Dedicated power

I believe a sub-panel is required to have it's own grounding rod. One of the more knowledgeable guys will be along, hopefully, to confirm or not.

We have transformers hanging on poles all over the US.

ieales, interesting link, thanks

jea48, so you're essentially talking about wiring the circuit as 20A (breaker, outlet), but upsizing the wire to #10?  I'm just trying to learn a bit.Thanks

It can't be additional, unless it's physically tied to the existing grounding rod(s).

ieales742 posts02-08-2021 11:32am

................It's my contention that improvements heard after a 10ga rewire are largely due to direct clean connections and not the wire gauge. If rewiring for audio, go direct and only use screw terminals on quality outlets.

My media room has a dozen outlets which were daisy chained with push terminal quick connections. This circuit is used for 2x 600w electric heaters. I'd estimate the length at about 80 feet. I had a 5-6v drop from the first outlet to the last when loaded by both heaters. Removing the quick connects, cleaning the wire and using the screw terminals resulted in under a volt drop when loaded.

In my shop (not my music room), I have nothing run through the outlets. They aren't wired in series, each is pig-tailed off the 20A circuit(s) running through the boxes. This would seem to me to be advantageous on an audio circuit, as well. Obviously, if you have a dedicated circuit, it's not an issue.

jea483,554 posts02-09-2021 10:13am

900W / 120Vac = 7.5 amps

So how does the designer of the sub spec, "Output Power 3000 Watt"?

Same way Sears used to claim they had 6 hp shop vacs. Theoretical number a fraction of a second before the device went up in flames. Shameless marketing.

Very unreliable electric service?
Thank you very much for this information, which I find "suspect". Good grief. Flooding has caused a lot of problems, depending on the severity. The solution, of course, would be to not allow anyone to live near any of the thousands of miles of seacoast, nor near any rivers or streams. I think if we displace 50-100 million citizens living along the Mississippi and Missouri drainages, for a start, we can nip this problem in the bud.

clearthink1,179 posts02-10-2021 8:48amYou are very welcome and might choose to consider that floods are also an ongoing issue across much of the globe including Europe and Scandinavia and yet power outages lasting for weeks on end as a result of flooding just does not happen what you find acceptable electrical service would be considered of "third world" quality in many parts of the world.

Well, I did a bit of research before replying. I'd have to say that the big difference is probably that in the U.S., the flooding very often comes hand in hand with some very serious storms. These would be the occasions that people might be without power for extended periods. I couldn't find any record of huge storms in Europe, only the remnants of various hurricanes. I saw some that spoke of 70 mph winds, and 1-2 inches of rain. That would be merely a blustery weekend, here. Most (all?) of the events with extended outages in the U.S. have been the result of horrific storms, hurricanes, or tornadoes with winds in the 130-200mph range, and often rainfall measured in feet.