Axe-Fx III rebooted while playing

Snouttrout

Inspired
Has anyone else experienced the Axe Fx III rebooting while they were performing? This happened to me at rehearsal last night, and now I am reluctant to use it during a live show. As far as I could tell, all of the power cables are snug, and we didn't lose power.
 
The only thing that can cause a reboot is a power loss/brownout. There is a voltage monitor that reboots in the event the voltage drops below a certain threshold.

I imagine there is already excellent DC voltage regulation in the Axe.

@FractalAudio, if not proprietary curious how deep and long the brownout / AC drop needs to be (e.g. V and milliseconds)? If short/shallow enough an AC power glitch might not be visible to the eye (via room lighting).
 
That would be an extremely rare circumstance. Is you AFX III racked inside a road case? If so, I'd recommend plugging it into a Furman M-8Dx that would show you instantly if there is a voltage regulation issue:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M8Dx--furman-m-8dx-power-conditioner

A worthwhile protection on clean power to your Axe-FX. Cheers!

I was using a Furman M-8LX, but mine doesn’t show the voltage. I don’t think mine regulates the voltage either; it is essentially a surge protector.

So far, the reboot has only occurred once, and I have replaced the power cord.
 
I wanted a P-1800AR unit, but didn't want to spend the money at the time, so I got the F1000UPS instead. It does the same task, plus a UPS battery backup, so my gear can remain on without power. With my Rack, iMac27, and 2 outboard monitors plugged into it, I can stay on for about 30 minutes. It has saved me from losing Logic Pro tracks that I'm in the middle of doing, and presets that I am constructing, at the time the power has failed.

Biggest drawback is the weight. This sucker weighs 43 lbs. Since moving my rack itself up and down stairs, is a PITA already, I keep the UPS in a 2 space rack by itself and lug that with me when I'm playing out. If I had roadies it would be inside the gear rack with everything else.........

I know an 1800AR is surely in my future.....eventually.
 
I’ve rehearsed at the same location weekly for 6 years and none of my other amps have ever rebooted. Unless the Axe is extremely sensitive to small power fluctuations, I’m willing to bet I had a lose power cord. I’ll try that first. Power regulators are really expensive. If I have any more problems I’ll post here.
 
I’ve rehearsed at the same location weekly for 6 years and none of my other amps have ever rebooted. Unless the Axe is extremely sensitive to small power fluctuations, I’m willing to bet I had a lose power cord. I’ll try that first. Power regulators are really expensive. If I have any more problems I’ll post here.
Just as an FYI, an amp can't reboot... It's not a computer.

A tube amp is not going to react to a loss of power the same way as an Axe Fx would.
 
I wanted a P-1800AR unit, but didn't want to spend the money at the time, so I got the F1000UPS instead. It does the same task, plus a UPS battery backup, so my gear can remain on without power. With my Rack, iMac27, and 2 outboard monitors plugged into it, I can stay on for about 30 minutes. It has saved me from losing Logic Pro tracks that I'm in the middle of doing, and presets that I am constructing, at the time the power has failed.

Biggest drawback is the weight. This sucker weighs 43 lbs. Since moving my rack itself up and down stairs, is a PITA already, I keep the UPS in a 2 space rack by itself and lug that with me when I'm playing out. If I had roadies it would be inside the gear rack with everything else.........

I know an 1800AR is surely in my future.....eventually.
The 1800 AR is a great piece of equipment. My advice: buy one used. They can easily be had for half the price of a new unit. I would not typically say that about power gear, but since the P-1800 AR has non sacrificial surge protection that is designed to work repeatedly over many different surge events it is far less of an issue.

Also the Furman warranty is a non-issue for two reasons. First, these units cannot be repaired. I got this directly from the person handling warranties at Furman. Second since they know these units cannot be repaired, they seem to have a “no fuss, no muss” warranty policy. When I got my used (open box) P-1800AR, it arrived damaged with the voltage meter crushed. I called Furman to see if I could get a new front panel. They said the units are not repairable, but if the seller did not make it right to call back and they would replace it.

A nice add on to the P-1800 AR is the P-1800 PF R. It provides a higher level of surge protection and a small reserve of power to feed your amp/gear during high power draws and sags/brown outs. The PFR is also non sacrificial. It does not do the same thing as a UPS but when coupled with the AR and connected properly, a nice side effect is that it provided a noticeable drop in my rigs noise floor.

The UPS, adds the larger reserve and if the UPS does not run directly off of the AC feed going into it (Most nicer UPS units work that way), it can prevent the computer from adding a ground loop to your rig and adding noise. I would not run the Axe or an Amp on the UPS unless it is rated to handle the current draw.
 
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Has anyone else experienced the Axe Fx III rebooting while they were performing? This happened to me at rehearsal last night, and now I am reluctant to use it during a live show. As far as I could tell, all of the power cables are snug, and we didn't lose power.
A power conditioner will not prevent a re-boot due to low level power loss caused by an intermittent brown out. And being as an AXE unit is a processor based device, it will reboot if it has a voltage drop below its threshold caused by a brownout. The only way to prevent this from happening is by using a battery backup device, (UPS). With this said, I have performed many shows with my older model AXE FX and now the FXIII and have never experienced a reboot.
 
That would be an extremely rare circumstance. Is you AFX III racked inside a road case? If so, I'd recommend plugging it into a Furman M-8Dx that would show you instantly if there is a voltage regulation issue:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M8Dx--furman-m-8dx-power-conditioner

A worthwhile protection on clean power to your Axe-FX. Cheers!

While probably better than going straight into the wall socket, that unit is NOT a voltage regulator. Those tend to run $400+.
 
While probably better than going straight into the wall socket, that unit is NOT a voltage regulator. Those tend to run $400+.
Agree with this. The M-8Dx is a spike and surge protector as well as an RFI/EMI noise filter, and it is not great at either task when you look at the specs. Spike and surge protection is not the same thing as voltage regulation. In the Furman Merit line, the M-8 AR is the voltage regulator: it has a little better surge protection, voltage regulation and the same noise filtering as the Dx.

Now, if you have the $$$ (and lots of it) and really want voltage regulation, excellent surge protection, and outstanding noise filtering you could put an Equi=Tech Son of Q behind a nice voltage regulator. Just DO NOT plug any type of lighting into a Son of Q!
 
that unit is NOT a voltage regulator

Agreed as well, but I also was not trying to solve for the regulation of voltage. I was attempting to solve for making it easy to read the current voltage of any plug that you place your gear into. With the brown out limitation, a device like this could help troubleshoot your issue quickly stating "ah, it's only at 111V and I need 114V minimum to run the AFX III".

Nuh wut I sayin' neow bruh?
 
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