I bought an Akai MPC One+ and I want to take it places. It has a 3-prong plug on it, which might be a problem, especially if I need to use an extension cord. I have a 3-prong extension cord and that's what I use at home.

For travel within the US, I bought this. Is this safe for me and my MPC? The MPC''s power supply is 12v 3A, if that helps any.

Many thank yous!
Mark

 

if you notice it has 2 inputs (ac voltage) and 3 outputs ac voltage plus ground. Where does the ground appear from, when you start with negative and positive that flip 60 times per second? nowhere....
there is no ground unless you attach the lug to the socket with the screw on the faceplate,to the outlet which they are assuming is grounded.

The ground only exists to lessen your chances of electrocuting yourself, it don't matter to the equipment, especially since you are converting it to DC power.

Its commonly used since the 1960's when the electrical code was changed to require grounded outlets. I have half a dozen of these adapters and use them regulary and i'm not dead yet and my shit still works. mostly use it for drills and power tools.

I'd worry more about your dc adapter, if it came with your gear it should be fine, if its an aftermarket it might not put out clean dc which probably won't damage your equipment but it might make it glitchy if the power isn't clean (ie has noise or ripple in the voltages)

 

Most important thing and I hope you've already checked that, is the voltage. Be sure that you don't have a power supply that works in 110V and be in 220V region or vice versa.

Edit: maybe you're not referring on travelling abroad so you just have an adapter problem. My fault

 

why would a 3 prong plug be a problem for travelling, I am not following at all. I've taken gear dozens of places for shows and always had 3 prong power available. I'd be uncomfortable powering expensive gear in places with bad power (which is often what 2 prong suggests).

 

It's a nice picture but to give a deffinate answer we need details. Like the manufacturer's spec.

Add a link to where you bought it, at least and we'll help.

 

Electricity by nature actively seeks the earth and will always find the path of least resistance to get to it. Lifting the earth ground on electronic/electrical gear pretty much guarantees your chance of getting electro-shocked if you're touching any conductive surface of a device while it's plugged in to a wall socket and a short circuit occurs. For audio gear there's the added caveat that you increase your chances of 60hz hum seeping into your audio signals due to a lifted path to ground. I never recommend lifting ground pins even to cure ground loops because there is always a PROPER way to eliminate them without sacrificing safety and lifting a devices' earth ground.

 

@Garamondo Furbish Is right, The green lug is just there if and when necessary the user can connect it manually, as u mentioned u just bought an Mpc, as newer models use power supply its not much required, but safe if ur power adapter requires earth i.e if ur adapter has three pins. But i think One+ comes with two pins.
also if u r using an extension cord that comes with three pins, its advisable to use a one which has earth.
For safety, its better to use an extension cord with surge protection, the ones with a fuse.
One thing to look for, is that these plugs are snug fit into the sockets, most reputed brands are good to go but some of cheaper ones have loose pins IOW they r shakey when u plug it in , most of the time we only check if there is a line and forget about neutral.

A line tester could be handy just to check if the neutral connection is intact/weather u r receiving neutral, but it cannot be trusted fully, unless u make sure the polarity is correct amnually, we can only use it to check if there is neutral, most cheaper testers dont detect reverse polarity.

 

The back of your machine shows the input to be 12volt, 3Amp DC, which suggests that the cord has a power supply/transformer on the end that you plug in to the outlet with the appropriate nema configuration/voltage for the country that it was sold. The best way to be safe is to purchase a separate cord from the manufacturer for example, US Nema 5-15R or whatever country you go to. It also means no ground is needed for that particular unit.

EDIT: A second look at the back of that unit, it looks like there’s a thumb screw for a ground wire connection (can’t tell for sure from picture) more than likely to eliminate ground loops in audio like the ones we used for turntables back in the day. Best to check the instructions that came with it!
Also, no need to check for polarity since the power supply is an actual transformer which means the primary is a coil.

 

Last edited: May 14, 2024

It's probably a bit late now but I realised while packing my DJ stuff up that this device is only gonna connect your device and not do what you really want.

Buy a UPS (uninteruptable Power Supply).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyberpower...g=se&keywords=Mini+UPS&qid=1716078796&sr=8-15

That way your new Akai MPC One+ is connected to a power supply, a battery, that you know is good quality and reliable.

How bad the power supply in the area your in is will make no differance if you use one of these since it's the UPS powering your Akai MPC One+ not the socket on the wall, and the socket's just recharging the UPS battery.

Any spikes in power will just be absorbed by the battery and not affect you, any breif losses of bower won't matter because it's a battery.

Don't know why I had to put my own UPS I use away to remeber that I bought it to do this very job.

Just remeber when picking the size of UPS that you're getting it to be a clean power source, not power your devices through a 2 hour power cut. I use a UPS made to run a desktop PC for up to a hour, it powers my Decks, mixer and speaker system for a full 3-5 minuets. Lets the song finish and switch the computer off. Perfect size for me as I won't want to carry anything bigger because they get heavy.