Electrical question

jea48

our over the range microwave/ hood vent fan unit is rated at 17.7KW. 1700W / 120v = 14.17 amps. My 200A electrical service doesn’t even care when it’s running. My central air outdoors condensing unit draws more than that at 240V. Even that load is minuscule to my 200 amp electrical service. 

Having "200 amp electric service" is not necessarily what many people think it is. It means that the utility line coming into your house and the panel it feeds are capable of safely distributing 200 amps. It is no assurance at all that the utility can actually deliver 200 amps of power. 

I had enormous electric service problems when we bought our house. A voltage monitor installed by the electric utility showed that turning on my tube amp brought voltage to zero. Lights dimmed with even moderate loads, such as the dryer. I finally got the utility to run a "beast of burden" test - where a dummy load is connected directly to the utility's feed - and I was getting about 55A. The engineer working on our problem (which also included periods of low voltage) thought that was only slightly on the low side! In the end, it was easier for him to resolve the problem than deal with my incessant complaints filed with the state regulator.

To be fair, I have an especially poor electric utility, although its service quality has improved enormously over the decades. But I'll never forget the frustration of trying to amplify a biamped Infinity RS-1B speaker system with substandard electric power.

I monitor voltage 24/7, 120-121 constant, 1200 watt microwave 116v, microwave and toaster oven together 112v. 

I have a electrician coming today, we will see what’s up..

also is the PS Audio Power Regenerator stuff able to stabilize the power from fluctuating or is that snake oil…

@charles007100 

I have pretty poor electrical voltage stability in my neighborhood.  The power company is aware and admits that the local grid is a bit "overloaded".  (There is a plan to fix it... but I've been hearing that for 10 years...)

I installed a PS Audio regenerator, and I can tell you it is effective for dealing both high noise in the AC line as well as moderate swings in external voltage.  Sonically, the immediate impact was the system sounded more "relaxed" and not straining to handle big dynamic swings in the music.  I have everything plugged into it, sources, preamp, dac, and power amps.

I monitor voltage 24/7, 120-121 constant, 1200 watt microwave 116v, microwave and toaster oven together 112v. 

Measured at the wall outlet the equipment is plugged into?  Correct?

VD is directly proportional to the size of the current carrying conductors, length of the branch circuit wiring X 2, and the connected load in amperes.