Felicia Balancing PowerConditioner Constructor's Thread

Occam · « **Reply #420 on:** 11 Apr 2007, 04:55 pm »

Christopher,

Yes, it would be straightforward to wire a Felicia as above -

1. The 'normal', 'reverse' phase switch(pink) would be configured as below (though I don't know whether it applies to the output or input)

2. The (baby blue) switch for output configuration would use a spdt, center off, switch, assuming your output is 'center tapped' hooked up as follows -
a. In the up position, ground, the green terminal, is connected via the switch to the center tap giving balanced/technical power.
b. In the center (no connection) the ground is hooked up to nothing for floating/isolated power
c. In the down position, the ground is hooked up to the 'bottom' of the output winding, re-bonding neutral to ground.

3. The yellow switch is an spst switch acting on the input. In the up position it connects the ground (green terminal) to nothing. In the down position it connects (re-bonds) that ground terminal to the input wiring's neutral. This, IMO, is unwise. If your outlet is miswired, its going to connect hot to ground, and will (hopefully) simply trip your that circuits fuse/breaker. If it is connected properly, it will re-bond neutral to ground, which is what neutral was set to in the first place. It may potentially cause a 'ground' loop.

You MUST fuse both inputs and output of both lines appropriately, 'hot' and 'neutral' (or fuse the inputs and put a GFCI on the output) of this unit, if you want a modicum of safety.

Folks, please realize that Christopher is in Japan, where normal mains sockets do not have safety grounds. In order to generate balanced power, one must have an external ground. Though for the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone with (code specified) no safety grounded mains would want to add such.

Christopher Witmer · « **Reply #421 on:** 11 Apr 2007, 11:06 pm »

I just asked the fellow who made the unit shown about the possibility of an accident with the yellow switch in the bottom position and he agreed it is a definite possibility, either through improper wiring of the outlet or even someone misconnecting an extension cord. He said that he never plugs it into an unknown outlet without checking the outlet's polarity first. If I ever implement such a "feature", I will definitely think carefully about how to implement it in such a way as to minimize the likelihood of an accident.

Folks, please realize that Christopher is in Japan, where normal mains sockets do not have safety grounds. In order to generate balanced power, one must have an external ground. Though for the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone with (code specified) no safety grounded mains would want to add such.

Well, I'm just so frustrated at the problems I have experienced over the years here that seem to me to be caused by lousy electricity. As much as possible, I'm going to follow your advice to start small and to do things incrementally, and I hope I'll have the sense to stop after I have realized the desired improvements and am no longer seeing additional returns from additional measures.

And then I'll write about my experiences in English and Japanese, post it online, get rid of the components I found have no need for, and live happily ever after . . .

Thanks for all your help.

Chris

Dougl · « **Reply #422 on:** 19 Apr 2007, 06:24 pm »

Is there a current preferred transformer as of April 2007?

I really admire the frugality displayed.

Doug

Occam · « **Reply #423 on:** 20 Apr 2007, 12:18 am »

Doug,

Sadly no. The Signal a41s do come up on Ebay with some frequency. In ebay do a search on
"signal transformer a41*"
and you'll see whats available. You want them that are A41-175-xx, where xx indicates the secondary voltage, preferably 24 or above.
5 A41-175-28 transformers went for about $21 within the last few weeks.
Frankly, given the bulk and limitations as to what Felicia can power, I've moved on to CMC filters flanked by X caps, which are far smaller, can power substantially larger current draws, inexpensive to build and IMO provide equivalent, if not better, performance. There is a picture of li'l Felix on the previous page and a link that gives the components.

Regards,
Paul

Christopher Witmer · « **Reply #424 on:** 24 Apr 2007, 11:53 am »

NEW (not pulled) Signal A41-175-28 transformers are being offered by Sarah Pritchard in Tucson Arizona for $5.50 each plus freight.

Sarah Pritchard's email:

sarah_8151 [at] yahoo [dot] com

You can check her feedback:
http://myworld.ebay.com/sarahp2768

As of this writing, she has about 60 units available. At these prices for brand new, unused trannies, I expect they'll move quickly.

Best regards,

Chris Witmer
Tokyo

imstoopid · « **Reply #425 on:** 28 Apr 2007, 12:20 am »

has anyone tried or considered using the signal M4L series??

I know you cannot get balanced power out, but would the same Felicia secondary filter network be effective for
these transformers.

I got 2 really cheap;
a -1 and -3 series for my line level gear.

I have a custom built 240/120 2.5 kva power unit that I use for my amps now and have filtered them with a 10uf/.47 uf combo. on the secondary side.

I'm trying to decided what would be best combination? my 2.5 with several filtered M4L's to isolate each piece of gear or ???
All my amps will be run off 240 now!

Christopher Witmer · « **Reply #426 on:** 28 Apr 2007, 01:07 am »

If you flip the M4L-3 around, you can get balanced power from it, since it has dual primaries. Since the transformer is designed with regulation in mind, flipping it around will affect the voltage output from the other side. (It will tend to be lower than what you would normally expect to get.) That may or may not be a problem, depending on your equipment.

BRN · « **Reply #427 on:** 28 Apr 2007, 03:35 am »

Quote from: Occam on 20 Apr 2007, 12:18 am

Frankly, given the bulk and limitations as to what Felicia can power, I've moved on to CMC filters flanked by X caps, which are far smaller, can power substantially larger current draws, inexpensive to build and IMO provide equivalent, if not better, performance. There is a picture of li'l Felix on the previous page and a link that gives the components.

