20 amp circut???????

Frank joe · 07-30-2003, 11:16 PM

i am told i should run a deicated 20 amp circut for my home theater. i am usuing one 20 amp for my amplifer (ati 250 watt by 5). and the other 20 amp for the rest of my gear.
my question is can i plug my 18" velodyne into one of them?????????? i dont have to run a 3rd 20amp line do i????
from what i can ready about the amplifer is that is needs its own deicated circut, or mabey i am reading it wrong and i can run other gear on that line along with it? do i really need more that 2 20 amp circuts to run all my gear????? help frankie

Claude M · 07-31-2003, 08:43 AM

the best way to know for sure is if you turn everything on, adjust the volume, then go down to the breaker panel, find the hot wire to each outlet, and measure the current with a clamp on meter. ebay has some good deals on these, I use amprobe but fluke is just as good.

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Scott Sabin · 07-31-2003, 08:48 AM

This is probably better posted in the HT construction forum, but I'll give you my 2cents on the subject.

What you need to do is look at each piece of equipment's back panel and write down it's nameplate rating (in Amps). You might find that your 250W x 5 amp is a "quasi rating" if your total nameplate rating on that amp is less than 10.4 amps at 120V.

At any rate, you are not at risk of any fire hazard if you load up to 20A total on any 20A circuit. However, to avoid IR drop in your feeder lines, you might want to restrict your "designed load" on a circuit to about 50% of its rated capacity, or to up the wire size to 10 ga on your 12A circuit (and load it higher, to say 15 or 16A).

Besides your amp, your other gear most likely draw very little power. You could probably get away with a single for 20A circuit, but using 2 is a conservative way to go. Without knowing how much your Velodyne consumes, I would still guess you could put your amp on one circuit, and everything else on another. 2 (20A) circuits is adequate for 95%+ of us.

DannyL · 07-31-2003, 02:30 PM

you may want to try using the kill-a-watt product. although it is rated only for 15 amps you can test each of your amps, sub, tv, etc. and measure how much power each is using and then determine overall how much you need.

Yogi · 07-31-2003, 03:53 PM

In one of the Tweeter store HT rooms they had a top of the like Monster conditioner that shows the instantaneous current draw and voltage readings. Everything was plugged on to that one power conditioner. One B&K ref 7250 (18 amp max draw) and one ref 2220 (7 amp max draw), two REL Strata subs (must be atleast 7-8 amps max draw total on both). An RPTV, Ref 30, and sources etc. I figured the max current rating of the whole system must have been over 35 amps. I put on a movie and turned up the volume really loud (a level most of us wouldn't watch at) and watched the max current draw on the MPC. You'd be surprised to know that the max current draw never exceeded 11-12 amps. So I think 2, 20 amp circuits are already an overkill and you certainly don't need an additional 20 amp circuit. Just plug your sub in the 15 amp line or one of the 20 amp lines and forget about it. You are never going to draw those kinds of current through your lines without having blood rolling down your ears.

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Arthur Vino · 07-31-2003, 06:34 PM

My questions:
How do I figure if I have a 20 amp line or 15 amp..
My plans were to:
put 250x5, 2x250 amps & pre/pro on one 15A circuit (I think I have 15, dont know how to check)
and put SVS pb2-plus subwoofer, 40 inch TV, DVD player, cable box, DirecTV HD box on the other..

Jason.Soko · 07-31-2003, 07:03 PM

You will never pull anywhere near 15 amps on a circuit. I never understood this obsession with dedicated 20amp lines. Just because your equipment is rated to do that doesn't mean you will ever get near it. I've seen a full surround theater blasting on mcintosh amps pulling max 7amps.

Yogi · 07-31-2003, 09:21 PM

I dont understand the obsession with multiple 20 amp circuits either.

Frank joe · 07-31-2003, 11:26 PM

ok wher do i get a kill-a-watt product to meaasure it?
also i am just going with what i read here about haveing a deicated circut to avoid interference. also the amp company strongley suggets 20 amp circut the different plug end you can't use a 15 amp circut. the outlet that my 18'' velo is pluged into now i want to change so its not used for my sub anymore. for sonme strange reason if i leave the sub in auto on feature and i put a floresent light on in a room donwn the hall my sub turns on. ( must be on same circut i guess). so i just leave sub in off position. i feel more confortable with seperate outlets. and i do own a monster hts 5000 line conditioner surge protector. all my equipment except for the sub is plugged into it.
my equipment list 1. pioneer elite 39tx
2. pioneer elite am10 amp 100x100 (surround7.1)
3 nht evolution speaker system with a1 amp 250 watt monoblock,for evolution subs, x 1 crossover.and nht sb1's for 7.1 rears
4. monster hts power line conditioner
5. velodyne fr-1800 (18" sub 250watt rms 750 watt peak power)
6 mitsubishi 60 rptv
7 toshiba dvd player ( soon to be replaced with the pioneer elite ).
8. sony slv676 vcr.( yes just because i cant part with it. lol
9 monster and street wires .

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Scotty Parish · 08-01-2003, 08:26 AM

Arthur,

Quote:

(I think I have 15, dont know how to check)

Check the breaker size at your breaker box for the circuit you are using. It will normally be a 15 or 20 amp breaker. Also, normally, 15 amp circuits use 14 gauge wire and 20 amp circuits use 12 gauge wire.