Too much for one plug socket?

Explosive_Cornflake

I'm amazed I've never trip the trip switch. I've only one plug socket in my room, and I've quite a lot plugged into it. There's is a surge protector on it, just to be safe

You got anything dangerous going on?

Endurance Man

Well i have 3 x quadruple adapters into one socket and then 2 double adapters into those . Thats..... 15 plugs from 1 .

weeder

Endurance Man wrote:

Well i have 3 x quadruple adapters into one socket and then 2 double adapters into those . Thats..... 15 plugs from 1 .

got a pick of the deathtrap

Snowbat

Provided the total current through the socket never exceeds 13 amps at any given time, no problem - that'll give you up to 2990 Watts to play with. Apart from the 2kW fan heater, none of the devices in the picture consume much power.

Ruu_Old

I never use double adapters, hate the yokes. Get yourself sorted

Explosive_Cornflake

My setup is 4 way plugged into wall. Into that is a plug with two 4 ways wired into that. Going the other it was was one 4 plugged into that, which in turn has a 6 way in that.
Biggest users are the 2KW fan heater, but that's not on if the computer is. It's 24.7 in this room now (5 past three in the morning), and the window is wide open.
535W PSU in one computer, 350W I think in the other(It's going to the attic soon), TV no idea of the consumption on that 28" flat crt. 100W amp.

Mutant_Fruit

what your limited to is the total amount flowing in the ring that the socket is connected to. The current flowing through an individual socket could be anything, so long as the total current flowing through the ring is below the threshold for the ESB box to trip.

Of course, if you plug a power strip into another power strip which in turn connects to a third power strip, you'll be limited to 13 amps. As usually power strips have 13 Amp fuses in em, so the fuse in the first one would melt if you pulled too much power.

Lump

Well I=V/R, so work out the amps flowing and then you'll know

Actually a better equation would be P=VI, where P = the wattage, for example a 2KW heater would be

I=P/V, which equals I=2000/230 therefore, there Amps used is 8.69. Obviously your PC uses a much lower wattage and voltage, and it doesn't often run at full load.

John

mp3guy

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I'm amazed I've never trip the trip switch. I've only one plug socket in my room, and I've quite a lot plugged into it. There's is a surge protector on it, just to be safe

You got anything dangerous going on?

Installing ubuntu there? Looks like 5.10, you should get 6.06

Mutant_Fruit

Lump wrote:

Well I=V/R, so work out the amps flowing and then you'll know

Actually a better equation would be P=VI, where P = the wattage, for example a 2KW heater would be

I=P/V, which equals I=2000/230 therefore, there Amps used is 8.69. Obviously your PC uses a much lower wattage and voltage, and it doesn't often run at full load.

John

Ah, but there's the problem of reactive power too! Unless your computer/stereo is a balanced load, it'll actually be pulling more power than you might think. A 300Watt PSU might actually be pulling 350 Watts of "power" (no, you won't get charged for the 50 watts of reactive power) which will result in the fuse melting at a lower apparent current than it's rated at. I know too much

Explosive_Cornflake

mp3guy wrote:

Installing ubuntu there? Looks like 5.10, you should get 6.06

How on earth did you see that? I'm amazed. Downloaded 6.06 last night, so it's going on today.

Rollo Tamasi

i spotted it too actually. Only installed mine about 2 weeks ago. It lovely.
Looks more like a MAC OS than previous releases.

cast_iron

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Ah, but there's the problem of reactive power too! Unless your computer/stereo is a balanced load, it'll actually be pulling more power than you might think. A 300Watt PSU might actually be pulling 350 Watts of "power" (no, you won't get charged for the 50 watts of reactive power) which will result in the fuse melting at a lower apparent current than it's rated at. I know too much

I don't see how the computer/stereo could run unbalanced?
Also, would you get a 16% odd increase in net power in the above example?


Also, EnduranceMan
I'm slightly worried that you almost appear proud you have 15 plug tops in a single socket!

Explosive_Cornflake

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

i spotted it too actually. Only installed mine about 2 weeks ago. It lovely.
Looks more like a MAC OS than previous releases.

It's actually Kubuntu i got, but I won't be running X on it, so it's the same. Going on a duron 1300mhz as a fileserver in the attic, to try and cut down on the hard disks in my main machine.
Have to say it's a lot more stress free than installing gentoo.
I've got SUSE 10.1 RC1 on the laptop also, got the new non oss dvd of it, so may play with that today also.

stereo_steve

The PSU contains many inductors which would be the cause of the reactive power, although I would be amazed if it went up to 350.

I don't think its anything to worry about:)

weeder

ah the joys of having 10 sockets in this room alone

steveland?

I do often get worried about this... I've 5 sockets dashed accross my room, into one I have my 30W Marshall guitar amp, tv, gamecube, n64 (don't know why I even bother with them plugged in... they haven't been turned on in about a year...), DVD player and video machine, into another there's my stereo, PC, monitor, speakers and Toneport (guitar modelling thingy), occasionally laptop and a lamp...

I know these won't all be turned on at once but it still worries me there's so much electricity being consumed in my room...

So I've nothing to worry about "explody-wise" other than huge electricity bills?

weeder

in my room i have plugged in when im using it tv gamecube and 10 bass watt amp on the 6 way surge protector i have my router 2 crts a laptop and my server this is left plugged in the whole time for my server

Richard Dower

All my PC hardware is connect to a high end surge protector, cost €150.

Lump

That wont stop the fuse burning out.

Creamy Goodness

lol yeh i've got a lot of stuff connected to one plug without a surge protector.

tv
dvd
cordless phone base station
guitar amp (it ain't a little ****ty one that takes no power (peavey classic 50 4 speaker version)).
pc
CRT 19inch monitor
6.1 sound speaker system
laptop
iriver h140 charger

and to top it off

mobile phone charger

Hobbes

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

As usually power strips have 13 Amp fuses in em, so the fuse in the first one would melt if you pulled too much power.

