Haha I don't know if you're joking or not...
But yeah I just don't want to damage anything, this equipment is very expensive to fix, and I don't know much about the electrical stuff...
Need Help Calculating System Amp Draw
Hi, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place but I thought I'd try.
I know this is kind of a newbie question but I'm having trouble calculating the amp draw of my system. I'm running a recording rig and it's hard to tell what some of the gear is pulling. I know Amps are Watts/Volts but I'm confused about what actual wattage is being used (for example, my DAW has a power supply of 850W but the company that made the computer for me says that the way I'm using it, it's probably only pulling 500-600W). Some of the gear, like my monitors, say 230W on the back, but then online it says 90W, so I'm wondering if it's the same kind of thing where the power supply is higher than what's actually being used. I'm looking to add some hardware and don't want to overload the circuit.
Here's what I have, any help appreciated! Thank you.
Microphone Power Supply - 8.4W / 120V = 0.07 Amps
Lavry Black AD11 - 14W / 120V = .116 Amps
Mytek 192 ADC - I can't find any info but I'm guessing similar to the Lavry AD
Lavry DA10 - 0.1 Amps ?
Voltage 90-264 VAC, Frequency 40-63Hz, Current 0.1A
Fuse Rating 2.5A “Time Delay”
Computer - 850W Power Supply, probably just using up to 600W / 120V = 5 Amps
Lights - added up all the lightbulbs, it's about 0.75 Amps
KRK VXT6 Monitors - says 230W on the back? which would be 1.9 Amps each. The internet also says 120W and 90W in different places, so I'm confused.
Great River Preamp - says the fuse is 0.75A, not sure if that means it's using that much?
TV - says 1.8A on the back.
I'm wanting to add a compressor and a few additional preamps but it's only a 15A circuit.
Thanks!
Showing 8 responses by acar83
@imhififan thank you I will check this out. The kill a watt meter looks a little simpler to use than the other one recommended. |
@carlsbad haha nah not offended, I did think you were serious though ;) Yeah, I will look into measuring. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. |
Hi, Thanks for the responses. @erik_squires I'm still confused about what the wattage is. On the speakers it says 230W on each one, but then the literature says 90 watts... That meter looks interesting though, so I just plug each piece of equipment into it and it tells me the draw? |
I probably could...we own the building, but I don’t know how much that would cost (the wiring for 20 amp). But if the consensus is that I’m not even close to 15 amps (or 12 or whatever the ceiling is) and the worst thing that could happen is the equipment just shuts off, then I’m not too concerned. If I were to hit the ceiling and everything keeps shutting off, then I’d be more inclined to pay for the 20 amp circuit... Will lightning jump a circuit breaker? Normally I just flip the circuit in a storm, it’s too hard for me to get behind the desk and unplug from the wall. I mean, I can do it, it’s just a pain every time we have a storm. Was wondering if flipping the circuit actually does anything or if a surge from lightning would just jump it anyway, can’t remember what I’ve read... |
It's a music production system, not an audiophile listen-to-music system, although I use it for that too. I find approaching it like an audiophile system yields better monitoring and recording quality. The compressor is a vocal chain compressor. Compresses the audio, very common in vocal chains. ;) Not sure what other "crap" you'd be referring to, it's quite streamlined for a music production system. But thank you for the the tips, sounds like I should have a lot of headroom with the power. I will review Erik's posts. 😎 |