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Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Owner’s Manual
1601 Jack McKay Blvd. • Ennis, Texas 75119 U.S.A.
Telephone: 800.876.3333 • Fax: 800.765.3435
ECS-204
20A Power Conditioner & Sequencer
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the Atlas Sound ECS-204 AC Power Sequencer and Conditioner. The ECS-204 has been designed to meet
most installation requirements for AC power distribution and equipment power protection. The 20A compact 1 RU unit features four
internal sequential timing sections, three on the unit and one to trigger an external device. All can be activated via the unit locally or
remotely. Front panel activation is via a momentary switch, while rear activation can be accomplished via a remote momentary switch,
latching switch, or by 5-24VDC. AC Mains Voltage can be monitored via the front panel from the precision Digital Volt Meter. The ECS-
204 has incorporated dual front panel USB charge ports that can be used to charge devices such as cell phones or music players. To
light the rack this charge port also supports an optional USB gooseneck lamp. The rear of the rack can be illuminated by the optional
Atlas Power 16" gooseneck LED lamp (AP-GNL) connected via an XLR style socket.
If a 20A AC Mains power source is not enough to meet the amperage demand of your system, the ECS-204 provides a sequenced
12VDC or contact closure output (Seq 4) that can be used to trigger other devices such as the Atlas Sound ECM-20SH 20A standalone
AC power module. Also, up to 3 ECS-204 can be linked together to give you 12 sequenced outputs. Sequence timing selection is made
by a rear panel switch selection. There are four choices that range from 3 seconds to 2 minutes.
The ECS-204 incorporates an Emergency Power Down (EPD) feature. The EPD may be required by the local fire code to pass site
inspection. This port when activated turns Off all channels at once. Unstable AC Mains voltage is one of the main reasons for
equipment failure. AC Spikes, or Transients, are commonly caused by lightning storms or utility power plant grid switchovers. The
amount of energy that can be injected into the power system can be immense with voltages reaching 6kV or amperage peaks of
3000A. These spikes are very fast and usually only last for a very short period of time. To protect against this potential problem, the
ECS-204 features Dual Clamping Suppression technology (DCS). If a spike intrudes the AC system, the ECS-204 incoming AC Mains
has special suppression circuitry to eliminate the unwanted energy and in the unlikely event of any energy getting passed the first
stage, each sequenced output section has redundant DCS circuitry clamping the unwanted energy. This circuitry is very fast and can
suppress unwanted energy within a nanosecond, while sustaining the suppression up to 2 milliseconds, thus ensuring virtually trouble
free protection.
The ECS-204 also features noise filtering for unwanted Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) that is commonly introduced into the AC
lines by nearby radio transmitters or wireless products. EMI filters are incorporated to reduce noise from Electromagnetic Interference
(EMI) from items such as electric motors, switching power supplies and lightning. The benefit of these filters can be seen on video
products or audibly by reduced static pops and external signal interference.
High and low AC Main line voltages are another major contributor to equipment failures. High line is also known as surges. Surges
usually are a slower steady state rise in voltages ranging from 128VAC and up. They can be caused by fluctuations in the utility
company’s power lines or industrial equipment turning On and Off and is on the same power leg of the building’s incoming AC. Low
line is also known as brownouts. This happens when the AC Mains drops below 107VAC. Most of the time it is caused by the utility
company not being able to supply enough power during heavy utility consumption time periods, such as heat waves. Another factor
would be from voltage drops in AC lines due to long transmissions. The ECS-204 will not only inform you if one of these conditions
occurs, but under extreme variances in the AC Mains, it will shut the power to the equipment Off. The Abnormal Voltage indicator on
the front panel will flash if the AC Mains is between 128VAC and 132VCA or 107VAC and 101VAC. This is to inform you that a surge
occurred and may have damaged voltage sensitive equipment. If an extreme voltage swing occurs above 132VAC or below 101VAC,
the ECS-204 Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS) protection circuit will automatically activate and turn all outlets Off until it is manually
reset or the voltage is stable.
The ECS-204 offers sequenced power management control, along with noise filtering and spike/surge protection making it the most
compact, effective power management protection system on the market today.
