Main Power Supply

[NNomad007]

Hi Guys,

The sim is getting more and more complex by the day, almost 60% of all systems are waiting to be assembled, but one question is burning me:

When the sim is completed, will a regular house power supply (220v) be able to deal with all the systems?..(7 pc's running..lights, projectors..etc..)?....

cheers,

Alex

[skywatch]

That depends on what rating your home supply is.
Here in the UK I get 240V at up to 100A. This is plenty for what you are doing.

I would check your main electrical fuse box (breaker box) into your property and see what it says. I don't know about Portugal but I do know that in Spain there are many places where 3.5Kw (about 16A) is all people can have (and they can't even have the TV and electric oven on at the same time without tripping the breaker).

You can also contact your electricity supplier and ask them, they may be able to offer you a higher rating if needed, especially in built up areas.

#Skywatch

[NNomad007]

I'll do that, hopefully it will be ok, since its a new building and i never experienced a tripping breaker.

Thanks a lot skywatch

cheers

Alex

[Jackpilot]

Alex
The total amps available is one thing, wiring is another.
The load has to be spread, in other words if you plug everything on the same plug or circuit you create a serious hazard.
Have an electrician pull a high load circuit for your sim straight from the panel and (better) with it's own set of breakers at the end.

[NNomad007]

Ill probably do that Jack, its rather scary to have such an amount of wires hanging on one simple cable..

By the way guys, i've checked out my fuse box, and it says 250W with 30A ...
Do you think thats enough?..

Alex

[JBaymore]

Amps times Volts equals Watts.

What is most important is the circuit you have things plugged into, not the main breaker supply panel. Likely you are on a branch circuit from the panel. The branch circuit will be rated lower than the main panel.

You need to know the Voltage that you are running (in the US it is likely 110, 118, or 120 VAC). Then you need to know the amperage rating of the breaker on that branch circuit. Multiply the two and you know the maximum Wattage that that circuit will handle. And that is MAXIMUM........ you really don't want to use that regularly....think of it as occasional "peak".

Then add together all the wattages of the units pulgged into that circuit. For computers, the wattage is only used under the absolute maximum load possibility, so the typical computer draw is a bit less than the rating.....unless you have the machine loaded with a massive graphics card and fan, an huge CPU fan, and tons of pci and usb cards and such.

Remember all those powered usb hubs and such too.

As long as the latter # is smaller than the former #.... you are OK.

That is all assuming that the wiring was put in properly in the first place and there is no corrosion in the panel and box physical connections and such.


best,

....................john

PS: Likely that rating you mention there is 250V @ 30A......not 250Watts.

[craiso]

When I get as far as panel backlighting and cockpit flood lighting, is a dedicated PSU the way to go?

Christopher

[Michael Carter]

Yes, that's a good idea.

All of my panel backlighting is running on a 5VDC 40A supply except those requiring 28VDC.

[Rodney]

Yes, that's a good idea.

All of my panel backlighting is running on a 5VDC 40A supply except those requiring 28VDC.

Michael,
What are you using for the 28VDC ?

[Michael Carter]

A 24VDC 5A supply. It also runs all of the Korry indicators and the glareshield lighting. Except for the flourescent lighting, that's 110AC.

The bulb life is increased with little (if any) loss of brightness at the lower voltage and the supplies are more readily available at this voltage.