Dedicated Power Lines


Been thinking about running dedicated Romex circuits from my circuit breaker box for my rig. No . . . I decline paying for specialty wire, Romex will do. The question is how many discreet lines and the amp capability of each line. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the installation in accordance with Code, without tearing my finished basement apart. For that, I'll consult a licensed electrician.

My rig consists of the following gear: (1) self powered sub that is rated at 1500 "Class D" watts; 4500 watts on a surge; (2) ARC tube CDP; (3) ARC tube line stage; (4) ARC tube power amp rated at 120 wpc - supposedly draws 700-800 watts when driven hard; (5) ARC tube phono pre; and VPI TT. I have a large screen plasma TV and a DVD player. I think that stuff can run off the house circuits.

Right now, everything I just listed is sucking juice off the same line. I gotta believe no good is coming from that set-up. Funny story -- one day my kid was playing Rosetta. I think it's a band that plays music, or at least that what my kid says. Tons of bass. When the band kicked into "low gear," first the basement lights dimmed, then the circuit breaker tripped.

Oh, my house is tied into the utility lines with a 100 amp service. If I change that out, that's the next project. But not right now. Other than Rosetta, no other power delivery problems noted.

Thanks
bifwynne

Showing 5 responses by ptss

A few thoughts.
1.The home insurance issue is major. Be legal or very possibly be out of luck even if the fire fault was not the wiring you installed!
2.Go big guage (10)and just as important- quality well shielded wire. Best bet would to scavenge some excess wire used for robotic controls. It has stringent and valuable characteristics far surpassing the generics you speak of- and the design quality is for robust, failsafe accurate signal transmission-quite desirable for high quality power supply, regardless of the power level.
3.Remember that an average load of even 6 or 7 amps will probably result in instantaneous draws of up to 150 amps. Bigger guage is beneficial.
4. noise from equipment can reflect on all 3 lines.
5. I'm assuming what you want is adaquate clean power to your equipment.With the price of copper and labor today I highly suggest a consultation with an electrician regarding load distribution and economical ways of making what you have accomodate your requirements for power.
6. to clean your power consider installing 1, 2 or 3 of the Equitech (I have zero affiliation or interest)"blemished", cheap balanced transformers. Fabulous improvement-way ahead of dedicated line. Dedicated lines are still garbage laden from the outside power utility and noise from your home. Finely balanced power works miracles. (if its good enough for super delicate medical and research work , NASA, etc, it will benefit you.
(I have a so called state of the art preamp with a lauded separate ps. Adding the balanced transformer was like--magic. It clearly revealed the power supply to be the weakest link(very weak) in my otherwise terrific pre.
7. under no circumstances have digital,television,etc connected to same power source as your sensitive analog electronics. I've been fussy about power and conditioning for years and it has paid off; however, it wasn't until I established a separate isolation transformer for my digital source , on top of all dedicated lines and balanced transformer isolation for my pre and amp, that I really got the full benefit of years of working on my system.
It is magic for digital; all the big boys are well aware of it.
Best wishes. Pete
Jea48. Your comments were great. I had emphasized to call an electrician, and emphasized going by the code. You have really clarified the proper approach to the entire setup. I thank you for all the readers who benefited from your detailed, and for the most part, unknown knowledge.
Jea. Can't imagine what you are on about bringing 3 phase power into this. Hmm. I believe most people are going to install their 'power systems?' correctly, regardless of the type of conditioning they will use. Just an assumption.