CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Zolzar]

Yes. #12AWG all around.

Thank you!

John

[Zolzar]

I have installed the isolation transformer and this thing is much louder than I anticipated. Unfortunately I have no choice but to install it in the utility area right where my HT equipment rack is located. It's actually mounted to the chimney which is sending the "hum" right up the house. I'll install some rubber isolation to help out with that but do you guys think a hush box with a push pull fan arrangement would work to shut this thing up a little?

John

[Zolzar]

Whew! This thing is also humming away at 124 degrees F. Is this normal?

[Nashou66]

How loud is yours? Mine can be heard but its no louder than say a ballast in some fluorescent 8 foot long fixtures.
I wonder if the plates of the transformer are loose ad causing more hum than normal. Can you try to tighten the
bolts that go through the plates ? Just a quarter turn or less might reduce hum. make sure you turn off power first.

I have mine mounted on a wood 2x12 shelf and then have it sitting on rubber feet.

I think the hollow chimney is amplifying your hum. Isn't there another way to mount it? Like make a shelf that hangs
from the ceiling with chains. You could hang the chains with Isolation mounts used for dropped ceilings.

Mine runs warm to the touch. It might be close to your temp, that shouldn't hurt.

Also thinking back I think mine became more quiet over time, probably as the plates settled into place.

Athanasios

[Nashou66]

Oh and John, what are the specs of yours? Amps, voltage etc. mine is a 5kv that puts out about 42 amps. I used 8 gauge from my main panel to the transformer with a 40 Amp fuse. Id use the same size fuse or close to it's amp rating.

Athanasios

[Zolzar]

Nash,
First off, thank you so much for your dedication to the hobby! I know I don't login/post every day but I don't miss a day reading the forum and know who the real people are that keep this CRT thing going. Just wonder how many people like me are sitting silent in the corners just enjoying.

At one meter I am measuring 56 decibels. It's now pushing 137 F.

The Topaz transformer is rated at 2000 Volt Amp. 18.5 amp max. It is new/never used and is starting to smell a little. .... I'm sure that is normal for a new set of windings.

I think I'm becoming more concerned with the heat output that the "hum". Maybe I'll mount this thing in my air handler and take care of the household heating for the season. LOL.

I'm going to double check what the electrician wired up. I gave a buddy of mine some extra work but needed a little guidance. I'll double check and make sure he hit the right taps on the transformer just to be sure.

John

[Nashou66]

I dont have a thermometer here to measure mine. But i know its not that high. I can keep my hand on it for a long time.

Also i don't thing its anywhere near 56db's. I need to find my Radio Shack meter.

Since its new I bet your just needs to "settle" in. The Smell could be some sort of anti corrosion chemical
evaporating off due to the heat.

mine was used and very old.

Athanasios

[Zolzar]

Ok, I can barely touch this thing. It's hot! I did use my radio shack 33-2050 meter on C weighting/Slow response to measure the sound at one meter. I'll give it some time to settle in since it is "right out of the box" and report back. I will kill the breaker at bedtime since I'm a litter nervous letting this thing "hum" away considering it's running temp.

I'd hope to post some pictures of the HT soon. I worked hard chipping away the basement floor to hide the wires under the concrete for the floor mounted Marquee 8501. I measured and measured and the floor mount was the only option. I'm happy with it and so is my wife......by biggest critic....couldn't have gotten this far without her........and of course all of the members of this forum.

You guys have no idea how much I have learned/applied in all my years reading your posts from AVS to Curtpalme.com. I just wish I had more to give back.

John

[Nashou66]

It shouldn't get that Hot!! Can you post pics of the schematic for it? it might be on the cover somewhere. Or give me the model number so I can look it up.

Athanasios

[Zolzar]

I'm going to shut it down. I'll post pics of the schematic. Bed time but I'll post pic tomorrow.

John

[Boilermaker]

John - Sorry for the late post, but I'm a little behind.

Yes - Shut it down. It is probably wired incorrectly as the hum should be very minor and it should never, ever get hot to the touch.
Post the wiring schematic on the unit and we can get it all worked out. Also, approximately what is your total connected load?

Bob

[Zolzar]

Approximate load is 1180 plus a few wall warts for the cable box, DVR, Extron, and HD Fury.

I checked the wiring since I wasn't involved in wiring it up. It is correctly wired on the H and X sides but something seems strange to me with the grounds. I could be wrong though.

Topaz Escort 68200-08

Ground comes in and lands on the H Ground terminal. H Ground terminal is hooked up with a jumper(factory) to X Ground Terminal. X Ground Terminal is then sending ground to my outlets. Also, X Ground is jumped (factory) to X0 (neutral).



John

[Nashou66]

With my set up I can touch the ground and hot wire and not get shocked. I think yours is connected wrong in that respect.

Bob gave a great description on my thread " How to add an Isolation transformer to your system".

Do this try to hook up a light socket with two wires coming out to test if voltage is on Ground. Or use a Analog Multimeter as digital will show erroneous voltage on ground. Connect the light to hot and neutral it should light, then connect to hot and ground it should not light up.


EDIT: here is how I set up mine, scroll down for bobs description.

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134183#134183http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=134183#134183


Athanasios

[Zolzar]

Ok. I put the meter on this thing and I do get voltage when I connect hot and ground. 120VAC. This would be correct considering that the neutral output is jumped to ground on the X side as shown in the print.

John

[Nashou66]

Right, some would say my way is not up to code but with an isolation transformer they are made to be a its own power source. if you read my thread further you'll see al the arguing. Both side make good points. Bob used to instal these things into Hospitals , where micro shock can kill a patient, just a few millivolts. I trust his input here and have had no issues with my installation.

But we have to know who the secondaries and primaries are wired up. I doubt having the ground connected to neutral would cause that much extra heat.

Athanasios

[David_Web]

"Approximate load is 1180 plus a few wall warts for the cable box, DVR, Extron, and HD Fury. "

Is that 1180W or 1180VA?
If it's W then you could be pulling 2400VA from it which would explain both the noise and heat.
You have to factor in "power factor" when sizing equipment.
The slightest DC present will also saturate the core and make it run hotter.
So measure that as well.

[Boilermaker]

#1 - You're connected load is probably too large, which would explain both heat and noise. The noise is coming from the laminations which are acting like a loudspeaker.

#2 - You need to disconnect the bond between ground and neutral on the secondary side. With this bond, it is no longer isolated, and you are getting almost no benefit from the transformer.

Since you already own it, I would selectively remove the large loads and use normal power for them. Most likely your large loads are power amplifiers.

I would use the x-former only for your projector, and all the small signal devices such as disc players, preamps, processors, satellite receivers, stb's, etc. These devices are also more prone to problems with ground loops.

But, absolutely remove the ground bond on the secondary!


Bob

[Zolzar]

1180 watts.

Removed the jumper and turned it on wit. With all loads removed. It's still humming away. I'm not shure what to do at this point but remove it from the circuit.

John

[Nashou66]

Keep it running with no power draw on and see how hot it gets.

Athanasios

[Zolzar]

I ran it for an hour with no load. It got slightly warm so there's a huge improvement there but I never did any testing immediately after removing the jumper on the secondary from the neutral to ground. Regardless the hum is still there despite tightening up the chassis. Slight improvement but most definitely unacceptable.

At this point in time I'm going to bypass the transformer and return to the original wiring setup until later. I have a Marquee issue that needs to be addressed in a new thread.

Thank you for all you input in to help me try and improve my output.

John