Powering multiple machines? How to be sure I don't trip the circuit breaker.

[itobandito]

I am slowly building up a arcade collection and want to make sure I am not drawing too much power.  When I moved in to my house we installed a new 200amp box in the house.  The room where I have my arcade machines as of now has two seperate circuits running to it.  One is a 15 amp circuit and the other is a 20 amp.  I am not sure what the average power consumption is per machine and I want to stay away from blowing stuff.  As of now I have 7 machines.

[Matthew Fisher]

Look at the back of the machines (maybe the inside?) and there should be a wattage listed somewhere.  If I remember correctly, my games use about 300 watts each.  Divide that by 117 volts (or so) to get the amperage each needs.  So, unless I'm remembering wrong, a typical game (no moving parts or deluxe cockpits that move, etc.) would draw about 3 amps.  That means about 5 games per 15 amp circuit, or 6 or 7 for a 20 amp, assuming you had all of them on.  Plug four games into the 20 amp circuit and three into the 15 and you should be good with power to spare. 

However, if you have the right brand of circuit box, you can get 30 amp circuits for very little money and then buy a bunch more games to use all that extra current...   

You shouldn't have to worry about hurting the games in any event, because even if you do overload the circuit, the only thing you should "blow" is the circuit breaker. 

[ChadTower]

  That means about 5 games per 15 amp circuit

4 games on a 15 amp, just in case.  You don't want to plan on using more than about 80% of the capacity on a given circuit according to the electricians that were just in my house adding a 20A circuit for games.  That way if there are any flaws in the circuit, aging components, etc there is less risk of a catastrophic problem.

[itobandito]

Sweet!  Thanks for the help guys!

[ChadTower]

Keep in mind pinball machines draw a good amount more than a vid, if that matters.

[Pac-Fan]

Buy a Kill-A-Watt meter ($20) and you can get the exact wattage and amps and volt-amp ratings instantaneously as well as over a x-hour period so you can see how much you'll be spending on them.

I've never found a game that pulls more than 1.9 amps, and that was a dual-19"monitor playchoice and original un modified Qbert (horrible power design)

Here's what I've found:
On average, most Mini's or cocktails that use 13" monitors use .9 to 1.2 amps
Most cocktails or full size that use 19" monitors use 1.1 to 1.3 amps
25" monitor games will use 1.2 to 1.5 amps.
Any dual monitor 19" unit will use about 1.6-1.8 amps (like Punchout, Playchoice)

This means you can typically and safely get a minimum of 10 games on a 15 amp circuit, and up to 16 games if they use less amps.

Don't trust the ratings on the cabs unless everything is original. Any changes like a different monitor, a switch mode power supply vs an old linear one, a different isolation transformer, a different game board all will affect the amount of amps the game will pull.

It seems a lot of people underestimate the amount they can run.  If you're on circuit breakers just put what you think will run and add 1 at a time. Eventually you will trip a breaker due to the power on surge (and that wont cause a warmup of the wiring over a long period of time).  Then remove that one and 1 other one and you should be safely under the limit, or just get a meter and know exactly.

Also be sure your home is wired correctly. Open an outlet on each circuit and ensure that the 15 amp circuit has at least a 14 gauge wire and the 20 amp circuit has at least 12 gauge (thicker) wire. NEVER make a circuit 'bigger' by putting in a larger breaker. It's the WIRE that handles the load, the breaker is the safety device that prevents the wire from overheating and catching fire.

Certain games however will vary. For example, an all-original QBert draws almost 2 amps, while an original Pac-Man draws about .9 amps with the same G07 monitor, due to the differences in linear power supplies and circuit boards.

[ChadTower]

Have you looked at startup draw vs running draw? 

[itobandito]

I have not.  All the wiring in my finished basement is brand new so I know I have the correct gage of wire.  I wired them myself actually.  I think I may have to get one fot those Kill-A-Watt meters, they sound pretty handy.   Needless to say, between the two circuits I have going to the room I think I am good running all 7 of my machines.  Most of them are 19inch machines, I do have 3 25 inch ones  though with a fourth in the works.

[Level42]

I don't know how it is in the US, but overhere larger rooms often have outlets on different circuits.

[ChadTower]

I don't know how it is in the US, but overhere larger rooms often have outlets on different circuits.

Completely dependent on the house in question and how they bothered to wire it... and whether or not it was changed or added on later.

[Level42]

Believe it or not, but there are rules about that here. If a room has a certain amount of square meters, the builder MUST use different circuits in one room.

Yeah, that's us, the Dutch, master of (government) rules...

I won't bore you with fire-alarm regulations here

[paigeoliver]

Electrical wiring regulations vary wildly around the world, from country to country, state to state, county to county, and city to city.

I used to have at least a dozen games on a 15 amp circuit back when I had a big collection and two of those were pins, 1 was a 29" and two were mame.

Most people simply aren't going to actually have enough games to overload anything.

