I just got my first PA system today. For my mixer, I got the MP600 by Peavey. For speakers, I got two PR15's by Peavey. Yet I'm a little confused by something that the MP600 manual says. It notes that the "fuse"--you know, the one on the back of the mixer--is able to be "blown" or it might "fail". Is this fuse something like a tube (as in a tube amp and not a solid state) that I must replace every so often?

No. It will only fail in the event of a current overload. It is a protection device calibrated to fail on purpose to prevent major damage to other more expensive internal components in the event of an internal short or power surge, etc...

You should keep a spare on hand and you can usually see when it's blown because the wire inside the fuse will be disconnected.

Ahhh...words of comfort.
Thanks.

I remember reading some time ago about a power conditioner I'm pretty sure it was called. It's supposed to be some sort of breaker-like contraption that saves the fuse. If you get a power overload then it will just switch off and you flip the switch saving you the trouble of replacing the fuse.

yea power conditioners are a must have for rack gear or anyother shit if once you get up there in equipment

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ah yes... that $100 power condish might one day save that several thousand dollar guitar rig.

not to mention the convenience of lights, and having everything plugged into the same source.

a good clean powersource is often underestimated.

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on my pa our fuse blew but my dad did somthing wierd and took it out and wraped it with alumin foil and it worked agien I have no clue how or why but it did moral of the story having a dad who grew up on a farm in another country really helps out in the long run

Where can I obtain one of these power conditioners?

Was this sarcastic?

If not, I'll let you know that wrapping a fuse in aluminum foil is a common technique for bypassing a fuse. If the fuse blew and then you bypassed it, your protection is gone and your equipment will burn up if it has a high current condition fault.

A common technique for technicians troubleshooting a blown fuse situation on a piece of gear that they have no schematics for and are in a hurry to diagnose is to short the fuse like your dad did and then plug the equipment back in and wait to see what part smokes or explodes. Once a smoldering resistor or similar is identified, it's a piece of cake to look downstream in the circuit and figure out what component was shorting it out. After replacing the original failed part and the subsequent fried parts, you of course want to remove the aluminum foil and replace the fuse.

****I would like to point out the moral of this story since no one has clarified the true purpose of fuses on this thread yet. Fuses are required by standard practice safety rules on equipment that poses a fire hazard in a failure condition. If you want your studio or house to burn down some day, by all means wrap your shit up with aluminum foil.

Guitar Center and similar places have them cheap. Juice Goose for example is a common brand that makes nice rack mount conditioners with rack lights.

So just any guitar shop then?