@acar83 Hope you weren't offended. My message was meant to give you a hard time. You did see that the actual load is much less than calculated load. Erik also recommends measuring.
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!
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@carlsbad haha nah not offended, I did think you were serious though ;) Yeah, I will look into measuring. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. |
@acar83 Is all of the equipment you listed on a dedicated circuit? In other words, there's nothing else on the circuit (in the building) except for what you've listed? If that's the case, the circuit probably doesn't even come close to being maxed out, so you should not have a problem adding additional equipment. For amps and active speakers, many times the figures listed on the back are for when the amps and speakers are running full-tilt, continuously, for long periods of time. If you're not running them full-tilt, your amps and speakers are consuming much less current (amps/watts) than what is listed. The Kill-A-Watt meter listed above is a great little tool to possess, but keep in mind it is slow to react to amplifier peaks, so it may not be very accurate for the dynamic current you're trying to measure. |
That's good as long as it's not a direct strike!👍 One thing to bear in mind is DO NOT USE THE BREAKER AS A "MASTER SWITCH" to turn on everything at once! Sometimes the inrush current can trip the circuit breaker. |
- 22 posts total