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Hi all,

I'm building out a farm of rigs and am hoping I can get some advice in regards to dealing with electricity.  I've moved into a office space that has 60amps available per circuit (there are 2 circuits available in my room).  So I thought I would be fine just connecting a bunch of rigs to one powerstrip per circuit, however this soon kept tripping when trying to get the 3rd rig running on a single powerstrip.  Looking closely at the powerstrip, it says it can only handle 15 amps.

My question now is, is this pretty much the max that any power strip can handle? (looking around looks like most power strips are rated at 15amps, even the expensive ones that have like 15 outlets are only 15 amps max...)  How are you guys with 10+ rigs hooking up the electricity?

Thanks

You have multiple factors to consider. Electrical service coming in, which can be 60 amp, 100 amp, 200 amp, etc., and then the individual circuits. Most of the time, individual circuits are only 15 amp. Best thing to consider is either separating loads on individual circuits, or running a high amp (like a 30 amp) and run it into a sub panel with some 15 amp circuits, Then run a strip on each circuit.

You'll have to have the socket rewired to have 4-5 outlets, and then put a powerstrip on each circuit. For sustained loads I wouldn't pull 15A off a crappy powerstrip as it will make the strip very hot.  The nicer ones with thick cable (low gauge) should be good.

Dont pull more than 1600 watts per outlet, find 4 outlets lets per breaker. Each breaker at 60 amps can supply 7200 watts, but shouldnt go over 6000 for safety.

You won't find the right power stips at Walmart. You need serious units. Like these:

http://www.stayonline.com/power-rack-mount-pdu.aspx

I run (2) 60A subpanels each off a seperate 200A service panel, with each subpanel having (4) circuits. (2) 240v 20A and (2) 120v 15A plugged into either powertower or APC 'strips' for 240v (rigs) and small sized UPS's for the 120v (switches, KVM, fans, lights, ....).  You should be able to find good quality 20A (120v or 240v) capable strips used on eBay and such coming from older data center renovations.

That's what I did for my electric homebrewing setup:

http://alfter.us/beer/heatstick/powerboard.aspx

It splits four 120V 15A circuits out from a 240V 30A dryer outlet:

http://alfter.us/graphics/heatstick/powerboard/dscn1904.jpg http://alfter.us/graphics/heatstick/powerboard/dscn1906.jpg

This probably should've been built with some circuit breakers.  For use with a mining farm, you could easily replace the switches with circuit breakers.  Depending on how many machines you intend to put on each circuit, you could also add more outlets and dispense with the power strips.

thanks for all the replies, i'm getting a much clearer picture now.

I've now decided to pickup several heavy duty 20amp server rack powerstrips.  What kind of surge protection should I be looking for?  One in particular I'm looking at is rated at 3840 Joules, this is the 20 amp one.  There are other server rack strips that seem to have no surge protection.  What other conerns are there in regards to surge protection?

This is one of the few situations where us brits can smear our creamy juices over the faces of americans, 230V ftw :D

when I read that, I read it in my finest brit accent inside my head...  then i lol'd

Are you sure it's a 60A 120V circuit?  Usually 15-20A is the max in the US.  Are you in the US?  It sounds like you may have 60A total or maybe it's a 60A 240V circuit.

I've been installing these for years, and they work great. 

General 20A surge/power conditioner: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=PL-PROC

For a professional mining farm, I would install these: http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=P-1800PFR

Typical power strips are not recommended.  Hope that helps.

Switch to a 220v setup... It runs the same power at half the amps. EG, less breakers required, twice the available potential. Not to mention, 220v PSU's are about 5x cheaper!

If you have them setup 220v to a circuit, you MUST label it 220v, and then simply change the switch on your PSU to 220v and plug it back in. (Don't flip the switch to 220v on a 110v line, you will fry yoru PSU as it "tries" to regulate with half-power. Had to say it, because some noob will think, "Hey, lets just flip the switch, and it now runs at half-power!", no, well, yes, but that kills it, without the other half of the power. It only makes it more efficient and draws less amps/heat.)

Since you are asking from a "power" concern... and logistics...

The AMPS on a power-bar are a safety for the GAUGE of wire within the cord, and the internal circuits (if any), and the length of wire used... based on "standard power and draws", from UL records/laws per "individual outlet"... You will not find a "legal", 20A breaker on a power-strip, that is UL,CA and actually "insured", but it may have a nice warning about fire-hazards stamped on the plug. Those are for "intermittent" use, in a consumer-world. (The 20A-30A breakers.) The "Cord" may be UL,CA approved for 30A, but the breakers will not, for 110V. 15A = 1650Watts. 20A = 2200Watts... at 110v... many times the electric company reduces power to 95v to "make more money" from your meter, which measures amps... That turns a 20A source from being 2200Watts at 110v, into a 23A source at the same wattage of 2200Watts. Thus, "tripping" 20A circuits in the summer-time, but not a 25A circuit, so it goes undetected most times.

As opposed to 2200Watts from a 220V line = only 10A, not 20A.