installing electrical outlet... (1 Viewer)

[DustinT]

I was going to do this myself. I have helped my father in law do it before and i know it's fairly simple, but wanted to see if anyone can point me towards any DIY sites that go over this in detail? I over research everything before i do anything.

Since my entire HT is going to be on this outlet, I'm giving it' it's own dedicated breaker, and dressing up the wall plate a little (i'll have all equipment hopefully on a wall mounted rack in a closet on the other side of the wall the PLasma will be hanging on). I think I would need 5 outlets.

(Plasma,DVD Player,Audio Receiver, Dish Receiver, Xbox)

What do you all think about me just installing 6? would i be better off only installing two and getting a nice surge protector, or is the breaker enough protection?

thanks all,

 

[Brian Corr]

The breaker doesn't really offer any protection against surges by itself.
You can get a surge protector installed at the main panel that would protect the entire house, or you can put a surge strip of some sort at the equipment location. If you do that, then you don't really need to install all the extra outlets.

 

[MarkN]

The breaker offers no protection to your equipment (really). Get something like a UPS battery backup/surge protector. That will give you enough time to properly shut down your equipment and often times they will actually clean up and "dirty" power.

 

[DustinT]

good to know. i have sources for decent UPS through my company so I may go that route. it will be easy to find a home for anyways if i do end up using the wall mounted rack.
thanks guys,

 

[MarkN]

Also, many of the UPS battery backup companies cover equipment if damaged due to a surge. Depending on the unit/company, up to $20k

 

[John Wes]

Your going to have a lot of things on that circuit, and although you can probably get by with a 15 amp circuit, I'd put in a 20 amp.

I'm only adding this because most house circuits are 15 amp.

If you add a really big amp later, you'll be glad you did.

 

[BlakeN]

If you do a 20 amp circuit make sure to get 20 amp outlets. They will have a notch in one of the recepticals . Picture

Also make sure to get 12/2 romex not 14/2.

 

[Seth_L]

They really end up paying out the amount of your deductible on your homeowner's insurance, and that's only if you can actually prove their product is at fault. If you have any unprotected paths into your system, like a phone line, or a cable line they're not going to pay up. Also, if you have multiple brands of surge protectors, they will all point the finger at each other and you'll get nothing.

 

[Dan Wesnor]

Many UPS actually put out a stepped sinewave, which is noisier than what you're getting out of the outlet now. Make sure you know what the output waveform looks like before you put in the UPS.

 

[Bryan Michael]

real easy black is hot dont tuch white is nutral and copper is ground. at the pannel you atach the white and ground to the strip and the black to the breaker. if running a 20 amp breaker with is recomended use 12/2 and rember unless you want to have some not so fun dont tuch the black when live.

 

[Julian Reville]

What Bryan Micheal said.

I am in the process of redoing my HT: went from RPTV to FP, so EVERYTHING had to be moved. Two full racks of gear were moved from the front of the room to the side, which meant they could not be plugged into my old dedicated circuit.

Yesterday I re-wired 2 old outlets to accomodate my gear: this is a VERY old house, so it needed it anyway. The old wire was 2 conductor, I've been trying to change it out a little at a time. I used 12/2 grounded Romex and new Levitron Pro outlets. Fishing the wires through the old holes and boxes can be tricky.

The worst part is the crawling under the house. Very dirty under there.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

That’s not necessary unless there is only one outlet in the circuit. It’s pretty common to use multiple 15 amp outlets with a 20 amp circuit.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[PaulT]

Wayne is correct, in the US under the NEC, the minimum size conductor for a 20A circuit is 12 AWG [240.4(D)] and Table 210.21(B)(3) permits a 15A duplex receptacle on a 20A circuit.

This is also allowable in Canada under the National Code here.