Thats why god invented paper clips.

* note do not try this at home kids.

Endurance Man

weeder wrote:

got a pick of the deathtrap

LOL, here are some pics of the "deathtrap":

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=6/16112582547.jpg&s=f5
http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=6/16113120543.jpg&s=f5
http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=6/15608172311.jpg&s=f5

There is a lot being powered at once , most of the time there are 3 pc's being powered, mine and my dads, and then one being built or tested. Then there's a couple of other misc things but still needed. Even gotta give that little cctv camera juice from time to time.
I have to whip out another adapter if i want to run my laptop down here :S.

weeder

could be worse

Richard Dower

Eww!...that dosen't seem safe!

Endurance Man

Richard Dower wrote:

Eww!...that dosen't seem safe!

Crisis, you guys are starting to make me worry , iv never really thought of it as a problem. My dad is fairly clued up on this sort of thing, im sure he wouldn't let me set it up like that if he didnt think it was safe?

weeder

wouldnt worry about it really

Lump

Maybe he's trying to kill you.

Eh, I mean I'm sure it's fine.

zilog_jones

Endurance Man wrote:

Crisis, you guys are starting to make me worry , iv never really thought of it as a problem. My dad is fairly clued up on this sort of thing, im sure he wouldn't let me set it up like that if he didnt think it was safe?

I wouldn't be too worried - only things I can see generating any significant power there are the PCs and the speaker system. Everything else looks like <10W stuff. I doubt it'd all add up to anything near 13A. I wouldn't recommend plugging in the hoover near there, though

Capt'n Midnight

Your socket will be on a ring, probably with a 20A trip switch. If it's a house built in the recent boom then unlike older houses, every socket outside the kitchen may be on that single trip.

a 2 bar heater takes 8.7A
a 1.5KW hairdryer takes 6.5A

if one of those is plugged in elsewhere then you don't even need to hit the full 13A to overload the trip switch

Oh and don't use double adaptors - they can overheat with heavy loads - use a 4 way extension lead instead.

Lump

Richard Dower wrote:

All my PC hardware is connect to a high end surge protector, cost €150.

You're a real sucker if you paid €150 for a surge protector, I wouldn't mind if you lived in a country that had lots of Thunder storms/power outages...... Wierdo.

John

Capt'n Midnight

Richard Dower wrote:

All my PC hardware is connect to a high end surge protector, cost €150.

Heatons have some 4 way estension leads with built in surge protection ( 3 Varistors ) for £4/€6

Richard Dower

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Heatons have some 4 way estension leads with built in surge protection ( 3 Varistors ) for £4/€6

I only buy the best.

Richard Dower

Lump wrote:

You're a real sucker if you paid €150 for a surge protector, I wouldn't mind if you lived in a country that had lots of Thunder storms/power outages...... Wierdo.

John

Whatever :rolleyes:

Ruu_Old

I think a fairly decent surge protector costs around $30-50, lets hope your €150 one does the job for you

Lump

You can get a ups for a little more then €150

Gurgle

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I'm amazed I've never trip the trip switch. I've only one plug socket in my room, and I've quite a lot plugged into it. There's is a surge protector on it, just to be safe

You got anything dangerous going on?

I see nothing in the picture thats going to come close to 2.5kW.
You'll be fine.
Only danger is a fire from badly made connections.

Lump

Gurgle wrote:

I see nothing in the picture thats going to come close to 2.5kW.
You'll be fine.
Only danger is a fire from badly made connections.

What about the 2Kw heater

Gurgle

Lump wrote:

What about the 2Kw heater

I still can't see a 2KW heater in that picture.

Lump

Look at the image below:

Capt'n Midnight

Lump wrote:

Look at the image below:

LOL
don't forget unless it's in the kitchen you have to take into account the load from other rooms on the same circuit

Explosive_Cornflake

This house is a product of the late 70's, but AFIAK got a new fuse box with trip switches and so on on the early 90's. I know I'm on the same spur as a couple of other rooms, but I'm the only person with anything more than a stereo in their room, and those people are never here anymore.
I'm not too worried, I've yet to blow a fuse, and it's been like that for years. The heater would be on for 5 minutes in the winter, and that's about it. I was just curious to see if many others have everything out of one plug socket?

Lump

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

LOL
don't forget unless it's in the kitchen you have to take into account the load from other rooms on the same circuit

Don't laugh, I'm proud of my MS PAINT SKILLZORS!

Mutant_Fruit

Lump wrote:

Don't laugh, I'm proud of my MS PAINT SKILLZORS!

All hail lump! The true master of MS Paint. The most complicated and high-tech image editing program known to man! Not even my 6yr old cousin has mastered it yet!

The Real B-man

Lump wrote:

You're a real sucker if you paid €150 for a surge protector, I wouldn't mind if you lived in a country that had lots of Thunder storms/power outages...... Wierdo.

John

Pmsl

Lump

I speak the truth tbh

Snowbat

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

what your limited to is the total amount flowing in the ring that the socket is connected to. The current flowing through an individual socket could be anything, so long as the total current flowing through the ring is below the threshold for the ESB box to trip.

Of course, if you plug a power strip into another power strip which in turn connects to a third power strip, you'll be limited to 13 amps. As usually power strips have 13 Amp fuses in em, so the fuse in the first one would melt if you pulled too much power.

The contacts in BS 1363 wall-mounted sockets are rated for 13 amps maximum. On a single socket, you're limited to either 13 amps, or a current that would not exceed the trip switch rating given other appliances operating on the ring, whichever is the lesser of the two.