have an EU AC200Max and wanted to see whether it could power a DJ sound system for “portable” use. Mixer, some other equipment and 2 class-D amplified speakers ran fine on my AC200Max. But the power consumption indication of the AC output did not change, delivering sound or not. An external power display (like a Kill-a-Watt) also displayed other figures than the AC200Max.
The speakers are labeled as being 200W output (and 220v/300W input), but the AC200Max never did display anything near 2x200W or 2x300W, mixer and all used 150W according to the display. Only when switching on the heater in the smokemachine (purely resistive load) it got to 1500W.
Is this because the class-D amplifiers are not a nice resistive load to the AC200Max? Is it just the indication that is off? Anyone know what causes this?
Note: I only want to understand this. Testing this setup portable from a 100% load down to 0% and timing this can be done, but is a bit cumbersome.
When powering the speakers your power consumption is minimal and below the threshold to be indicated on the screen. If you increase your load by a small amount, you should see the power indicator appear.
If the AC power consumption is lower than 50W, DC is lower than 3W, the screen will not show the consumption. Pls use the AC200MAX to power other devices and see if it is normal.
Also, I have noticed that the display has a refresh rate and appears to be an instantaneous reading, so if the draw is intermittent and happens in-between refreshes, the display won’t show it. The draw is still happening, however, and you should see the % capacity decreasing.
FWIW, speaker power ratings aren’t for constant power draw, they are an upper power limit. Speakers will draw as much power as you provide them until they fry.
