Surge Protection for Nord Keyboards

[HelloOatmeal]

Hi friends,

My Nord Grand is in the mail!

My previous keyboard cost $150 in 2008, so this is the first time I have ever had to worry about protecting an investment like a Nord.

What recommendations do people have for surge protectors? Anything specific? Or just a standard surge protector that will trip if my house is hit by lightning.

Thanks!

[Hlaalu]

Congratulations for that beast of a piano!

Are your household's mains subject to high voltage variations over time, and/or frequent outages?

If not, a standard surge protected stripe will suffice I'd say. Or... you could just plug the Grand straight into the mains, of course disconnecting it after each use (which is advisable in any case, since there is NO device that will protect you from lightning anyway).

If you experience frequent outages, an offline UPS (squarewave or approximated sinewave) would do the job, and it's not so expensive.

If your mains have strong voltage variations, unfortunately the only thing that'll cure that is an online UPS, which is pretty expensive ($ 300 and above). Their output is usually a "pure" (somewhat) sinewave. But this would make sense only in case of *strong* voltage variations. Otherwise, it would be an useless and expensive overkill...

Have you tried measuring the voltage with a multimeter over time? Also, check how much, and if, the voltage drops according to the load (oven, dishwasher, kettle...).

[cphollis]

I just unplug my keyboards when I'm not using them. Very effective in protecting against lightning strikes, etc.

[Hlaalu]

I just unplug my keyboards when I'm not using them. Very effective in protecting against lightning strikes, etc.

What made change your mind since this post?

nord-piano-grand-forum-f10/nord-grand-p ... ug#p131484

Regarding which solution is the best for the PSU's lifespan (namely always powered ON vs unplug it after every use), I'm still not sure there is a final answer.

[Mr_-G-]

Sure there is: if you unplug it there is 0 chance of any electrical problem happening via the power line!

[cphollis]

I just unplug my keyboards when I'm not using them. Very effective in protecting against lightning strikes, etc.

What made change your mind since this post?

nord-piano-grand-forum-f10/nord-grand-p ... ug#p131484

I currently do unplug all my gear from the mains after each use. Not sure if there really is a final answer anyway...

The difference is that my keyboards are now set up in a studio at a distance from my residence vs. nearby and always accessible. So it's not too hard to turn them all on when I arrive, and unplug them all when I leave.

[Hlaalu]

Sure there is: if you unplug it there is 0 chance of any electrical problem happening via the power line!

I was referring to the issue we were talking about in the thread I linked to -- that is, whether it's better for the internal PSU of the keyboard (or any other appliance for the matter) to be powered ON all the time, or to be unplugged after each use.

Keeping it always powered ON zeroes the current spikes it gets; disconnecting it after every use increases the number of spikes over time but reduces the total time that the current flows through it. Between these two extremes is a continuum of possibilities that a sensible clue to find the sweet spot of hasn't been found (by me) anywhere online.


EDIT: Also, I don't think lightning induced failure is what we were talking about. I specified that there is no device of any sorts that protects you from lightning, hence it's better to unplug it -- at least in the stormy season, according to where you live. A different story is one's house mains' stability in terms of outages and/or voltage spikes, that have nothing to do with lightning, for which an UPS would be the cure -- which it seems to me was possibly the OP's question.

[CountFosco]

Between these two extremes is a continuum of possibilities that a sensible clue to find the sweet spot of hasn't been found (by me) anywhere online.

Really? That's what you think is sensible? Fold a hand sometimes.

[Hlaalu]

I don't get your message, possibly because English isn't my first language. In case it wasn't clear, I am wondering what a reasonable balance between those two extremes could be, in terms of PSU lifespan.

[CountFosco]

You'd like to suggest to the OP that they should schedule their plug / unplug cycles based on an optimisation considering grid frequency and grid spikiness?