How many amps to run home arcade

Rhm

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
875
Reaction score
5
Location
St Johns, Florida
I have a electrician coming over to look at bringing in enough power to run whole arcade at once. Is there a science to how much power needed per game, pin, slot Ect... ?
I have around 17 total and room for a few more. Plus would like to add neon, lights Ect...
I was thinking maybe a 50 amp service? What's your thoughts!!
 
most games are 1-3 amps per game. safely I would have at least 2 circuits. I use a power strip with a amp meter to measure. 20amp circuits is what I ran with the proper power strips/conditioners made for 20amps. (plenty on Ebay that are used from computer IT companies for cheap as most want standard 15 amp)
 
My electrician friend and I decided that 5 games per 20A circuit was the best choice. That way it will never be over 75%. We are going to add two more breakers next weekend so I will have the capacity for 20 games. Now I just need more games. :)
 
most games are 1-3 amps per game. safely I would have at least 2 circuits. I use a power strip with a amp meter to measure. 20amp circuits is what I ran with the proper power strips/conditioners made for 20amps. (plenty on Ebay that are used from computer IT companies for cheap as most want standard 15 amp)


many modern games (mostly drivers) are 5 amp. I think some might be more. Especially kiddie rides.
 
I have a electrician coming over to look at bringing in enough power to run whole arcade at once. Is there a science to how much power needed per game, pin, slot Ect... ?
I have around 17 total and room for a few more. Plus would like to add neon, lights Ect...
I was thinking maybe a 50 amp service? What's your thoughts!!

I think you flunked math.
j/k
seriously, isn't that what the electrician is for ?
50 amp service sounds way too low. I would go at least 100 and maybe even 200. Shouldn't cost much more anyway.

20 games at 5 amps per game = 100

A lot of people will say you don't need to factor 5 amps per game. I would say running it right at the max is a mistake.
 
what games are they?

normal games are 1-3 amps like I said. Usually to the lower. Turn on draw is more so I recommend you do not turn on all at once and stagger the turn on.

I assume you mean a sub panel. 50amps should be fine. more than that and you are looking at a serious electric bill if it was true.

That said some games with motion or special features will be greatly above 2 amps each but this is rare.

I have 8 games and all draw together less than 10amps for instance.
 
I used a tool (Kill A Watt) to measure what my games were pulling in an attempt to balance out the current draw on the circuits. What I found was that almost all of the classic games with 19 inch monitors pulled between 2 and 3 amps each. Newer games with 25" monitors pulled between 4 and 5 amps. Cinematronics and Atari Vectors were between 2 and 3 amps but Sega vectors were pulling close to 5 amps each. Non DMD pinballs were around 2 and DMD pins were around 3 amps. A Cavalier CS96 Coke Machine pulled around 8 amps. I ran 4 20 Amps circuits in addition to an existing 15 amp circuit and I still need more circuits to power everything.
 
Bet pins use a lot more juice. Older games and cockpits as well. I just plugged my big red into a kill-a-watt and it uses 1.3 amps, 113 watts. My Joust cocktail uses 1.4 amps, 150 watts.

Edit nothing to do with the above post, I started this earlier finished it just now.
 
If you don't load the circuit close to inrush current you might not get the breaker to trip if something happens. That's how fires start.
 
what games are they?

normal games are 1-3 amps like I said. Usually to the lower. Turn on draw is more so I recommend you do not turn on all at once and stagger the turn on.

I assume you mean a sub panel. 50amps should be fine. more than that and you are looking at a serious electric bill if it was true.

That said some games with motion or special features will be greatly above 2 amps each but this is rare.

I have 8 games and all draw together less than 10amps for instance.

Yup, most newer say '85 and even many sitdowns have a 3 amp slowblo at the main. So I would think that means they use 3 amps or less.

Just looked up main breakers load centers on Lowes.com and they have a wide variety of 100-125 amp panels for $50-80.
 
I think you flunked math.
j/k
seriously, isn't that what the electrician is for ?
50 amp service sounds way too low. I would go at least 100 and maybe even 200. Shouldn't cost much more anyway.

20 games at 5 amps per game = 100

A lot of people will say you don't need to factor 5 amps per game. I would say running it right at the max is a mistake.