Paul,

The li'l Felix sounds like it is just what I'm looking to use in my system. Reading through your posts you recommend the JW Miller CMC 8120 flanked with X rated caps on either side. What value caps do you find work the best? Also, would it be a good idea to use a dedicated li'l Felix for each component considering the cost? I want to use it with my 2A3 SET amps, subs, and SB.

Thanks,
Brad

Gordy · « **Reply #428 on:** 28 Apr 2007, 01:11 pm »

Hello Brad,

I've built several Felix's now and have used various mixes of everything from .01uF up to 2.2uF. In my location and with my equipment, I'm opting to go with .01, .1 and 1.0 from here on but, they are so inexpensive, buy a clutch or three of each and see what works for you.

As for multiple Felix's, that's what I'm doing! I've a 5a version for my digital equipment and a big amp version for tuner, pre and amps.

While trying to isolate an especially bad problem caused by a forced air neg. ion generator at a friend's place (which simply HAD to stay) I found that two Felixes in series really did double my pleasure and fun... so now I'm building them that way: caps/cmc/caps/cmc/caps.

Nice Felix project boxes here... http://www.lmbheeger.com/products.asp?catid=68

BRN · « **Reply #429 on:** 28 Apr 2007, 03:09 pm »

Gordy,

That sounds cool. I'm convinced. I think that I will try one CMC for each amp, sub, and SB. with that cap combination.

Brad

Dougl · « **Reply #430 on:** 29 Apr 2007, 09:21 pm »

Quote

NEW (not pulled) Signal A41-175-28 transformers are being offered by Sarah Pritchard in Tucson Arizona for $5.50 each plus freight.

Thanks. I picked up a set for myself a set for my brother to experiment with.

I also want to try Felix.

Doug

BRN · « **Reply #431 on:** 30 Apr 2007, 09:36 pm »

Just ordered some JW Miller 8120 CMCs for the li'l Felix. I just wanted to make sure of the pin layout so it is wiring correctly. Looks to me that I should wire the hot to pin 1 and the neutral to pin 4. Pins 2 and 3 go to the equipment. There will be X2 caps on either side of the CMC. Is this correct?

http://www.bourns.com/pdfs/8100_series.pdf

Thanks,
Brad

Occam · « **Reply #432 on:** 30 Apr 2007, 09:59 pm »

Yup.

IN>>OUT
1>>>>2
4>>>>3

or if you flip it 180degrees, which is fine as the pins are not oriented on a 'square' but rather a rectangle

IN>>OUT
2>>>>1
3>>>>4

in the first example
hot in goes to hot out 1 to 2
neutral in goes to neutral out 4 to 3
or
hot in goes to hot out 2 to 1
neutral in goes to neutral out 3 to 4
or
you can reverse hot and neutral
with n in to n out 1 to 2
and h in to h out 4 to 3

the last workable orientation is left as an exercise....

BRN · « **Reply #433 on:** 1 May 2007, 08:06 pm »

Gordy and Phil,

Thanks for the information. I have ordered X2 caps and CMCs. I plan on making 3 li'l Felixs. one for my SB and one for each amp and sub.

Brad

Gordy · « **Reply #434 on:** 1 May 2007, 09:57 pm »

Excellent Brad! Please let us know your impressions of their effectiveness in your locale.

Russtafarian · « **Reply #435 on:** 1 May 2007, 10:32 pm »

Is there a "sticky" that pulls together the info to build a felix?

Russ

Gordy · « **Reply #436 on:** 2 May 2007, 02:48 am »

Not a sticky but, here's the original thread started by JoshK a year or so back.... http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=25757.0

Here's a pdf with a generic circuit shown... http://www.okayaelec.co.jp/english/Products/NF/Spec/p23SUP-EW.pdf

DaveJB · « **Reply #437 on:** 12 May 2007, 02:38 am »

I'm starting a Felicia project here in the UK. The first problem has already struck - no-one seems to have transformers at less than $44 each! Yes you read that correctly. Is anyone else this side of the pond having similar issues?

Dave

JoshK · « **Reply #438 on:** 12 May 2007, 03:12 am »

Dave,

As Paul has elluded to before, it probably makes a whole lot more sense (economically, performance wise, practically) to try out the Felix instead. The Felicia was a great solution to a limited application given the ready available cheap transformers, but is surpassed in price/perf by the Felix according to those in the know.

The CMC's are a whole lot smaller, cheap, less current limited and quite effective in their role.

Builder Brad · « **Reply #439 on:** 12 May 2007, 09:06 am »

Dave,

I am also in the UK and have experienced very good results with the Felicia. I used different input and output transformers in order to minimise voltage drop across the transformer pairs and was paying about £10 per tranny here in the UK. The secondary transformer used dual 120v (240v series) primary windings and the primary transformer a single 240v output, both had 20v secondaries.

the 230v transformer can be obtained here in the UK, better be quick though as it looks like its going to be discontinued, and the alternative is nearly 3 times the price.

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=696821&N=401

the 240v series (2 x 120v) is stocked here in the Uk also, again u need to be quick

I have built 4 Feilicias using the above and consider this to be a very good trweak to any system, even in the UK where the theoretical benefits of balanced power are not as great as in countries with 110-115 v mains

good luck

Brad

http://www.jprelec.co.uk/