on the other; according to a few web resources this
isn't completely bad, but allows for more EMI, etc, etc.

I have found plenty of resources on how to build a balanced system,
but if you or anyone else have some good suggestions for a setup I
would be very grateful for any info.

--sublemon