Power Limitation

[TheFuneral]

Hello,

I don't have much of a EE background and did CSC in college so the power portion of creating a mining pool is confusing me.

I currently have one rig that takes ~1200W running in my room. I've noticed many times the surge protector will shut that machine down. It used to trip the circuit breaker, but luckily that doesn't happen anymore as the strip stops it. I'm not sure how or why the strip goes off, but it seems to have fixed my circuit breaker from tripping.

I'd like to buy two or four more of these machines, but can't figure out how to tell/test if my current power can support it. Naturally I'd want to put it on another circuit because the current one wouldn't handle it ( how can I tell? ). How do you guys figure out if your current home can support the added power load before buying a new rig?

Thanks for your time

[os2sam]

If your tripping breakers with 10A something is wrong.  Either the machine is drawing allot more than it should or you have allot of other stuff on that circuit.

[TheFuneral]

If your tripping breakers with 10A something is wrong.  Either the machine is drawing allot more than it should or you have allot of other stuff on that circuit.

Your second guess it correct. I occasionally have another computer I use on the circuit along with a saltwater tank.

Do you know how to turn that into values? Could I put four ~1200W systems on a 10A breaker? Is a 10A breaker the standard for homes? I'm curious as to the numbers your using to draw this conclusion.

[os2sam]

A standard 3 prong plug, in the United States that is, should be 15 Amps.  If one of the vertical blades also has a horizontal as well then it should be 20 Amps.

Your Circuit Breakers should have the current value on them so you can see at what level they trip.

I would put a 1200 Watt machine on it's own 15 Amp Circuit with nothing else.  If you have 20 Amp circuits then your 1200 Watt machine with a standard machine will probably be fine.  But always be conservative on your allowances.

Your salt water tank pump, heater, lights and whatever else you have with it can take allot of current so I would do some research on how much that setup is taking too.

[TheFuneral]

how did you decide a 1200W machine is fine on a 15A circuit?

These new machine I'd like to go on a different circuit, but I'm curious if I could get two on one breaker.

[os2sam]

If your tripping breakers with 10A something is wrong.  Either the machine is drawing allot more than it should or you have allot of other stuff on that circuit.

Could I put four ~1200W systems on a 10A breaker?

Absolutely not.  Each 1200 Watt system consumes 10Amps.  Watts/Voltage=Current, so 1200W/120V=10A.  I would use on system per 15Amp Circuit.

Is a 10A breaker the standard for homes? I'm curious as to the numbers your using to draw this conclusion.

15Amp is usually standard, per my previous post.  Check your breaker box to verify what the breakers are and try to figure out what all is on each circuit.
Sam

[os2sam]

how did you decide a 1200W machine is fine on a 15A circuit?

These new machine I'd like to go on a different circuit, but I'm curious if I could get two on one breaker.

Watts/Voltage=Current, so 1200W/120V=10A.

If you had 20Amp circuits, and you probably don't, I wouldn't recommend putting two systems on one of those as it would max it out.  Also it may be worth your while to get a power meter so that you can measure your actual power usage with the system under max load.  It may be less than 1200W.
Sam

[af_newbie]

Hello,

I don't have much of a EE background and did CSC in college so the power portion of creating a mining pool is confusing me.

I currently have one rig that takes ~1200W running in my room. I've noticed many times the surge protector will shut that machine down. It used to trip the circuit breaker, but luckily that doesn't happen anymore as the strip stops it. I'm not sure how or why the strip goes off, but it seems to have fixed my circuit breaker from tripping.

I'd like to buy two or four more of these machines, but can't figure out how to tell/test if my current power can support it. Naturally I'd want to put it on another circuit because the current one wouldn't handle it ( how can I tell? ). How do you guys figure out if your current home can support the added power load before buying a new rig?

Thanks for your time

If you are in NA, buy

http://www.amazon.com/Arbor-Scientific-P4400-Kill-Meter/dp/B001JHGY2Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1370874423&sr=8-4&keywords=killa+watt

or something similar and measure how much power does your current system draw from the wall.  If you are around 750-800W/machine, you should be able to run two of these systems on one dedicated
15A circuit.  Most breakers disconnect at 1600W+ if run for some time. You have to find out what else is connected to that circuit and estimate the extra power consumption of the other stuff.

I split up 60A (6 gauge wire) secondary panel into 4x15A dedicated outlets, each with double pole 15A breaker feeding (with 14-3 wire) one outlet (broke the tab to run two hots to the panel).