Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 I have. Power strip with 4, sometimes 5, laptops plugged into it, plus a couple monitors, speakers, external hard drives. I’d like to know what its maximum power draw is. If it’s close to the limits of the wiring, I will reorganize things. Does anyone do this, have recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Most power strips have a breaker built into them and are usually 15 amp. If it doesn't, get one that does. That totals out to 1725 watts available. If you want to add up each appliance the wattage or Volt Amps is printed on the label/power supply. Your wall outlet is breaker-ed at 20 amps. This is the maximum current draw on all the outlets wired to that breaker. Assuming that your wiring is up to current code. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 Most of my wall outlets are breakered at 15 amps, the kitchen circuits are 20. the reason for my asking is that I don’t want to run over about 70% of 15 for long periods of time. It’s a little like you don’t want to run your car at redline all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 A typical laptop wall-wart is 65 to 130 watts. Once the system is up, it usually draws far less. Systems with solid state disks draw less startup current, because there are no disks to spin up. HWMonitor is freeware that will show your system power draw. Drawing a steady 10.5 amps is a 1260 watt draw on a 120v nominal circuit. Think of the heat a 1260w bulb will generate. If you are not getting a warm plug, your operating current is probably a lot less than 10.5 amps. I run two servers and an i7 desktop off the wall plug, plus an occasional client machine and monitor on the bench. The whole front of the house is on this single circuit, and only an electric heater or hair dryer (both at same time) trips the breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Everything you have plugged in should have the max amperage draw on a tag on the device. Or you can look the specs up on line. Add up the numbers and see what you get. Shade tree mechanic way to tell if you are pulling too much power on one cord is “heat”. If your plug or cable near the outlet is warmer than the surrounding area then you are pushing it with the power draw...in some cases. You could spend a couple hundred bucks on a fairly good clamp on ammeter or you could get this (for household low power use) from Harbor Freight. https://www.harborfreight.com/digital-clamp-meter-96308.html It isn’t anything I would use at work but for just getting a close ballpark measurement I am sure it would be fine for what you need. Believe it or not I had a Harbor Freight multimeter that I used for continuity tests because it had a loud beeper that worked just as well as my Flyke meter in regards to measuring accuracy. I never truly trusted it but it was good for ballpark measurements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 14 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: I have. Power strip with 4, sometimes 5, laptops plugged into it, plus a couple monitors, speakers, external hard drives. I’d like to know what its maximum power draw is. If it’s close to the limits of the wiring, I will reorganize things. Does anyone do this, have recommendations? Most residential wall circuits are breakered at 15 amps. I suggest you look into a surge protected power strip. Each device is required to have circuit load info on it. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 17 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: I have. Power strip with 4, sometimes 5, laptops plugged into it, plus a couple monitors, speakers, external hard drives. I’d like to know what its maximum power draw is. If it’s close to the limits of the wiring, I will reorganize things. Does anyone do this, have recommendations? I bought an AC line splitter and a clamp on meter. You'll probably need a better quality meter to get a maximum current. I think this was the line splitter. I can't remember which clamp on I used, but I had a decent one for work. https://smile.amazon.com/Tacklife-Classic-Splitter-Voltage-Accessories/dp/B07533GZTK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=347BUWYDYD2RH&keywords=ac+line+splitter&qid=1563229184&s=gateway&sprefix=ac+line+splitter%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 47 minutes ago, Ramblin Gambler said: I bought an AC line splitter and a clamp on meter. You'll probably need a better quality meter to get a maximum current. I think this was the line splitter. I can't remember which clamp on I used, but I had a decent one for work. https://smile.amazon.com/Tacklife-Classic-Splitter-Voltage-Accessories/dp/B07533GZTK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=347BUWYDYD2RH&keywords=ac+line+splitter&qid=1563229184&s=gateway&sprefix=ac+line+splitter%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-4 So, something like that and a meter? The price range of this and the other Harbor Freight item looks good. I’m not looking for “four digit accuracy”. (That’s a joke among woodworking instructors that I have known). I do shy away from product descriptions written by Chinese DAMHIKT but this looks like it will do the job, thanks. it looks like I can answer the question for under $30 with a reasonable degree of accuracy. FWIW, the power strip has 12 outlets and 3 USB ports.the 12 outlets have 8 things plugged in and because of the size of those things there is no room for more but two of the “things” plugged in are twofers (plugs that split into two plugs). At the moment 11 things are plugged into it. Yes, I can add up all of the numbers from each device, laptop, HDD, speaker, monitor. But I do not necessarily believe those numbers, I was in the industry too long. In the forgotten words of detent, “trust but verify” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Power fluctuations are very common in summer and with lighting storms etc. That is why I strongly urge the use on a surge protector on sensitive($$$)items. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 If you are going to do an "amp draw" with a clamp on meter, you'll have to take the panel cover off and measure the load on the wire leaving the breaker itself. Otherwise, get a true amp load of your equipment at the source, you'll have to take the receptacle out of the wall and measure the incoming line wire. Gonna be easier to add up the amps on the equipment itself. If the listing on the equipment is in wattage, take the wattage and divide it by the voltage (120v) to come up with amperage. Most plug strips have the listing for the mini-breaker listed at the mini-breaker, note: this is not the on/off switch. Keep in mind that even though the equipment might add up to over what you would like to see, it is all rarely (if ever) running all at the same time at max amperage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I use this for household applications. Kill-A-Watt Electricity Monitor Less than $20 easy to use and accurate enough for you application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Daily Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 20 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: Most of my wall outlets are breakered at 15 amps, the kitchen circuits are 20. the reason for my asking is that I don’t want to run over about 70% of 15 for long periods of time. It’s a little like you don’t want to run your car at redline all the time. The circuit breakers in power strips & house distribution panels are rated for 80% of their rating continuously & 100% for 3 hours. This applies for ambient temperatures of 104F (40C) at up to 3300 ft. (1000 meters). The overload element is bimetal which when under heavy load weakens & trips at lower & lower current levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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