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adams_arcade

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I have 18 vids and one pinball. Is it safe to say each game pulls 2 or 3 amps?
Would it be a good idea to change to 20 amp breakers with new 12 gauage or stick with 15 amps and run another 15 amp circuit?
 
I have 18 vids and one pinball. Is it safe to say each game pulls 2 or 3 amps?
Would it be a good idea to change to 20 amp breakers with new 12 gauage or stick with 15 amps and run another 15 amp circuit?

This seems to come up a lot, the topic of amps & games. Depends on the game, but all my normal arcade games (raster, 80s stuff) are about 1.1 to 1.5 and vectors are about 1.7 to 2.0 amps. I've checked all of them with a Kill-A-Watt. Not sure what pins do, amp-wise.
 
I have everything from Pac Man to Mortal Kombat...No vectors at this time.
 
For rough estimates, 2 to 3 amps is a good estimate. I measured all of my game with the Kill o Watt and got some higher measurements than others here did with theirs. Even with my added 20% safety margin, I still popped a couple of breakers after the games had been on and played for a few hours.

I'd say go with the second circuit, but make it a 20 amp. You will have some extra current to supply the games you will add in the future.



I have 18 vids and one pinball. Is it safe to say each game pulls 2 or 3 amps?
Would it be a good idea to change to 20 amp breakers with new 12 gauage or stick with 15 amps and run another 15 amp circuit?
 
For rough estimates, 2 to 3 amps is a good estimate. I measured all of my game with the Kill o Watt and got some higher measurements than others here did with theirs. Even with my added 20% safety margin, I still popped a couple of breakers after the games had been on and played for a few hours.

I'd say go with the second circuit, but make it a 20 amp. You will have some extra current to supply the games you will add in the future.

Tripping a breaker after the machines have been on for a while, assuming nothing else on that same circuit was turned on, sounds like a overheating problem: ie. too much draw on the wiring. I'd seriously suggest moving some stuff to another circuit (or increasing the wire gauge/breaker to accommodate the load - not always feasible, I know) to avoid fire risk.

You may have done this already, but it bears repeating for others who may have a similar situation.
 
Already taken care of. The games with 27" monitors and G08's were the worst offenders for sucking more current at random times. I was popping one of the 20 amp circuits and one of the 15 amp circuits with them.
 
I'm running 6 games per 15 amp breaker at this point but that means even one more is going to cause issues I believe. Usually I have them on 2-4 hours a night and have three zones.
 
My garage has two dedicated 20A circuits and a shared 15A circuit. I power 24 vids, a dart cabinet and a jukebox.

Just don't try to run a heater or AC on the same circuit.

Here is a breakdown of most of my games:

Code:
NAME                    LOW AMPS   HIGH AMPS  AVERAGE AMPS
Williams Multigame        1.05        1.06        1.06
Armor Attack              1.00        1.47        1.30
Star Castle               0.82        1.12        1.00
Battlezone                1.77        2.06        1.90
Black Widow               1.60        2.04        1.95
Star Wars/ESB             2.12        2.63        2.45
Asteroids Deluxe          1.61        1.69        1.65
Tempest                   2.12        2.61        2.35
Marble Madness            2.15        2.25        2.20
Horizontal MAME           1.43        1.65        1.50
Super Punch Out           1.62        1.77        1.71
Multi-DK (Arcadeshop)     0.98        1.08        1.02
Golden Tee/Siver Strike   2.54        3.27        3.05
Race Drivin' (upright)    1.58        1.77        1.72
Rush The Rock Alcatraz    2.19        2.79        2.60
Arachnid Super 6 Darts    1.33        1.56        1.56
Cocktail MAME/Jukebox     1.69        2.17        1.95
Paperboy                  2.60        2.70        2.68
Multipede (ArcadeSD)      0.98        0.99        0.99
Spy Hunter                1.66        1.73        1.69
Seeburg "Disco" Jukebox   1.95        2.25        2.10
Multi Pac Man (96-in-1)   1.05        1.06        1.06
Gorf                      1.51        1.69        1.65
Wizard of Wor             1.46        1.47        1.47
Cruis'n Exotica           1.31        1.51        1.42
Cart Fury                 2.00        2.38        2.20
 
I have 42 games on 100 amps (5 ~ 20 amp circuits), plus some neons and other extra electrical devices. Haven't thrown a breaker since building the gameroom 4 years ago. Some of those are large tubes and drivers which can pull an easy 3 amps.

I would say you are safe to guesstimate each vid at 2 amps and the pin at 5 amps. That would be your maximum draw per game, and typically they will run lower than that during use.
 
Pins are funny... just sitting there they can take less than an amp... (especially if your GI lamps are all LED)... but get the ball rolling and the solenoids firing... they can go up pretty high. Whirlwind was the last one I measured and I want to say the highest I saw it go was just under 4AMP but that doesn't mean it couldn't hit 5 with enough crap going on....but on average they run 2A +/-...

Also keep in mind that a 20A line is supposed to only run 80% (16A) for any long periods of time. According to more than one electrician friend of mine, "long period of time" or "continuous" being 3 hours...
 
My garage has two dedicated 20A circuits and a shared 15A circuit. I power 24 vids, a dart cabinet and a jukebox.

Just don't try to run a heater or AC on the same circuit.

