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Electrical Wiring Question

954 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  gallobravo
I'm just learning all this stuff (today was the first day since high school physics that I converted watts to amperage) and am setting up a new home theater system. The TV was installed yesterday--my idea was to run everything through a single Monster Powerbar 1100. I noticed that a red light turned on the powerbar after everything was connected--looked at it and that light apparently indicates a 15A amperage. So I started doing some math, using the best figures I could find for my devices, and discovered the following:


The receiver (Denon 3808CI) draws 7.2 amps, various other items connected to the home theater system (DVD player, PS3, VCR, &c.) bring the total up to 12.7 Amps, not including the TV or subwoofer.


The TV draws 3.633333333 amps.


The subwoofer draws 4.16777777 amps.


In most cases, I took the power ratings from the manufacturer's website--for items with AC/DC adapters, I looked at the input rating on the power brick--for the subwoofer, I used the rated wattage on the back of the sub, not the output wattage (which would be 300W vs. 500W). The Monster Powerbar (and most others I can find) is rated for 15A of continuous power. I know the ratings are maximum draws, but the powerbar was picking up a 15A draw with just the TV and receiver.


The apartment has 20A breakers for the outlets, and another 20A breaker for the circuit the lights run on (of which more later). The wiring is supposedly brand new (the house was renovated right before we moved in, new wiring, pipes, &c.)


My question is this:

Is it ok to have the TV connected to a different outlet on the same circuit as the receiver, just using a different surge protector/power conditioner?


For the subwoofer, I can either connect it to an outlet on the same circuit or I can connect it to a switched outlet on a different circuit--the same circuit all the house lights are connected to. I don't think any other outlets are switched, so the only things drawing on that circuit should be light bulbs. All the bulbs connected right now are incandescent. Which outlet should I connect it to? I want the best sound possible, but also don't want to trip the breakers.


Finally, how big a concern should all this be? It seems to me that many people must be running more than 15A, and what I can find online seems to indicate that 15A is a typical rating for house outlet circuit breakers, but I don't hear much about TVs tripping circuit breakers or houses catching fire.


Thanks in advance--this forum has been very helpful.
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Hi a 15 Amp Circuit is good to use for 12 continuous amps, a 20 amp is good to use for up to 16 continuous amps. Anything higher than that will put a strain on the daisy chain devices. The termination on all the devices have a 60 degree rating(I won't get into that to much engineering). I think You Should plug into separate circuit. All electrical devices are meant to be use at 80% of its maximum capacity.

Hope this helps.
Frankly, I think the 15A indicator on the Monster is suspect. The TV, DVD player, etc. are one thing, but there's no way the sub and amp are going to draw their amperage ratings at idle.


Regards,

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdessem /forum/post/15436997


Finally, how big a concern should all this be? It seems to me that many people must be running more than 15A, and what I can find online seems to indicate that 15A is a typical rating for house outlet circuit breakers, but I don't hear much about TVs tripping circuit breakers or houses catching fire.

The amplifier and sub ratings quoted are maximum consumption ratings that will only be realized when the units are driven to their limits. At normal listening levels they will draw nowhere near the maximum. Also keep in mind that current draw with music is not steady-state but fluctuates constantly. What kind of DVD player, VCR, etc. do you have that draw 5+ amps ? These items all typically rate less than 0.4A each. My HT system consisting of LCDTV, DVD player, powered sub, two cable boxes, 100W x 5 AVR, and 210W x 2 amp is on a single 15A circuit, draws around 2 amps at idle, and not more than double that amount in normal use. My 2-channel system consisting of 300W x 2 amp, preamp, and SACD player idles at about 2.2A.
Hi , Is The Circuit that You have all this plug in A dedicated circuit? Is there anything else in this circuit?
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