[Noisebridge-discuss] Computer Equipment in an old home?

[Martin Bogomolni]

I second the "replace the wiring" strategy.

In one of the older victorians near Alamo Square, I helped a friend
rewire the house using molded conduit in various rooms.   We also
replaced the mains panel with a new one that had breakers (rather than
glass fuses).

It's not a trivial project, but it can be a relatively straightforward
one.   Cost of materials and wiring for that project was ~$1200.

-M



On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 5:49 PM, Adrian Chadd <adrian.chadd at gmail.com> wrote:
> ... turn-on current.
>
> TThe rush of turn-on current on a strip of electronics is not negligible.
>
> I'd also be surprised if ye olde house wiring is actually safe at
> drawing 15A. You may find it's actually not safe to drive it at that
> for very long.
>
> Combine that with all the myriad ways that these things are hooked up
> behind the scenes - American houses seem have this habit of having
> separate wiring for lights-that-terminate-on-wall-sockets versus the
> occasional high-powered wall socket for something more than a light.
> So it can all be quite deceptive. Your light circuit may not really
> terminate a full 15A, let alone the higher rush when all your devices
> turn on.
>
> Add in all the possible damage and failure cases with that wire, with
> say weather and other environmental effects, and there's quite a lot
> of potential "wtf?" going on that a fuse just won't tell you about.
> And that's the kind of thing that can start fires and/or kill people
> in other creative ways.
>
> Circuit breakers can detect and cut off these transient current
> rushes. Fuses in mains wiring tend not to. I'd personally upgrade
> everything to circuit breakers. If you start having some intermittent
> circuit breaker resets, you can be sure you've done something stupid
> or there's some transient dodgy wiring somewhere.
>
>
>
> -adrian
> (I don't fuck around when it comes to mains electricity.)
>
> On 9 July 2013 17:40, Jake <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
>> 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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