Uh... most 19" rastor games run 1amp bro... the most amperage I've seen out of ANY game I've owned was Guns n Roses which hit 3.1 amp right in the middle of a good game. The most I've seen any vid hit was 2.9amp... ever.

Invest in a Kill-A-Watt device.

I have 24 different coin op devices running without issue on two 20 amp and 1 15 amp circuit.
 
I used a tool (Kill A Watt) to measure what my games were pulling in an attempt to balance out the current draw on the circuits. What I found was that almost all of the classic games with 19 inch monitors pulled between 2 and 3 amps each. Newer games with 25" monitors pulled between 4 and 5 amps. Cinematronics and Atari Vectors were between 2 and 3 amps but Sega vectors were pulling close to 5 amps each. Non DMD pinballs were around 2 and DMD pins were around 3 amps. A Cavalier CS96 Coke Machine pulled around 8 amps. I ran 4 20 Amps circuits in addition to an existing 15 amp circuit and I still need more circuits to power everything.

Dude... you need to re-check. I've yet to find a single 19" rastor game pull more than 2.5amp and that was a medium res Paperboy. Most of my 19" non-vector games run 1 to 1.5 amp max... 19" B&W vectors run about 2amp... 19" color vectors run about 2.5 amp or so...

Here... so people don't think I'm blowing sunshine up their skirts...

First we have PAC MAN...

attachment.php


Next we have NEO-GEO running a 25" monitor...

attachment.php


Finally we have Tempest...

attachment.php


Yes... each fluctuate... but only a few percentage points +/- ... except pinball machines which fluctuate greatly depending on the solenoids being fired, etc.

Each machine also can require about 2x the power to POWER UP... which is why I recommend powering up one game at a time ... or at max a small bank of games at a time (3 or 4 maybe). I power up each game individually and give it about 2 seconds between each game for the power up load to drop to normal levels.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2860.jpg
    IMG_2860.jpg
    76.2 KB · Views: 279
  • IMG_2862.jpg
    IMG_2862.jpg
    78.6 KB · Views: 273
  • IMG_2863.jpg
    IMG_2863.jpg
    58.3 KB · Views: 269
Last edited:
In my old apartment I had somewhere between 15 and 20 games on a single 15 amp breaker.
 
NOTE.... also keep LIGHTING and HEATING/COOLING considerations in mind. While my 20 + 20 + 15 configuration works out and I can play all games at the same time... I can not do so and run the heater or air conditioner. I have to turn off multiple games to run either. Most window/portable AC's run about 10amp and just about all plug-in heaters offer 3 settings... 600w 900w and 1200w. 1200w just about maxes out a single 15a circuit all by itself. If possible, consider propane/natural gas options for heating.
 
I power up each game individually and give it about 2 seconds between each game for the power up load to drop to normal levels.

I bet that's fun. You could power up over 20 games one at a time or you could just make sure the electrical can handle it and power them all up together. Like I said, running things at the max is not a good idea.
 
I bet that's fun. You could power up over 20 games one at a time or you could just make sure the electrical can handle it and power them all up together. Like I said, running things at the max is not a good idea.

Just how do you power 20 games on at one time anyhow? Surely not using a circuit-breaker as a an on-off switch...
 
Last edited:
Currently I have 13 games I turn on at once. I cannot power all together or the breaker trips. I can turn on half , then turn off and turn on other half. I ran a extension cord from another room for my 5 pins but would have reset and flipper issues from drop or lack of power. I was thinking a 50 amp sub panel in room and breaker off that. But I guess the electrician should know what I need. I just wanted to tell him what each game would need.

Games are.

Pins. Tz, Taf, hs, cyclone,comet
Arcades. Paperboy, asteroids, 60-1, punchout,neo-geo,playchoice 10, gt/ssb, cruisin world
Skeeball ball, mega touch Maxx , 2 igt slots and a few Spencer's lights
 
I added 2 X 60amp breakers to my garage and I currently run 25 games in there which is way more then I need. Frizz is right about most 19" rasters dont go past 3amps. The only game I have in my garage that goes past 3amps is my Cosmic Chasm which has clocked in at 7-9amps. Im guessing its all the lamps it uses plus the vector monitor ;-)
 
Back
Top Bottom