Dedicated Line

[Sarius]

I'm going to be adding two 20 amp dedicated lines to my listening room. I was wondering what words of advice you-all might offer to assure I'll be getting the most out of the investment?

Thanks

 

[Bryce_H]

Although it is a pain - run 12 gauge wire. It will allow more items (lights, outlets, etc) to be run. It also affords you the capability to upgrade the line to 240 (for example if you buy a Richard Grays unit) later. Of course it is overkill, but if you are putting one in anyway?!?

 

[Johnd]

I'm going to be adding two 20 amp dedicated lines to my listening room. I was wondering what words of advice you-all might offer to assure I'll be getting the most out of the investment?

Thanks

Just keep them both homeruns each with their own dedicated ground, and you'll have plenty of power to spare but for the most power hungry of stereo systems.

 

[mulester7]

I'm going to be adding two 20 amp dedicated lines to my listening room. I was wondering what words of advice you-all might offer to assure I'll be getting the most out of the investment?

Thanks

.....Sarius, just curious, what are you going to attach to the two new 20 amp lines?....and what will remain on what you have now?....

.....edit....here's what I ordered 3 of....25 foot 10/3 extension cords rated at 30 amps....whatever your outlet puts out, it will show up....my computer is messed up and I can't do links....do an info.com on RVPart.com.....$24.95 for a 25 foot 10/3, with a three-outlet head.....

 

[Sarius]

.....Sarius, just curious, what are you going to attach to the two new 20 amp lines?....and what will remain on what you have now?....

Currently (pun intended) everthing is attached to a single 15 amp plug. That's a Parasound A21 amp, P3 pre, plus CD player and tuner. Given that flat out the A21 can pull over 1,500 watts, it's really not enough. Turns out that if I'm going to install a single 20 amp line, two aren't that much more and it'll give me some growth potential as I'm planning in being in this house for quite a while and who knows what I might decide to do with the room over the next 20 years.

The old 15 amp plugs will go back to being used for lighting and such.

My thinking at the moment is to run 10ga to each from the panel, I've got an unfinished basement so the run will mostly be tacking up on open joists and a very short fish up to the baseboard in the room.

 

[mulester7]

Currently (pun intended) everthing is attached to a single 15 amp plug. That's a Parasound A21 amp, P3 pre, plus CD player and tuner. Given that flat out the A21 can pull over 1,500 watts, it's really not enough. Turns out that if I'm going to install a single 20 amp line, two aren't that much more and it'll give me some growth potential as I'm planning in being in this house for quite a while and who knows what I might decide to do with the room over the next 20 years.

The old 15 amp plugs will go back to being used for lighting and such.

My thinking at the moment is to run 10ga to each from the panel, I've got an unfinished basement so the run will mostly be tacking up on open joists and a very short fish up to the baseboard in the room.

.....Great Report, Sarius....if you can use a 25 foot 10/3 extension cord big as a dime leaning toward nickel, refer above....if you hook 20 amps potential to it at the wall, it would kick your amp fresh and anew, haha....let that amp have one line by itself....I want large pools to draw from, as I honest-to-Goodness, listen to moderate plus levels....I'm so lucky....I have the Earthquake on a 40 amp breaker....I figure close to that reaches the wall socket, because the amp is the only draw on that 40 amp breaker....sure, the wall socket is probably rated at 20 output, this 10/3 cord is rated at 30, so guess how many amps potential arrives at the back door of the Earthquake....correct, 20, and that's what the Earthquake is rated to kick it's breaker at....life is good.....

 

[ht_addict]

And how much power do you guys honestly think your drawing from the socket? With my setup listed in my sig, I draw no more than 5A when listening to a movie at insane levels. Same draw level when I had a Rotel RMB-1096 and/or NAD S250 in my setup at one time. Unless you go some excessive interference or blowing the breaker your wasting your money.

 

[mtrycrafts]

And how much power do you guys honestly think your drawing from the socket? With my setup listed in my sig, I draw no more than 5A when listening to a movie at insane levels. Same draw level when I had a Rotel RMB-1096 and/or NAD S250 in my setup at one time. Unless you go some excessive interference or blowing the breaker your wasting your money.

Interesting response and how true.

My two boomboxes hardly uses anything including some serious video

 

[Sarius]

Just keep them both homeruns each with their own dedicated ground, and you'll have plenty of power to spare but for the most power hungry of stereo systems.

Thanks, but I'm not sure I know what you mean by 'dedicated ground' for each. I understand that grounding issues are tricky and if you end up with different grounds at different potentials you can have noise problems.

If someone might wish to explain what's needed in proper grounding, I'd sure appreciate it. Let's assume that I've got to work with existing house ground and that digging holes and burying copper rods isn't an option at the moment.

 

[NGL_BrSH]

Ya definitely a waste of money and time. You will gain NOTHING by doing this.. and i mean absolutely nothing.

If your setup demanded more than the 15 amps... even during a quick transient, it would trip and you'd have to reset it. Only then you would need to think about beefing up the breaker and rewiring.
It's not restricting you if it doesn't trip.
If you need to upgrade your line you'll know it, otherwise you're just wasting your time.

