15 amp circuit VS. 20 amp Circuit
Hello,
I’m in a situation where my audio room has one ( three outlets ) 15 amp circuit. It appears to me that the 3 outlets in this room are connected in series , meaning drawing current from one outlet will drain the other two .
For 2 channel audio , I have connected my C12000 pre amp, McD12000 and through MPC1500 conditioner and to one of the 15 amp outlets . This should be okay? However, problem could arise once I connect the McIntosh 1.2k power AMPs to the other 2 outlets.
I would like to know if I need any dedicated circuit for my equipment . It appears I need more power than 1400 watts ( 15 amp circuit can provide ) when I use my home theater Where I will have Four 1000 watt woofers and 3 additional AHB2 amps.
Question :
howmany dedicated 15 amp or 20 amp circuits do I need to ensure smooth power without dimming the lights around the house / prevent possible fire ?
Please provide your suggestion based on the below equipment .
DAC: McIntosh MCD12000
Power Conditioner: MPC15000
preamp : McIntosh C12000
AV Processor : Marantz 7015
power AMP: Two McIntosh 1.2k
power AMP: Three AHB2 , one used in MonoBlock
Streamer : One Streamer
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@speelerr I must be misunderstanding your post, most breakers have a trip curve chart, a 15 amp circuit breaker will not trip at 15 amps for a certain time period, which means your equipment could actually draw many times that 15 amps and not trip the breaker if it's for a very short duration of time and it can cause voltage drop.
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@speelerr have you checked the specs of my beefy 1.2k amps ? At 4 ohm, turning up these amps can cause issues. Literally every person I spoke with , recommends a single 20 amp circuit per amp, now I’m being cheap and will put both amps on a single 20 amp circuit per. that , and 3 other mono blocks pulling 380 watts for home theater , and all that jazz
Check this out , same was happening to me https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/new-amps-tripped-circuit-breaker.1000895/
will it all work on a single 15 amp circuit ? YES it will , on very low volume, that’s not ideal , and yes I want to be able connect a blow dryer if I needed to… you get the idea my EE friend :)
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Just saw this discussion and there are a lot of suggestions that are way overkill for your needs. I total agree with what IMPALER gave you for a good electrical suggestion to give you plenty of power for all your equipment. To help with voltage drop, I would run 10 gauge wire on the dedicated 20 amp circuit. FYI, I’m also an electrical engineer by trade with over 40 years of power engineering experience. |
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Don't use 10ga romex, every wire has a sound and it's sound is pretty bad for anything other than a sub. I know because that's what I did and now I want to rip it out! I'm back to using the shared 12ga run for now. For that level of system, I'd recommend something like Audience Hidden Treasure, and multiple runs on the same 120v leg. If that's too pricey, then at least buy cryo'ed romex or talk to Weinhart Design about other options they may have. |
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Sorry joshziggie2021, I didn't realize you wanted to connect a hair dryer together with your "beefy" amp :) |
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@speelerr my krell ksa 300s has a 20 amp breaker it doesn't have any fuses. |
Spoke with a friend who is an MIT graduate. And we agreed , based on the power and the amps of 1.2k amps, we need to have each amp its own dedicated 20 amp circuit .( the benchmark amps can be connected to the same circuit )
subwoofers will share , two 20 amp circuits or one 20 amp circuit. rest can be connected to a regular 15 amp circuit.
for those who suggested , minimum three 20 amp circuit for this equipment .. congratulations, you nailed it .
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I just had a Electricion intall a 20 amp breaker for a dedicated line with a 15 amp receptacle, and said it will be ok. I told him I thought I read something that you can't do that. He said they do it all the time. So I researched it again and it's ok if other circuits are on the 20 amp breaker,but for a dedicated line it has to be a 20 amp receptacle. Thank God I haven't pluded anything into it yet. Ordered a 20 amp Hospital grade red receptacle.
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