On Wednesday, September 12, 2012 4:14:59 PM UTC-7, Dallas wrote:
I’ve been putting the final touches on a new computer system with three

monitors and a 750 watt power supply. The printer is 600 watts, the

monitors are 170 watts, I have a TV on the other side of the wall

that’s 250 watts… add it all up to a usual load of about 15.3 amps. If

I turned on lights, amplifiers I can run the total up to 30.1 amps.



The circuit is 15 amps. :- (



And… I’d like to run all the computer equipment through one outlet so I

can unplug everything when the thunderstorms come.



So, I have a lot of questions:

1) First, why did the computer act like it tripped an overload in its

power supply, most of the load was outside of the computer? Why didn’t

the residential breaker trip instead?



2) Can a breaker cut the load for a second without mechanically

flipping to the off position?



3) I seem to remember some people just replacing the 15 amp with a 20

amp breaker when things get tight, is that a dangerous/stupid idea?



4) Does anyone see a problem running about 13 amps through one

household outlet in a tree of several power strips?



Should I increase my fire insurance coverage? :- )





--

Dallas

Go get a Kill-A-Watt and measure what it's really doing. I think you'll find your estimates are considerably off the mark. Just because you have a 750 Watt supply doesn't mean it uses 750. I have a 500 Watt supply on my PC. It idles around 110 and jumps to 200 when all 4 cores are at 100% Our 55" LED LCD TV runs 80 Watts

G²