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"Audiophile" Printer - But Interfering with AC?


I recently purchased a Samsung 1630, which is a consumer grade monochrome laser jet printer.

What might be of interest to other audiophiles is that this printer is very COOL.

Its performance is supposedly very good, but Samsung has made a big effort to put it in a sleek and stylish case - a welcome change from cheap, beige plastic and at last, a printer which doesnt detract from my listening room.

But here is the weird problem: everytime I go to print, it feels as if I am trying to fire up a nuclear power station: the lights dim, my DAC connection is temporarily knocked out, and my Audio Research SP-11 goes into LED blinking, warm up mode as if I just turned it on.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be happening? Should the stand by mode for a relatively small, monochrome laserjet printer draw that much current? Will my next electrical bill be....shocking?

As with all of my electrical toys, I would rather leave it on 24/7 for convenience.

Thank you for any thoughts.
cwlondon
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,927 posts
 
Cwlondon, that printer uses a two lamp system to heat and set the toner, it might be the power required for both lamps to start up draw enough current to disturb your stereo components.
xti16
1,495 posts
 
ALL Laser printers draw a tremendous amount of power to heat the fuser (around 8 amps). In standby it draw very little which is why you only see the problem when you print. Try to find a different 'phase' to plug the printer into.
cwlondon OP
1,198 posts
 
So the bad news is when I am printing it might continue to disrupt my DAC and preamp?

But the good news is that standby mode shouldn't give me a $200 a month electrical bill?

Xtil6

I would like to add a sub panel and dedicated line etc to this room but havent yet had the chance.

In the meantime, I have way too many appliances, given the limited wiring in our house.

Thank you both for ideas so far...
xti16
1,495 posts
 
Cwlondon
You shouldnt add $200 to your electric bill. Just remember everytime the fuser has to re-heat itself it will draw a lot of current. Try to save all your printing to 1 or 2 times a day. Once the fuser is warmed up the current draw drops significantly.
When you do the sub-panel make sure you 'balance' the current draw for each phase as best that can be done taking into consideration all the appliances you have and may get.
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