Here is a breakdown of most of my games:

Code:
NAME                    LOW AMPS   HIGH AMPS  AVERAGE AMPS
Williams Multigame        1.05        1.06        1.06
Armor Attack              1.00        1.47        1.30
Star Castle               0.82        1.12        1.00
Battlezone                1.77        2.06        1.90
Black Widow               1.60        2.04        1.95
Star Wars/ESB             2.12        2.63        2.45
Asteroids Deluxe          1.61        1.69        1.65
Tempest                   2.12        2.61        2.35
Marble Madness            2.15        2.25        2.20
Horizontal MAME           1.43        1.65        1.50
Super Punch Out           1.62        1.77        1.71
Multi-DK (Arcadeshop)     0.98        1.08        1.02
Golden Tee/Siver Strike   2.54        3.27        3.05
Race Drivin' (upright)    1.58        1.77        1.72
Rush The Rock Alcatraz    2.19        2.79        2.60
Arachnid Super 6 Darts    1.33        1.56        1.56
Cocktail MAME/Jukebox     1.69        2.17        1.95
Paperboy                  2.60        2.70        2.68
Multipede (ArcadeSD)      0.98        0.99        0.99
Spy Hunter                1.66        1.73        1.69
Seeburg "Disco" Jukebox   1.95        2.25        2.10
Multi Pac Man (96-in-1)   1.05        1.06        1.06
Gorf                      1.51        1.69        1.65
Wizard of Wor             1.46        1.47        1.47
Cruis'n Exotica           1.31        1.51        1.42
Cart Fury                 2.00        2.38        2.20

Are ya running a Paperboy inside your Paperboy? I wonder why the energy consumption is so high on that one.
 
Also keep in mind that a 20A line is supposed to only run 80% (16A) for any long periods of time. According to more than one electrician friend of mine, "long period of time" or "continuous" being 3 hours...

So you're suggesting that whether or not the breaker trips is not an adequate indicator of whether or not circuits are overloaded in a modern electrical installation? Isn't that the whole point of the breakers, to trip well before there is any danger of overload (fire)?
 
So you're suggesting that whether or not the breaker trips is not an adequate indicator of whether or not circuits are overloaded in a modern electrical installation? Isn't that the whole point of the breakers, to trip well before there is any danger of overload (fire)?

I would agree with what Frizz is saying. I had an electrician put 2 extra circuits in my house in Boise and he said you do not want to run it at the max for long periods of time. I am guessing it would be like sitting there with your engine in your car pegged at 6900 rpm constantly when your red line is 7000. Can you do it ? Ya, but would you want to ? Probably not.

To the OP, that is too many machines for one circuit, even if it is 20 amp. You also have to consider how many machines are plugged into one outlet. You cant put every machine on the same wall outlet either by using power strips. You can overload an outlet too is what the electrician told me. They need to be spread around.
 
So you're suggesting that whether or not the breaker trips is not an adequate indicator of whether or not circuits are overloaded in a modern electrical installation? Isn't that the whole point of the breakers, to trip well before there is any danger of overload (fire)?

A breaker simply prevents you from OVERLOADING a circuit. Any given circuit should maintain an 80% or less load for long periods of time.

Some reading: http://ecmweb.com/basics/sizing-circuit-breaker

I'm simply parroting what I've read and what electricians have told me. I don't worry TOO much about hitting 90% or so of load because it's not often that I am running a circuit at that load for 3 hours or more.
 
I would agree with what Frizz is saying. I had an electrician put 2 extra circuits in my house in Boise and he said you do not want to run it at the max for long periods of time. I am guessing it would be like sitting there with your engine in your car pegged at 6900 rpm constantly when your red line is 7000. Can you do it ? Ya, but would you want to ? Probably not.

To the OP, that is too many machines for one circuit, even if it is 20 amp. You also have to consider how many machines are plugged into one outlet. You cant put every machine on the same wall outlet either by using power strips. You can overload an outlet too is what the electrician told me. They need to be spread around.


It is my understanding that anything over 80% load slowly heats up the line... though I do believe that if you run at, for example, 90% load for an extended period of time... it will eventually trip the circuit breaker. Might take 4 hours... or 6... but it eventually does (again, simply an assumption here as I've never tested the theory).
 
I would agree with what Frizz is saying. I had an electrician put 2 extra circuits in my house in Boise and he said you do not want to run it at the max for long periods of time. I am guessing it would be like sitting there with your engine in your car pegged at 6900 rpm constantly when your red line is 7000. Can you do it ? Ya, but would you want to ? Probably not.

To the OP, that is too many machines for one circuit, even if it is 20 amp. You also have to consider how many machines are plugged into one outlet. You cant put every machine on the same wall outlet either by using power strips. You can overload an outlet too is what the electrician told me. They need to be spread around.

spread around on different circuits! Having 10 games on outlet and another 10 games on another outlet in the same circuit is the same as having 20 on 1.

If your lucky your room might have 2 circuits in it. Use a circut tester and map out where the power goes. Also figure out what else is being used on that line. Dishwaser, tv, refrig, dryer, electric heaters, laser printers, ect all are big drops.

If your going to get an electrician to help, some things to consider/fix:
1: are the circuits to big items on the same phase?
2: are all the outets grounded? If not add a ground.
3: can you add whole house surge protection?
4: upgrade the panel. Old homes are 100 or 150. go to 200 or 400.
 
Also, always make sure that you match your wire to your circuit breaker. You DO NOT want to simply upgrade your 15A circuit breaker to 20A (for example) without upgrading the wire...
 
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