Arcade Room Electrical - Game On / Off - Master Power, etc.

[wildwest3163]

I just hard wired my basement so I have 3x 20 amp outlet runs.. Each run comes back to a main switch all in one switch box. I walk down the steps and flick the 3 switches to power everything up. Pretty simple..

my gameroom is about the same, on 3 20 amp circuits. However, I have all my games plugged into surge protectors mounted on the wall behind the games, 4 games per protector. I can walk around the room with a pool stick and turn everything (or just the groups of games I want) in about a minute

 

[delroy666]

The phase bridge I had at my panel blew out a couple years ago when we had crazy power spikes during a storm, but looking inside it's charred remains it seems they aren't the best constructed things to begin with

I didn't bother with a phase bridge, since I only have 2 circuits with X10 devices on them, I just moved the breaker over one notch in the panel to put it on the same phase as the other.

I did have one problem with an X10 appliance module recently. It had a surge protector plugged into it which powers 2 games and a neon light. It was working fine until I got my Crystal Castles and plugged it into the same surge protector. When Crystal Castles was plugged in, the X10 outlet would no longer turn off reliably. Unplug CC and it would work fine again. Looking in the cabinet, I noticed someone had installed an extra EMI filter with capacitors soldered across the terminals. I desoldered those caps and the outlet starting working reliably again.

 

[DogP]

I use the remote control Belkin Conserve power strips... then I hacked one of the controllers to connect to my touchscreen jukebox to give me touchscreen power control for the whole arcade. Here's a pic from one of the other threads: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showpost.php?p=1355100&postcount=44 .

DogP

 

[cadillacman]

I just hard wired my basement so I have 3x 20 amp outlet runs.. Each run comes back to a main switch all in one switch box. I walk down the steps and flick the 3 switches to power everything up. Pretty simple..

i have 4 switches, four 20 amp circuits and yes i agree, this is the way to go.(if you have a dedicated space... dont reccomend this if you see yourself moving in 4 years or something)

 

[JODY]

i have 4 switches, four 20 amp circuits and yes i agree, this is the way to go.(if you have a dedicated space... dont reccomend this if you see yourself moving in 4 years or something)

I may do the main switches but also want the ability to turn on and off individual games. Just can't see firing up a whole bank of games just to play one. X10 would be convenient but can't justify the extra cost and having to replace a few modules every few years. So far I'm leaning toward the main switches then having a few of the individual on / off boxes (DJ lighting unit or similar) for each bank of machines. I'll have three 20 amp circuits in use with a fourth in the ceiling in case I want to add a row of machines in the middle of the floor.

 

[Paul Olson]

I have 3 20A breakers wired to 10 switches which are each wired to a dedicated plug. All of the games along the wall are plugged into 8 of the outlets, so each is switched. The big games and the pins are in the middle of the garage, so I use a power strip and the other outlets for those. I usually keep those switches on since the game power switches are easy to get to. It works well for all of the games, now I just need to make stickers for the light switches.