I have 3 of these spread throughout the garage all running on separate 20amp breakers. They work great.
Leave CRT games on or turn them off
- Thread starter DragonLord
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That's almost perfect! But you should run them on 15 amp breakers to protect the AP-100s.
I thought about that but I only run 5 games on each so there is plenty head room.
I'm having a hard time finding 20amp power strip with switchable outlets like the AD ones. Everyone carries 15amp. Once you go 20amp things thin out.
I'm having a hard time finding 20amp power strip with switchable outlets like the AD ones. Everyone carries 15amp. Once you go 20amp things thin out.
r5g_on_klov
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also it is not cheap to leave them on,
at the national average rate of 18 cents per kwh,
with the 18 cent kwh rate, it costs about 70 cents per 24 hrs to have a game on, or $21 per month per game. (with aprox.175 watt game)
depending on your state rate, this number can be anywhere from $13 per month per game, to
$50 per month per game depending on your kwh price
at the national average rate of 18 cents per kwh,
with the 18 cent kwh rate, it costs about 70 cents per 24 hrs to have a game on, or $21 per month per game. (with aprox.175 watt game)
depending on your state rate, this number can be anywhere from $13 per month per game, to
$50 per month per game depending on your kwh price
Yeah. Our smart plugs have energy monitoring and I can "predict" the cost of running things based on current energy prices. Every time the arcade goes on, I can SEE the energy bill spiking.
My setup is so simple it isn't even worth going over: five games in the main room on an octopus power "strip," three more in the main basement room on a regular power strip. All stay unplugged when not in use (which is easy since you're only talking about two plugs for the whole deal). But, small collection, which makes things simpler by definition...
Yeah, those are built assuming that you're plugging into a random 15-amp circuit at the Senior Citizens Center of the VFW Hall. Their's little reason to make them capable of 20 amps because it's hard to find 20-amp circuits in the wild. Also, even on a 20-amp circuit....with the 400 foot long DJ snake you shouldn't be using the full breaker capacity. Actually, even in ideal conditions....NEC "recommends" that you only use 16A on a 20A circuit. (80% load rating).
It's one reason I use these boxes....they have a built in 15-amp breaker. To give you more local control of the safety setup. Because you KNOW the VFW long ago changed their old-ass 10-amp breakers to 20-amp breakers to accomodate those rock hippie bands. Without upgrading the old-ass wiring to match. Or the outlets. So......
And thinking of what ops do (but never a collector, right?)...
If the main line fuses are replaced with 1/4" bolts then bad things happen. There's not much that can be done at that point. The insulation will melt and the wires will probably catch fire.
And as a serious side note:
A breaker is designer to happily pass its rated current forever, until something downline burns up. And all magnetic breakers will actually pass MORE than their rated current for a decent amount of time before they trip. For example, a Square D 20-amp breaker will pass 40 amps for almost 10 seconds before it trips. It will pass 25 amps for 100 seconds. It's something to remember!
Interesting read.
I just added the 20 amp breakers yesterday. I was lucky to have my main panel share a wall with my garage. I just added 3 20amp outlets to power all the games. I'm running 12ga extensions cords to the power surge supply then into to DJ power strips. But right now the weak link is the DJ power strips rated to 15amps.
I just added the 20 amp breakers yesterday. I was lucky to have my main panel share a wall with my garage. I just added 3 20amp outlets to power all the games. I'm running 12ga extensions cords to the power surge supply then into to DJ power strips. But right now the weak link is the DJ power strips rated to 15amps.
Yeah, those are built assuming that you're plugging into a random 15-amp circuit at the Senior Citizens Center of the VFW Hall. Their's little reason to make them capable of 20 amps because it's hard to find 20-amp circuits in the wild. Also, even on a 20-amp circuit....with the 400 foot long DJ snake you shouldn't be using the full breaker capacity. Actually, even in ideal conditions....NEC "recommends" that you only use 16A on a 20A circuit. (80% load rating).
It's one reason I use these boxes....they have a built in 15-amp breaker. To give you more local control of the safety setup. Because you KNOW the VFW long ago changed their old-ass 10-amp breakers to 20-amp breakers to accomodate those rock hippie bands. Without upgrading the old-ass wiring to match. Or the outlets. So......