 

[TABCON]

I just had this done in my AV room yesterday. I ran a dedicated 15 amp/12ga. circuit. Then I plugged the Richard Gray 600 into that. I also installed Gray's 8 ga. High Tension power cable from the conditioner to the Denon and then installed 2 power links using 12 ga. running directly from the conditioner to the sub and to the ceiling mounted projector.

Overkill? Probably, but what the hay. It makes me feel better for it.

Tabcon

 

[PENG]

Ya definitely a waste of money and time. You will gain NOTHING by doing this.. and i mean absolutely nothing.

If your setup demanded more than the 15 amps... even during a quick transient, it would trip and you'd have to reset it. Only then you would need to think about beefing up the breaker and rewiring.
It's not restricting you if it doesn't trip.
If you need to upgrade your line you'll know it, otherwise you're just wasting your time.

I agree on a continuous basis, one would not need to worry about the limitation of a 15A outlet, but for the occasional high transient currents, a 15A or 20A outlet fed by its own circuit is not going to hurt.

A quick transient of 15A will not trip a breaker unless the breaker is defective. It definitely would not cause a 15A fuse to blow neither. The time overcurrent characteristic curve for the particular fuse and breaker will show that the higher the current the quicker the device will trip/or blow. It typically takes a long time to trip if the current is only slightly higher than the rated value.

 

[ht_addict]

I agree on a continuous basis, one would not need to worry about the limitation of a 15A outlet, but for the occasional high transient currents, a 15A or 20A outlet fed by its own circuit is not going to hurt.

A quick transient of 15A will not trip a breaker unless the breaker is defective. It definitely would not cause a 15A fuse to blow neither. The time overcurrent characteristic curve for the particular fuse and breaker will show that the higher the current the quicker the device will trip/or blow. It typically takes a long time to trip if the current is only slightly higher than the rated value.

Have you ever had a quick transient of 15A? I've never seen one displayed on my HTPS7000 digital display. 5A was the highest.

 

[mulester7]

Have you ever had a quick transient of 15A? I've never seen one displayed on my HTPS7000 digital display. 5A was the highest.

.....how many watts a channel is your receiver rated to put out, Ht_Addict?....any amps in the mix?.....

.....edit....no offense meant anywhere, either....we ALL crank the crap out of it occassionally when the little woman is gone shopping and the kids are with her, don't we?....huh?....let the first liar stand up....my neighbors say every-now-and-then they have brownouts in rhythm.....

 

[mulester7]

Ya definitely a waste of money and time. You will gain NOTHING by doing this.. and i mean absolutely nothing.

If your setup demanded more than the 15 amps... even during a quick transient, it would trip and you'd have to reset it. Only then you would need to think about beefing up the breaker and rewiring.
It's not restricting you if it doesn't trip.
If you need to upgrade your line you'll know it, otherwise you're just wasting your time.

.....NGL_BrSH, I want large pools from the circuit breaker on....you reason as you will, it's still a relatively free country.....

 

[mtrycrafts]

I agree on a continuous basis, one would not need to worry about the limitation of a 15A outlet, but for the occasional high transient currents, a 15A or 20A outlet fed by its own circuit is not going to hurt.

A quick transient of 15A will not trip a breaker unless the breaker is defective. It definitely would not cause a 15A fuse to blow neither. The time overcurrent characteristic curve for the particular fuse and breaker will show that the higher the current the quicker the device will trip/or blow. It typically takes a long time to trip if the current is only slightly higher than the rated value.

Where do the huge filter caps come into play if not to help with the quick peaks? The line would charge less quickly and the breaker is safe for another attack But, I have not seen an o scope on the power side during peaks so I may be off base.

 

[mulester7]

The line would charge less quickly

.....yes, large pools to draw from everywhere could only help....and once again, relatively, wire is cheap.....

 

[Sarius]

Have you ever had a quick transient of 15A? I've never seen one displayed on my HTPS7000 digital display. 5A was the highest.

My Furman power conditioner has a voltage meter on it. When I'm playing Taiko drums through the A21 I can see the voltage drop by 2-3 volts during the peaks.

 

[indcrimdefense]

i have 2 20 amp dedicated lines, amp is on one & everything else is on the other. i was going to have new dedicated lines run (as i'm cheating & using 2 dedicated lines from the kitchen that were put in for appliances, & i just run the power cables through a "window" in the wall between the living room & kitchen), but have never got around to doing it. really cannot tell a difference as opposed to formerly using the 15 amp which is in the living room, with one significant exception. previously i only had my amp on a 20 amp line & everything else was using a 15 amp in the living room, which was on a circuit with one or more other sockets in the living room. one night i was hearing additional noise in the system which i had not heard before, & after investigating i had a cell phone plugged in to charge in the living room. unplugged it & noise went away, so i switched to using the other 20 amp dedicated line out of the kitchen. i'm no electric expert, so have no idea if you need a 15 or 20 amp line, but it certainly worth it to have one or more dedicated lines for your system.

 

[PENG]

Have you ever had a quick transient of 15A? I've never seen one displayed on my HTPS7000 digital display. 5A was the highest.

Not really, but I expect to see that kind of peak current if I turn the volume right up to say +5 or higher when playing certain muli-channel stuff. I have no need to do such thing but others may.

I agree with mtry that large caps should help, but he surely knows that if the caps are helping, they are also discharging. A 15 or 20A dedicated line is the way to go for peace of mind