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Your One Bullet Point Solution; Electrical Upgrade

Two points; I am well aware of many threads on topic of electrical service. I do not have time to read hundreds of posts, but wish to distill them down with your help. I will also post this on the Tech Forum to get wider response:

Doing service upgrade to 100A. I plan on adding a whole house surge protector, type 2, add on to panel after the service enters house. Panel to the HT/Music room is not under consideration, as it was all updated when the room was built.

If anyone has important info/contradictory info on that plan, please inform.

What I would like to know in shorthand form from the community from those who have Done upgrades:

1. Recommended Panel? Brand, any difference?

2. I currently have sub-panel for HT/Audio room which I’m tempted to keep. I understand that this is a good move.
Electrician can sum all into a larger panel, but I have reservations. Comments/recommendations?

3. Particular wiring/breakers for panel/sub-panel for audio use?

4. Particular surge protector recommend.

As the topic has been covered much, notation form comments are welcome. Thanks for helping!



douglas_schroeder
erik_squires
16,049 posts
 
I will have exterior whole house surge protector put on by elec. co., which is a bargain to help protect nice gear, and may put an additional one inside on panel,


The thing to keep in mind about the whole house protectors, which are important, is the clamping voltage and activation time. Often the clamping voltage (starts to work) ~ 300 V. It’s right on the label. And wow, those levitons are expensive, and still need a breaker. The in-panel units run ~ $80, need no additional breaker, and have lower wire impedance. I’d stick one as close to the incoming power as possible.

Furman and other devices with series mode protection kick in (and I may be wrong) around 140V and have no activation time. I wrote about this somewhat here:

https://inatinear.blogspot.com/2019/04/power-management-for-frugal-audiophiles.html

Oh, also, the impedance of wiring between your listening room and the panel can increase the voltage there before the whole house protector kicks in even higher.  Series mode devices don't suffer from this delay or from the additional clamp voltage.  So, lots of good reasons to have both. :)
douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
Thank you! 
polesandzeros
2 posts
 
Surge protection will likely be ineffective if for any reason the earthing is deficient.
As an electrical engineer that deals with noise and earthing on industrial plant to a high level of detail, I really implore you to over engineer the earthing, or do not bother to proceed.

Earthing as a quality reveals itself in two ways - continuously on a day to day basis with noise, and intermittently/rarely under fault, surge or other unusual conditions, sometimes with catastrophic or even lethal outcomes.

If nothing else I imagine you have many much loved items of equipment. Regardless of any value, it would be a shame to learn that a better earth may have protected them or a family member the hard way.

douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
Polesandzeroseros 
You are suggesting that the earthing which has served this home for 60 years+ is insufficient and or deficient?
Please specify your recommendation. 
polesandzeros
2 posts
 
Well straight away if you are going from capacity of 60 to 100 or 200 amps there may be more imbalanced current to dispose of.
Additional wiring may require an extension of the earthing network for the house, the entire system should be considered rather than just a tack on.

Also, if the earthing system (stakes, wires etc) has been there for 60 years I can guarantee you that corrosion will have had some impact and it may be substandard right now.
If you live in an area near the ocean there will be problems and anywhere with even a hint of geothermal activity, H2S eats copper for breakfast.

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