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Line conditioner for new plotter

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:13 pm
by lmlowery
I am purchasing a new plotter (HP T830). The dealer tried to sell me a $200.00 line conditioner. Is this really necessary? In the past I have always used a $50 surge protector. Any recommendations on what I actually need would be most appreciated.

Re: Line conditioner for new plotter

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 6:26 pm
by David A. Giesselman
If I was spending $6K on a new plotter, I'm not sure I would skimp on power conditioning. I'm not sure what the dealer is trying to sell you, but I've spent nearly that much (your $200 quote) on a power conditioner to protect my audio components. I might shop around a bit to compare what the dealer is trying to sell you and measure it against what you might get elsewhere for similar money or less. I use a Panamax unit in my main home-audio stack and am quite pleased with it.

Dave

Re: Line conditioner for new plotter

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:34 pm
by joshhuggins
Any quality midrange or better UPS should work fine to protect you from both surge and undervoltage and other types of major power issues. I use APC and Cyberpower usually between $50-150 range depending on the load. For just the plotter a 600VA unit or better should work fine. I don't think actual power conditioning (noise reduction, interference, etc) would be a huge factor for a plotter but might want to check the plotters docs just in case, but I highly doubt it.

Re: Line conditioner for new plotter

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 8:50 am
by Neil Blanchard
There are surge protectors, and there are battery backup power units. $200 should be buying you a pretty powerful (dual battery) battery backup unit. Battery backup have a inverter so they have high degree of isolation from most power line noise, surges and brown / blackouts.

I would use a good battery backup on your computer, and a good surge protector on your plotter.