AVR sufficient for brownouts? (H10 line conditioner)

[Anonymous user]

I searched the forums and didn't see a close match, so here goes. I live in the Los Angeles area, which is subject to frequent brownouts during the summer when mid-afternoon energy demands are high. I cannot quantify the reduction in voltage or current available at a typical residential wall jack.

My question - is the Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) feature on products such as the H10 Line Conditioner sufficient for maintaining my plasma & AV receiver operations during an extended brownout? These two components sum up to ~500 Watts, which is half the rating on the H10 unit.

Some competitors talk about disconnecting the power once it sags below a predetermined level, but the APC product only discusses regulating voltage (not disconnecting). Am I sacrificing a level of protection by using a product which is only a regulator? Or am I misunderstanding the capabilities of the H10?

Thanks for any insight.

[BillP]

Hi NoHoCA,

The 500W is well within the H10's capability and the H10 will regulate as follows:
• Narrow AVR Range: 102-132 Volts,
Regulates to: 120 Volts +/- 5%
• Normal AVR Range: 97-139 Volts,
Regulates to: 120 Volts +/- 10%
• Wide AVR Range: 92-145 Volts,
Regulates to: 120 Volts +/- 15%

If the voltage drops the threshold you set then it will turn off the output and the Input LED will flash red to let you know that the input voltage is to low to sustain the load.

Also, the H10 is backed with a 5 year warranty on the unit itself and a lifetime Equipment Protection Policy up to $500,000 for connected equipment.

I hope that answers your questions.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks PowerMan. With that info I was able to find the matching settings page in the online user manual for the H10. Nice to see three user-selectable ranges.

When the voltage sags below the AVR range, will all the outlets be switched off? And does the AVR automatically reconnect the outlets once the voltage returns to the programmed range?

You might suggest to your marketing department that the disconnect feature is explicitly discussed in product literature (advertising and user manuals). Trusting your information is correct, your product is more competitive than it first appears...

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi NoHoCA,

When it the voltage drops it will shut off all the outlets and as soon as the power returns to the set range the H series will turn the outlets back on automatically.

I'll try to get this info over to the marketing department and hopefully they can do something about getting it added to the web site or manual.

Thank you for the suggestions and let me know if you have any other questions.