Electricity & surges?

[garnerb350]

I moved my cab into a small trailer...I guess that most trailers have one circurt that runs power throughout the place...
Well my problem is this... My cab is just a PC, Monitor, PC speakers, flouresenct lights for cabs...and all are plugged into a Smartstrip....the smart strip is plugged into the wall...

Now 4 feet away is another receptale with an A/C window unit. I noticed that when the unit turns on..I would see the lights from the marquee flash on and off... kinda of trippy....

Well i went to go play the other day and the lights wouldnt work....so i guess the bulbs blew...but then i noticed that my "on " light for the speakers flashed on....so i went and i turned off the smartstrip when i am not playing....

Can anybody explain this...and any solutions? Has anybody ever encountered this?

[bkenobi]

The two are either on the same circuit or they share a neutral wire.  I have the same thing in my house and when the cab turns on, the lights in the room flicker.  The fix is to either rewire or buy a large stock of light bulbs.  I chose to buy more bulbs (~$2 each) rather than rewire (~$2000).   

[Ed_McCarron]

Yeah, AC compressors are relatively high load devices that can easily cause a brownout.

If you're worried about it, you need to look at putting the cab on a different circuit; and depending on the wiring leading into the panel it may still be an issue.

UPS?  Dunno if an offline ups will help with a dropout that quick, but a line interactive or true online one should smooth it right out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842107140&cm_re=ups-_-42-107-140-_-Product

This one looks to be line-interactive.  Probably a ferro-resonant transformer to help smooth out variations in mains power.

[BobA]

You might also run a separate circuit to your trailer for your arcade cab.  Depends on if you have access to another circuit in your yard.