[Noisebridge-discuss] Computer Equipment in an old home?
Jake
jake at spaz.org
Wed Jul 10 00:40:34 UTC 2013
Hi Brian,
I agree with what Gopi says - use a kill-a-watt to measure how much power
you're using if you're afraid of overloading the wiring.
but instead of that, you can simply get a power strip and plug everything
into that. A power strip has its own circuit breaker (15 amps) and that
will trip before you blow a fuse.
If your whole room is running from an extension cord from somewhere else,
use a power strip (with its own circuit breaker - they all have one) where
that extension cord plugs in. You can also use a GFCI adaptor like this:
http://www.amazon.com/GFCI-Outlet-Adapters-Single-Adapter/dp/B001OE3JHC
That will get you a lot of protection. If you take too much power in your
room, you might pop the breaker in a power strip, or you might blow a
fuse, but it shouldn't cause a problem otherwise.
The thing is, most modern electronics don't use very much power. You can
have ten desktop computers and LCD monitors on one 15 amp circuit (1500
watts total). A cellphone charger is up to 5 watts - you can have 300 of
those!
All this goes out the window if you try a toaster, electric oven, or space
heater. Forget it. Also those big hot halogen lamps use a lot of power.
But you can read the labels and do the math.
If you want to preserve the wiring you have and keep it from messing up,
just don't mess with it or allow things to flex. The solid wires in the
walls are not meant to move, they are stiff. So if an outlet is loose and
flops around, either tune it up or plug a power strip into it and screw
the cord of the power strip to the wall, so it doesn't move things around.
The fuses in your fuse box are fine. This technology is very reliable,
moreso than many circuit breakers! A fuse is very unlikely to fail to
fail, if you know what i mean, which means it will protect you. Of course
if a fuse has a penny stuck under it (someone tried to save the cost of a
new fuse) then there is no protection. The screw-in fuses were designed
to allow you to put a lightbulb in place of a fuse to diagnose shorts.
When the bulb stopped lighting up, there was no more current draw and you
could install a new fuse.
long story short, it's not the number of things you have, it's the total
power draw, which will be limited by the fuse and any power strips on the
way. And don't let that old wiring move around or it might break.
-jake
Brian Perez wrote:
Hey all, since SF has a lot of old buildings I'm sure someone could help
me with this problem I'm facing. I have an old home (circa 1930s) and all
the wiring is the old copper cloth-covered kind and there's BARELY an
outlet in the house. My room has no outlet; my power is pulled through
the window to the back room and up to the light socket. BAD, I know.
Being the tech guy I am I'm starting to run out of sockets with the
extensions I have. There's basically three surge protectors daisy changed
to power everything in my room.
What are my options to make this more secure and safe? (And potentially
add more sockets)
Thanks!
Brian
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