The mid Atlantic region of the U.S. has been experiencing lots of hot, humid weather through much of the summer. Conditions such as these tax the regional electrical system to the point where voltage levels tend to fall below acceptible levels. While most equipment will function just fine with a 15 to 20 volt drop in AC power, it turns out that some arranger keyboards, vocal processors and amps will encounter problems. This was the case for me today.

While performing a 1-hour job at a very large retirement community it was very noticible that the air conditioning system seemed to be struggling considerably, and not very effective. Knowing these places are notoriously hot, I, and most of my colleagues, carry small, but powerful fans to keep us cool while setting up and performing.

When the system was turned on the keyboard's lights seemed a bit dimmer than usual. Additionally the fan sitting on the floor next to me appeared to be running slower than normal. After firing up all the equipment it was obvious that all the volume levels had to be turned up by at 25 to 30 percent in order to acheive the same levels enjoyed in cooler weather.

Some of the residents said the complained about the heat, and the facility's maintenance department said they were experiencing a minor brownout and that they were assured by the electric company that things would return to normal by evening.

After checking the operating specifications of all the equipment it became painfully obvious that once the line voltage drops below 100 volts AC, some of the equipment will not function at all. Today's line voltage was just above 100 instead of the normal 120 VAC.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this type of problem in the past, and if so what steps were taken to prevent this from happening in the future.

Just another fun day in Paradise,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy