Is it okay to plug a 350w sub into a 4-way surge protector?

I think you will be OK. Your sub only uses 350w during a loud passage of bass during a movie.
How many amps on the circuit breaker(s)? I have a 150w X 5 power amp, Pioneer Elite used as a
pre, Oppo 93 Bluray player, Velodyne SMS-1, Dish cable box, all hooked up to a plain power strip
and had no problems whatsoever. If you over drive the system, the surge protector will trip, so
don't worry to much about frying your equipment.

My subs (all four of them) are on a dedicated 20 amp circuit breaker, and I have had no porblems.
Two subs are 500w, and the other two are 250w (10"sub(s). Because I have four, I don't have to
turn up the gain more than a quarter of a turn. Like I said, the only draw on them is when
there is loud bass material on a movie. They are always on the "on position"...and draw
about as much power as a 20w light bulb when not in use.

I like you choice of equipment....especially the Pinnacle sub. Pinnacle subs IMO are great.
The Harman Kardon receiver is very nice, should have a warm sound signature which I
like (non fatiguing sound). Best of luck.

vardo
Edited by vardo - 12/3/12 at 2:52pm

No current passes through the active element of a surge protector, so you can't overload them. But if at all possible don't use two separate outlets, as that can lead to ground looping. Get a surge protected outlet strip, plug everything into that.

I have 2 six plug strips plugged into a single outlet. 1 in the top plug of the outlet and 1 in the bottom plug of the outlet. Are you saying I would be better off to just have one 12 plug surge protector plugged into just 1 of the outlet plugs? I hope this question makes sense. btw. I have each sub plugged into its own surge protector and its own outlet. So the tv and receiver are the only things drawing a lot of juice in this scenario and I have the tv plugged into one surge protector and the receiver into the other. Dont know if that helps or not but seemed like a good idea at the time. Also, I am not an electrician.
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/3/12 at 4:33pm

I had an electrician come out and covert the duplex outlets to fourplex outlets so we have ten outlets on the one equipment wall.

"Look ma, no plug strips."

.........

No, because they're the same outlet. What you don't want to do is use two different outlets, even if they're on the same breaker, because of the distance between them. With two strips there could be enough ground path differential between them to cause a ground loop, but only if the cords are longer than six feet or so.

Many thanks. I will have to look into that then regarding the subs. Dont know what outlets are on what breakers but it is all in one room so I suspect all are on the same breaker. Perhaps I should just get better insurance!

Your surge protectors are insurance. They will protect your equipment. If outlets are both in the the
bedroom, you can bet they are on the same breaker. All my equipment, including my laptop,
and desk top computer, plus theater sconces are on the same 20 amp breaker. Don't worry about
a 350w sub if it's on the same breaker. Just make sure it is 20 amp.....should be okay.

vardo

Not in my house. Run an AC and an iron on the same circuit and you can blow it, so when I wired my house I used all 30 of the breakers in the box to have as many separate circuits as possible, especially in the kitchen, and with a separate circuit for lights so if an appliance blows a breaker you can still see. Most electricians don't do it that way, since it takes a lot more wire. But they should. They won't stop a lightning hit, and that's the major cause of fried circuits. But they're so inexpensive you might as well have them to handle what they can.

Bill, I know from your posts, you are very knowledgeable about all things
when it comes to electronics.

I live in So Cal, so a lighting hit is rare. But a month ago, a freak
lighting strike hit. Loud as hell, right where we live. Of course electric
power was a gonner. We had the Edison crew working in our backyard,
because the power lines are run above, and there is a telephone pole
in the corner of the yard next to us. The hit was so hard, it blew out
a light bulb to pieces in a swag lamp we have. We were without power for
24 hours. A lot of electric lines down everywhere.

Something like that is very, very rare in the area where I live.
But it could happen again sometime.

I thought surge protectors protect your equipment. All I have are
$10 surge cheapo power strips. Yet none of my audio equipment
or anything else was damaged, except one outlet won't work which
I replaced which with no results. Time to call the electrician

Anyways I just thought expensive surge protectors would be of a
big help with a lighting hit.

vardo

Vardo

Sounds like you were just lucky. As far as I know nothing is going to help much if you have 1,000,000 volts (or amps or whatever, again Im no electrician) go through your house wiring. There are whole house proteftion methods that can be built into the breaker box or something but I dont think those would even do much if it was a direct hit. Probably just be happy if the house didnt burn to the ground. Yes Im bored and that's why Im typing this useless post that adds nothing worthwhile.
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/3/12 at 8:28pm

It will boil your brain and make your limbs shoot across the room. Which is why I'm not an electrician.
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/3/12 at 9:04pm

What is the plug strip rated at? If it's your home, my recommendation would be to get an electrician out and increase the number of wall outlets. As to a surge protector, protecting the audio gear, stories abound on AVS regarding people who's gear was fried from a lightening strike while hooked up to a surge protector. Some were fried when hooked up to a service connect surge protector. The point, surge protecting is a crap shoot, not a sure thing.

Nope. When the voltage across it is normal and/or up to a specific percentage above normal it does nothing. When the voltage exceeds the threshold it sends the excess to ground. At that point it's a conductor, and like any conductor has a current limit. If the current it passes exceeds its capacity it blows, and when that happens it's no longer providing any protection. In the case of a lightning hit it will usually blow. It's possible to make one with adequate current capacity to handle a lightning hit, but the cost would be prohibitive, especially considering how rare such lightning hits are. That's why Furman has their $25k damage guarantee. It's not because their surge protectors are that good, it's because damaging lightning hits are so rare. http://www.rane.com/note110.html That's 7 amps at full power.

Sorry to hijack this thread but it’s relevant to the OP’s question as he and I are in the same boat… (we don’t know Jack about electricity).

Bill – would you recommend a whole home surge protection at the junction box or is that just snake oil? Santa is bringing me some new goodies and I want to make sure they’re as protected as they can be. I’ll have similar gear to the OP, if that helps.

It only helps if you actually need it... I have whole-house surge and lightning protection installed in our main service, cost about $300 - $500 IIRC. Since our power tends to be flaky out in the sticks I count it as good insurance. As for lightning protection, pretty much nothing is going to stop a direct hit, but a strike that hit a tree about 25 yards from our house did no damage except to the cable line (they installed an inlet lightning arrestor after that). For a $20k sound system plus all the other stuff in the house it made sense to me.

The whole-house suppressors tend to be heavier-duty so they last longer, and are certified for code/UL compliance and protection parameters (overvoltage/current limits, let-through voltage, etc.) vs. the relatively undocumented local outlet suppressors from Wal-mart or Other Fine Shopping Centers.

FWIWFM - Don

+1. It's like any form of insurance. I have home insurance, but I don't pay extra big bucks for a rider that covers stampede damage.

Thanks for the replies. It seems like we live in Tornado Alley here in GA so I’ll probably look into getting one installed. I’m a risk averse kind of guy so I’d rather have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.

Is this a joke? How did this diverge into ground loops? In any event, in residential and commercial buildings a ground loop is an annoyance, not a safety issue. If you have a defective component then it is a problem whether there is a ground loop or not.

Because one of the main reasons for them is plugging into different outlets, and that's very often the case when powered subs are remotely located from the rest of the electronics. As to being an 'annoyance', tell that to someone who can't get rid of the 60Hz noise that they create.

The current draw of the amps is only at maximum when output is at maximum. Even accounting for the inefficiency of typical amps I doubt yours would ever pull more than 10 amps. Devices other than amps and TVs usually draw insignificant current.

How many amps would you estimate a plasma tv using 400 watts might pull?

3

Thx

Not trying to be anal or challenge any responses in my following; Watts/Volts equals Amps.

400W/120v = 3.333333A

This graph will tell you roughly how long a current model breaker, in good working order, can be expected to hold a load. See pg 3 for 15A and pg 4 for 20A breakers..

Good to know the equation. What's the old saying: Rather than give a man a fish, it is better to teach him how to fish.