[richms]

Also, the breaker is there to stop you from overloading things, so if the breaker is not tripping then you are ok (assuming the breaker is in working order) Stories of people overloading circuits and burning their place down usually start with the part about the person tripping the breaker all the time so swapping it for a higher current one...

[ChadTower]

Also, the breaker is there to stop you from overloading things, so if the breaker is not tripping then you are ok (assuming the breaker is in working order) Stories of people overloading circuits and burning their place down usually start with the part about the person tripping the breaker all the time so swapping it for a higher current one...

Actually, they often start with something in the circuit being too old/loose to handle the full capacity and the breaker isn't even tripped yet.  So many houses here are old and have been toyed with many times over the years.  Unless you are the first owner it really isn't wise to assume that everything in the walls is in perfect shape and able to handle 100% capacity.  Or like my house - the breaker box looked great but I started having problems on two circuits.  Then I see water dripping out of the breaker box one day.  I call an electrician and he discovers that three of the breakers, including the house main, are so corroded that they are nonfunctional.  The box is only 6 years old at this point.  Somehow the weatherhead where the line comes into the house got twisted around so it was actually collecting water rather than stopping it, funneling all of it right down into the breaker box.  If I had been running either of those circuits at 100% capacity the breakers never would have tripped.  I could have gone all the way to burn the house down.  You really just never know when there is an unforeseen condition in your wiring so it is far safer to stay within the recommended limits.

[richms]

If you cant count on your breakers working, or the wiring being intact then really you have bigger problems then how many arcade cabinets you can run on the circuit. In my experience breakers become more sensitive to tripping with age rather then less. If your breaker board is full of water that is a rather exceptional circumstance that would usually result in something blowing up regardless of the circuit loading.

What I have seen of US wiring is pretty bad, with wire nuts and terminals on outlets that rely on a wire wrapped around a screw rather then direct pressure from the end of the screw, but if its not your arcade cabinets that are going to trip the breaker (or not if its faulty) it will be someone coming along and plugging a heater or something in on the same circuit. Around here, houses with old wiring have to get it replaced before anyone will insure them, and the insurance is needed to get finance, so its a non-issue about old defective wiring unless its an old house sold to a cash buyer which is very very rare.

The average person cant be expected to know the loading on their circuits and make sure they dont overload them, which is why there are breakers there, if they are over sized for the cable or are faulty then how is the typical home occupant to know that?

[whammoed]

terminals on outlets that rely on a wire wrapped around a screw rather then direct pressure from the end of the screw

That's nothing.  For a while there were outlets where you could just strip the wire and stick it in the back.  You didn't have to screw anything down at all!  Of course over time this method would fail so they don't make them anymore.

The most recent ones I bought, you stick the wire under a metal plate and screw it down.  Seems really secure and easier than wrapping the wire around the screw.

[FrizzleFried]

This has been discussed to death over at KLOV.  The general consensus is that the SAFE average to use per video game is 2amps.  The actual "running" figure is lower,  but the "start-up" figure may be a hair higher.   A 15 amp circuit can handle 1,800 watts...but you want to only use 80% of the capacity or 1,440 watts which breaks down to 6 2amp games...that is of course if it is a DEDICATED circuit only being used for your arcade games.  You can squeeze more in if you plan on powering them on one-by-one.  A 20 amp circuit has a maximum capacity of 2,400 watts and 80% of that is 1,920 watts or 8 2 amp games.  Again,  you can surely fit more on circuit if you aren't powering them all up at the same time,  but a "safe" bet is to stick with 8 on the 20 amp line and 6 on the 15 amp line.   

My gameroom has a shared 15 amp line and a dedicated 20 amp line.  I power 8 games on the 20 amp line and 5 games on the 15 amp line without issue.  If I plug my heater or A/C in to either of the circuits while everything is powered up I pop a circuit breaker... but the heater / A/C uses 1,200 watts themselves!  Luckily I have another 15 amp line in the ceiling (for a garage door opener) that I can use in a pinch.

[Captain_Dingo]

That's nothing.  For a while there were outlets where you could just strip the wire and stick it in the back.  You didn't have to screw anything down at all!  Of course over time this method would fail so they don't make them anymore.

Unless Home Depot has a major backstock of old outlets, that's not true.

I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel and I couldn't stand the old dingy ivory-colored outlets that are in there now, so I snagged a 10-pack of white outlets from HD.  They have the "quick" option (strip the wire end and jam it in the hole) as well as the screw terminals.

Fortunately, my dad was an electrician during his working days, so I learned a thing or three growing up.  Screws all the way for me, even if it takes 15 seconds extra to wire the outlet.

[ChadTower]

I was reading Family Handyman the other day and it says to never use those jam it in only outlets.  It does recommend the jam it in back and screw it tight outlets, though.

[whammoed]

Unless Home Depot has a major backstock of old outlets, that's not true.

Hmmm, thought I'd read that somewhere, and no-one carried them last time I was looking.  I could be wrong, could be old stock, or they could be redesigned so they are now safe.  I wouldn't trust them though.