And thinking of what ops do (but never a collector, right?)...
If the main line fuses are replaced with 1/4" bolts then bad things happen. There's not much that can be done at that point. The insulation will melt and the wires will probably catch fire.
And as a serious side note:
A breaker is designer to happily pass its rated current forever, until something downline burns up. And all magnetic breakers will actually pass MORE than their rated current for a decent amount of time before they trip. For example, a Square D 20-amp breaker will pass 40 amps for almost 10 seconds before it trips. It will pass 25 amps for 100 seconds. It's something to remember!
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It's good to have the weak link outside of your walls!
I assume your in-wall wiring is 12 gauge too. Are those really 20 amp outlets? I guess they could be rated for 20 amps of current, but standard 20-amp outlets have "T" shaped holes on the neutral side to prevent you from plugging a 20 amp appliance into a 15 amp circuit:
Of course it doesn't stop you from plugging in a powerstrip with 6 outlets and plugging a 12 amp appliance into each of those and turning them all on at the same time.
The HD box said Eaton HD 20 amp but who the hell knows. Lol
I often go a few weeks between times when my arcade is on. Should I consider turning the games on for an hour a day every day or so? All of mine are on smart outlets, so it would be pretty easy to run them every night for an hour or so. Just not clear on why this would be better than running them less frequently?
I think you're fine. Every day would be a bit excessive for HUO.
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Home Use Only is about preservation.
Playing games preserves them.
Keeping games running 24/7 without a business need is a personal decision. It amounts to testing to failure in some cases. As explained by @andrewb in a recent thread, he burns in games to find the weak link chips, which are close to failure.
Allowing 40 year old games to run 24/7 is running a burn in test.
Heat causes components to degrade. We know this is true of semiconductors. Plus you have the cost of electricity, which isn't getting cheaper with wind.
So it's your games, do what you want. For my small collection, I turn on the games when I play them. All are on power strips. When I'm done, the power strip is turned off. If a big thunderstorm rolls in, I unplug the power strips, since I've seen lightning strikes to an antenna (which I don't have installed on my home) jump open switches or blow switches up and cause fires.
Yes, I'm over-protective of my collection. They are my games, and if that's what I choose to do, that's my business.
Do what you want.
Playing games preserves them.
Keeping games running 24/7 without a business need is a personal decision. It amounts to testing to failure in some cases. As explained by @andrewb in a recent thread, he burns in games to find the weak link chips, which are close to failure.
Allowing 40 year old games to run 24/7 is running a burn in test.
Heat causes components to degrade. We know this is true of semiconductors. Plus you have the cost of electricity, which isn't getting cheaper with wind.
So it's your games, do what you want. For my small collection, I turn on the games when I play them. All are on power strips. When I'm done, the power strip is turned off. If a big thunderstorm rolls in, I unplug the power strips, since I've seen lightning strikes to an antenna (which I don't have installed on my home) jump open switches or blow switches up and cause fires.
Yes, I'm over-protective of my collection. They are my games, and if that's what I choose to do, that's my business.
Do what you want.
@cwilkson
You we're right.. the gray HD outlets I grabbed were 15amp. Rookie move it guess. I swapped them out for proper 20amp outlets. Now to find 10ga 20amp extension cords. So the weak link will still be the AD PDU rack power strips.
Not sure why I decided to go 20amp? Lol
You we're right.. the gray HD outlets I grabbed were 15amp. Rookie move it guess. I swapped them out for proper 20amp outlets. Now to find 10ga 20amp extension cords. So the weak link will still be the AD PDU rack power strips.
Not sure why I decided to go 20amp? Lol
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It's easy to see from the plate.
Those were 15 amp outlets. (14 Ga wire.)
20 amps have the dash to the left if oriented ground down. (12 Ga wire.)
Yeah learning experience for sure.
Yeah…I've never seen them without the tee-keying. But in this day and age of lean manufacturing and cost cutting and diy without prepping…,,there was no way to be sure without asking.
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