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Post by mattspl on Jun 11, 2020 20:03:12 GMT
I just received a GigaWatt G-16A Circuit breaker in the post today. I’d ordered this a couple of months ago, but they were out of stock. It was then posted out and returned as wrong address which delayed things further. www.gigawatt.eu/produkt/g-16a-power-grid-overcurrent-protection-switch/I installed the G-16A as soon as I got home from work. I’m an electrician and I wouldn’t recommend this as a DIY upgrade unless your familiar with working on Live electrical fuse boards etc, but it is a simple 10 minute job, so should be a fairly low cost job. The G-16A itself costs €90. For those who enjoy system tweaks and have experimented in mains cables and fuses etc, this Circuit breaker is a must buy and an absolute bargain. Unlike a mains cable or component fuse that only feeds an individual component or power strip, this Circuit breaker enhances your entire systems mains supply, or 1 circuit if you have multiple dedicated Hifi circuits ran in and only costs €90. After installation, €150 at the most. All those attributes experienced when upgrading mains cables, fuses and power regenerators are present here after installing the GigaWatt Circuit breaker. Absolute clarity and individual instrument placement are the first things I noticed immediately. Even when in the room before sitting to listen, backing singers on a Bob Marley track were so much more present and forward in the mix, removing any previous strain to hear inner details. Reverb trails go on forever, creating a much more holographic picture of the music. As you can probably tell, I’m impressed and delighted with the result. Cheers Matt |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 11, 2020 21:39:25 GMT
Very interesting. I have a dedicated radial circuit for my hi-fi system with its own breaker, so replacing it would be very easy.
Where did you order it from?
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Post by mattspl on Jun 11, 2020 22:27:11 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Jun 11, 2020 22:48:49 GMT
I saw them on sale at Kemp Electronics in NL.
I fear that I would need the double-pole version as a replacement, but I'll check tomorrow.
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Post by mattspl on Jun 11, 2020 23:18:22 GMT
I saw them on sale at Kemp Electronics in NL. I fear that I would need the double-pole version as a replacement, but I'll check tomorrow. Hi Martin, The double pole appears to be just a double pole MCB, rather than an RCBO which is a combined MCB and RCD. I think the UK regs state that everything in the board has to be protected by an RCD and MCB, or an RCBO, so you will probably just need the single pole version, but it will have to be installed downstream from an RCD in your fuse board. Cheers Matt |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2020 8:17:43 GMT
Had one of these for a while nice little lift in overall sound quality for the outlay I feel its worth it.
Though it can show up any other issues you may have hiding underneath the noise floor!
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2020 8:52:33 GMT
Yep, there is an RCD followed by a double-pole MCB. I could replace the MCB without losing safety.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2020 9:18:35 GMT
Looks like there is an audio grade RCB too, by Doepke, with a frightening price.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 12, 2020 16:01:23 GMT
One to think about when I have my sparky in
May consider doing it myself as I can turn all off before the consumer unit
Are all circuit breakers the same size ?
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2020 16:06:11 GMT
If they are DIN standard they should all fit the rails in consumer units.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 12, 2020 16:12:24 GMT
Good news
2009 install by a good sparky so almost guaranteed
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Post by mattspl on Jun 12, 2020 17:58:35 GMT
Those Doepke look interesting Martin. Sounds like your all set then to replace the double pole and that seems to be in stock too.
Definitely worth a go Mike. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
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Post by mattspl on Jun 12, 2020 18:00:55 GMT
Had one of these for a while nice little lift in overall sound quality for the outlay I feel its worth it. Though it can show up any other issues you may have hiding underneath the noise floor! Did you notice any burn-in with the GigaWatt breaker? |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 12, 2020 19:28:50 GMT
Those Doepke look interesting Martin. Sounds like your all set then to replace the double pole and that seems to be in stock too. Definitely worth a go Mike. I’ll be interested to hear what you think. They do indeed, Matt. Thing is, do I want to change out the MCB for a nice one and leave the boggo RCB in place? It'll cost a grand to do it properly. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2020 21:09:02 GMT
Hi Matt
Fortunately I do not suffer burn in issues that most of you chaps have.
I made up a test jig from my ac bench power supply and sank a constant 20 amps through it for 48 hours via the ac load. That helped immensely with the chore of running in no excessive needle or spinner wear
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Post by mattspl on Jun 12, 2020 21:13:41 GMT
Those Doepke look interesting Martin. Sounds like your all set then to replace the double pole and that seems to be in stock too. Definitely worth a go Mike. I’ll be interested to hear what you think. They do indeed, Matt. Thing is, do I want to change out the MCB for a nice one and leave the boggo RCB in place? It'll cost a grand to do it properly. Hi Martin, I’d definitely do the MCB, see what you think and then gauge if the extra outlay is worth it for the RCD. I’ve been listening to familiar music for the last couple of hours and I’m finding it hard to tear myself away. I’m hearing more musical music than without the MCB. Very enjoyable. Resolution has improved nicely across the board and the sense of timing and rhythm is addictive. Cheers Matt |
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Post by mattspl on Jun 12, 2020 21:17:19 GMT
Hi Matt
Fortunately I do not suffer burn in issues that most of you chaps have.
I made up a test jig from my ac bench power supply and sank a constant 20 amps through it for 48 hours via the ac load. That helped immensely with the chore of running in no excessive needle or spinner wear
That’s one way of doing it  I don’t have a dedicated circuit, but a ring main for the living room and 2 bedrooms. Some of the Hifi is on 24/7 and other things in standby, so any burn-in will happen as quickly as is possible. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2020 12:34:06 GMT
Hello Matt The last install I performed was for a separate CU, four dedicated runs of 6mm T&E each feeding a single (double switch-less socket)with a 100amp RCD with the high current shut off 30ma. Each circuit had another make of audio MCB of 32 amp each.
Luckily the gent had the original house ring main still in place, it took over 3 months of using two air conditioning units to break it in, but there was nothing else on the those circuits. Thought you might like to see just how bad the UK mains really is here are some images of my labs power supply at around noon week day a couple of weeks ago. Do bear in mind the 230Vac (lol) mains power is supposed to be a sine wave, check out the truncation on the peaks and troughs plus pk-pk voltage should be a lot closer to 680Vac. Second image is from the power analysis measurement at in the point where my real time analysis plugs in to the high level measurement instrument power distribution system i made to feed the lab. Last image is off the harmonics which were sitting on the incoming power at that time the span is only 500hz (possible 10th harmonic) but the RBW (resolution bandwidth equates to how tight/accurate the measurement actually is in reality) This is 500mhz (1/2 a Hertz). Just goes to show how much rubbish is contained within the UK end user power grid
Harmonic noise
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Post by MartinT on Jun 13, 2020 13:13:45 GMT
This is why I will only use regenerators in my system. They're not the sole solution but form part of a concerted attack on poor waveform and noise.
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Post by daytona600 on Jun 14, 2020 19:19:09 GMT
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