Voltage dropping out

[kkemp]

I've been noticing that my voltage has been dropping. This is causing the whr readings to drop as well. I don't think my electrical service is actually doing this as they would be noticeable disturbances. I'm using the mangecraft PT. Any idea how to troubleshoot this?

[Teken]

I've been noticing that my voltage has been dropping. This is causing the whr readings to drop as well. I don't think my electrical service is actually doing this as they would be noticeable disturbances. I'm using the mangecraft PT. Any idea how to troubleshoot this?

1. Did you engage Brultech about the correct values to input into the GEM?

2. Have you measured the main line voltage to the home with a DMM with true RMS detection?

EDIT: Just saw you had asked about the PT values in the other thread. Along with the stereo jack for etc. The only time I have seen a drop in voltage is from a PT starting to fail which also caused random spike values to appear.

[ben]

Do you mean Magnalabs PT?

First thing is to make sure your stereo jack plug is plugged in all the way. We've had instances where they've been plugged in half way.

2nd thing to check is your stereo jack connection to make sure one of the leads haven't come loose.

Ben

[kkemp]

Do you mean Magnalabs PT?

First thing is to make sure your stereo jack plug is plugged in all the way. We've had instances where they've been plugged in half way.

2nd thing to check is your stereo jack connection to make sure one of the leads haven't come loose.

Ben

Yeah, no idea why the phone autocorrect did that

I'll double check the connections.

Tekken, as you saw I got the correct settings figured out and was comfortable with the calibration against it and my DMM last August when I installed things.

[kkemp]

Do you mean Magnalabs PT?

First thing is to make sure your stereo jack plug is plugged in all the way. We've had instances where they've been plugged in half way.

2nd thing to check is your stereo jack connection to make sure one of the leads haven't come loose.

Ben

Yeah, no idea why the phone autocorrect did that

I'll double check the connections.

Tekken, as you saw I got the correct settings figured out and was comfortable with the calibration against it and my DMM last August when I installed things.

So I noticed it was happening again. I had not yet checked the connections. This time it was at 6.5 volts for about 20 minutes. I unplugged and replugged it in. Then I noticed that if I pushed on to side to side I could get the red light to blink. It was all the way in but it seems like moving it side to side makes it unhappy. After doing that it is reading the correct voltage.

[Teken]

Do you mean Magnalabs PT?

First thing is to make sure your stereo jack plug is plugged in all the way. We've had instances where they've been plugged in half way.

2nd thing to check is your stereo jack connection to make sure one of the leads haven't come loose.

Ben

Yeah, no idea why the phone autocorrect did that

I'll double check the connections.

Tekken, as you saw I got the correct settings figured out and was comfortable with the calibration against it and my DMM last August when I installed things.

So I noticed it was happening again. I had not yet checked the connections. This time it was at 6.5 volts for about 20 minutes. I unplugged and replugged it in. Then I noticed that if I pushed on to side to side I could get the red light to blink. It was all the way in but it seems like moving it side to side makes it unhappy. After doing that it is reading the correct voltage.

You're pushing the stereo jack from side to side? Its either a cold solder joint on the GEM main board or the stereo jack your using is not the right diameter.

I have seen this few times with cheaper connector ends where its literally off a few thousands of an inch but it makes all the difference when inserted into the PJ.

I would how ever confirm all the wiring is sound and soldered correctly to the end.

[kkemp]

Not sure how to confirm the soldering on the jack.

The plug and the jack are pretty snug so I don't think it's that they are not the right size. The jack it self just had some flex in it. It doesnt seem particularly abnormal considering it is just a jack soldered on the board and probably loosely attached to it. Last night when it was reporting 6.50 volts the plug's strain relief was actually snug against the bottom plastic. This made it slightly off from perpendicular. I straightened it out so it wasn't putting strain on the jack which is when I noticed I could make he red light flash by moving it. I wouldn't be surprised if you could so the same thing.

So what is odd is this graph. You can see it was 6.5 volts until I noticed and went out and unplugged it/Etc. Then you a reading of 120 volts like it should be but then after that it slowly drops to 99 volts and the all of sudden drops drastically/bouncing around and the suddenly goes back to 121 volts where it should be.


A power graph of a fairly constant load mimics this graph.

Any ideas what would be causing this strange behavior?

[ben]

Not sure how to confirm the soldering on the jack.

The plug and the jack are pretty snug so I don't think it's that they are not the right size. The jack it self just had some flex in it. It doesnt seem particularly abnormal considering it is just a jack soldered on the board and probably loosely attached to it. Last night when it was reporting 6.50 volts the plug's strain relief was actually snug against the bottom plastic. This made it slightly off from perpendicular. I straightened it out so it wasn't putting strain on the jack which is when I noticed I could make he red light flash by moving it. I wouldn't be surprised if you could so the same thing.

So what is odd is this graph. You can see it was 6.5 volts until I noticed and went out and unplugged it/Etc. Then you a reading of 120 volts like it should be but then after that it slowly drops to 99 volts and the all of sudden drops drastically/bouncing around and the suddenly goes back to 121 volts where it should be.

A power graph of a fairly constant load mimics this graph.

Any ideas what would be causing this strange behavior?

Showed this to Paul and he thinks it's a bad connection with the plug also.

He says check to make sure that nothing is loose in the plug due to excessive heat. What can happen is if there's too much heat when soldering, the nylon spacers may have melted a bit.

Ben

[kkemp]

So the jack is not loose in that the the plug is going to fall out but there is play in that I can wiggle the plug in the jack. I'm not sure how to tell if this normal but maybe just from the fact that just a little wiggling causes it to loose connection maybe it isn't?

[ben]

So the jack is not loose in that the the plug is going to fall out but there is play in that I can wiggle the plug in the jack. I'm not sure how to tell if this normal but maybe just from the fact that just a little wiggling causes it to loose connection maybe it isn't?

Are you wiggling the plug on the stereo plug, or the plug inside the jack on the GEM?

Ben