Bitcoin Forum

Those of you who run your rigs on 220v, how do you do it? I know some servers are run on 220v and use a PDU (Power Distribution Unit) which is like a power strip. These however are very expensive!

Do you create your own cables/outlets? or am I missing something?

I live in Holland, 220-230V is common here  ;D

Depends where you live. I don't know of any homes in the U.S. that don't have 220V. Thing is it is typically only used for clothes dryers and Range(food oven/stove). You would have to have a new circuit ran from the breaker box to where ever you want to use it. Likely looking at $200+ for electrician to do this with materials. Then the next things is having a PSU(power supply unit) that can operate on 220V which most modern PC/Desktops have this option. Some are even auto switching, which is where they detect the voltage and switch them self to the proper setting, vs you have to flip a switch on the PSU.

I created my own multi-outlet box. It plugs into a 3 prong dryer socket. Costs about $50-$70 in materials.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9768004/IM000920re.jpg

Thats awesome. I think alot of people could use this. Tip sent.    8)

thanks for the tip

forgive me for asking this question, what's the advantage to run on 220v, I mean in north american.
thanks.

Power supplies tend to be a few percent more efficient running at 240v and it allows for running higher loads without straining your normal outlet circuits.

Interesting. Do those plug directly into the PSU? did you make them or buy them?

The black cords plug right into a power supply. The round plugins you see in the picture were bought seperately. Cut off the normal plugin, pull off about 1.25 inches of black jacket off the cord, strip about 3/8 inch off each wire inside. Connect green wire to the ground, and the other two to the other 2 prongs (does not matter. they are both hot).

Advantage is about 2-3% higher power efficiency, and less strain on other circuits. A normal plugin is about 115 volts and 15 amps, or 1725 watts. A dryer socket is rated 230 volts (Actually mine runs a little hot at 240-245v. Higher is better though) at 30 amps, or almost 7000 watts, so you can plug in 4 times as much equipment on the same circuit. Make sure your wires are appropriate gauge thoguh. Do not use any gauge thinner than 10 gauge to remain within code. As for the power supply cords, each one is at least 14 gauge. Thicker wire = less resistance. The cord will remain cooler and waste less power to resistance.

Why do you need your own cables/pdus? When 1kWt of power is 9AX110V, the same kwatt for 230V is only 4.3A. So cables for 230 are lighter and cheaper. I remember when I just came to US I noticed that all cables are so heavy there :-)