How many games do you run off a single circuit?

[srarcade]

I am at the point where my garage/game room is on the verge of overload I think. I try to stagger turning them on so its not sucking so much amperage at the same time. I have upgraded all my cords to 40amp+ stuff that can ensure my games are getting healthy amps, but I just got 2 more.. not sure this is going to keep working. I have 7 uprights, a daytona 2 player, plus 2 TVs, neon signs, stereo... on a single circuit. 

How many games have you managed to power on at the same time? What was your tipping point if you overloaded?

[eds1275]

That sounds like a lot going on! However since each game has different draw requirements, and a "stereo" could mean anything from a boom box with a wall wart to a high end home theatre unit [or possibly even more!] It's tough to say.

It definitely wouldn't hurt to throw another dedicated line in. If you can access your breaker panel and can run a wire, I'd suggest running some 12/3 and wiring up a few outlets like a kitchen [separate circuits for top and bottom] with 20 amps per circuit. Or if there's a dedicated 30 or 40 amp outlet you could make an adapter.

[SavannahLion]

It definitely wouldn't hurt to throw another dedicated line in. If you can access your breaker panel and can run a wire, I'd suggest running some 12/3 and wiring up a few outlets like a kitchen [separate circuits for top and bottom] with 20 amps per circuit. Or if there's a dedicated 30 or 40 amp outlet you could make an adapter.

While I'm all for DIY on wiring your home, I would suggest checking with your local building code first. Bear with me, I'm on cold medicine and my thoughts are kind of jumbled.

Some locations allow DIY electrical work without permit or inspection but these places are shrinking fast. Where I live, I can't even swap the hot water heater without a permit (but I can do the washer/dryer, no problem  )

Even if you don't require a permit, at the very least, I would suggest having someone double check your work. Or better yet, have someone else do the actual installation. You can save a few bucks by doing the majority of the grunt work yourself such as tearing the necessary holes in the wall, etc. Then have the electrician come in to do the actual wiring and testing.

This is what I suggest. Get a couple of quotes from several different electricians. Get one quote for if they do all the work, top to bottom, get another if they offload the grunt work to you. I did a couple of estimates for outdoor wiring and the difference in price was roughly 2/3.

Depending on the grunt work, you may want to opt to shell out for them to do it. In an unrelated mess, I opted to do the grunt work and it took me several weeks to do the repairs which involved an additional craftsman, half a dozen trips to Lowes, and lots of busted things. If I had opted to let the guy go through with the original quote, I would have saved myself quite a bit of money and a shitload of headaches.

I'm suggesting you have someone else do the electrical work because you had to ask on a forum. IMHO this is one of those things that, if you have to ask, it's probably best not to mess with it.

[eds1275]

It definitely wouldn't hurt to throw another dedicated line in. If you can access your breaker panel and can run a wire, I'd suggest running some 12/3 and wiring up a few outlets like a kitchen [separate circuits for top and bottom] with 20 amps per circuit. Or if there's a dedicated 30 or 40 amp outlet you could make an adapter.

While I'm all for DIY on wiring your home, I would suggest checking with your local building code first. Bear with me, I'm on cold medicine and my thoughts are kind of jumbled.

Some locations allow DIY electrical work without permit or inspection but these places are shrinking fast. Where I live, I can't even swap the hot water heater without a permit (but I can do the washer/dryer, no problem  )

Even if you don't require a permit, at the very least, I would suggest having someone double check your work. Or better yet, have someone else do the actual installation. You can save a few bucks by doing the majority of the grunt work yourself such as tearing the necessary holes in the wall, etc. Then have the electrician come in to do the actual wiring and testing.

This is what I suggest. Get a couple of quotes from several different electricians. Get one quote for if they do all the work, top to bottom, get another if they offload the grunt work to you. I did a couple of estimates for outdoor wiring and the difference in price was roughly 2/3.

Depending on the grunt work, you may want to opt to shell out for them to do it. In an unrelated mess, I opted to do the grunt work and it took me several weeks to do the repairs which involved an additional craftsman, half a dozen trips to Lowes, and lots of busted things. If I had opted to let the guy go through with the original quote, I would have saved myself quite a bit of money and a shitload of headaches.

I'm suggesting you have someone else do the electrical work because you had to ask on a forum. IMHO this is one of those things that, if you have to ask, it's probably best not to mess with it.

+1 for thinking. I'm just handy with that kinda stuff, I don't stop to think maybe I know something someone else doesn't.

[RayB]

 I knew a guy who had at least 10, but if he turned the lights on while the games were on, it would trip a breaker.

A typical upright draws 3a at power on, then it levels off to 1a. So, 4 or 5 games if you want to power them all on at once, more if you power on one at a time.

You could use a power bar with a built in 15a breaker. Might be a good redundancy.