Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Surge protector compatible with a 20 amp circuit?

I have a 20 amp circuit installed just for my home theater equipment. The problem is that my current power surge protector power bar (cheap Noma) is only rated for a maximum 15 amp circuit. My friend who is an electrician said that the power bar will be okay to use with the 20 amp circuit because CSA ratings are conservative. Just to be on the safe side, do you guys have any suggestions on a different power surge protector that would be compatible with my 20 amp circuit? Any other electrical whizzes out there? Will I be okay?

Thanks

Not being sarcastic, but do you think you'll pull over 15A from your home theatre setup?

Is there a light show? Maybe something picked up at Triumph's garage sale?

Bren R.

I picked up a 20 amp circuit because I was pretty sure other people on the forum had it also.

I keep a glowing tritium vial on my receiver to improve dynamics. I can sell you one.

I want one. Those are sweet.

In any case, you can get a PDU (power distribution unit, read expensive power strip) that goes from 20 amp to 15 amp outlets from a number of computer accessory manufacturers, such as tripp-lite or APC. I suspect they also have surge protectors. However, such devices are often quite expensive. I wouldn't worry too much about using a 15 amp strip, especially if you're plugging the amp directly to the wall.

The amp is not being plugged directly into the wall. All of my components are plugged into the surge protector.

Yeep. It might also be informative for you to get a kill-a-watt and hook it up to your stuff to see how much current you're really drawing.

Is it not common practice to plug everything into a surge protector, including a amp/amps? I would never plug any of my equipment directly into the outlet, posing the risk of it getting zapped.

Generally, from what I've seen, people don't plug amps and subs into surge protectors.

My sub is not, and my receiver is plugged into my UPS merely because of bad outlet placement.

I now have all but my TV plugged into my Belkin PF60. I now know I draw about 0.7A when everything is on and playing at reasonable levels, actually just having the receiver on draws the 0.6A the rest barely adds anything.

So Jason, you have about 14.3 Amps of reserve.

Cam, using a 15 Amp surge suppressor will pose no problem at all unless you plan on drawing more than 15 Amps. I can't see how you would though.

It's not wired into the panel yet so I will switch it to a 15 amp circuit. People seriously risk plugging expensive equipment directly into the wall "hoping" there isn't a power surge? Does plugging a amp and/or a subwoofer into a surge protector have an effect on its performance? I honestly don't feel safe plugging my equipment directly into the wall. Are there alternatives that anyone else is using? Other than a "whole home surge protector"?

Most high end solid state amp mfg's will tell you to use the wall outlet, or you could sacrifice performance. They also have built in circuitry to protect from surges.

I plug my amp into a 15a Monster power center, no problems.

So, I shouldn't plug my sub (EP500) into a surge protector?

Nope. My EP500 goes straight to the wall. It has a sacrificial fuse that will pop if a large spike gets to it.

Why not? The fuse may not pop with a large spike.

Then it would probably kill a strip, too.

If your sub+amp+everything else overloads your power strip, you're going to be in a whole lot more of a world of hurt than if your sub dies in a lighting strike.

I don't know the correct answer here but I do know that computer power supplies of large size, often on 700W and up, come with a warning not to plug them into surge protectors with other equipment or you risk damage.

My new 20 amp circuit outlet was placed directly beside another existing outlet, so I'm thinking the best scenario would be to get a power bar for each circuit and split up my electronics, that way hopefully everything is safe. I'll use one surge protector for my subwoofer and amp, and the other for my TV, receiver, CD player, DVD player, satellite, and camera/intercom at my front door.

Does a subwoofer draw a lot of electricity?

Now I'm thinking it's probably cheaper to buy a "whole home surge protector". Parables, parables.

It's a big honking amp. Check the plate on the back; it should say how many amps it draws--actually most electronics should.

I just called Emotiva, and all of their products have built-in surge protectors, power conditioners etc. etc. The technical guru at Emotiva said that using two separate circuits is a good way to go but I have to watch that I don't get a ground loop. I'm plugging the amp into one of the plugs of my 20 amp circuit and a surge protector into the other plug for my TV, then I'm going to plug another surge protector into the other outlet for the rest of my components that don't draw much. Now I just have to figure out what to do about my subwoofer. I know for sure I'm not plugging it directly into the wall.

My Denon would draw the most out of the rest of my equipment.

The dirty truth - all my stuff is plugged into a 6-gang and into the wall... on a shared 15 amp circuit - the only thing I did when we moved it was remove the dimmers from the lights.

I know you want to do the best by your equipment and go "the extra step"... but it's probably unnecessary.

Although on This Old House, they did show how to save energy by putting your A/V equipment on a power bar - the draw on "standby" electronics was actually fairly high. The frustration of resetting clocks and timers and resetting your TV picture every time you turn them on is probably greater.

Bren R.

I think i have two for my dryer and possibly the oven.
But the HT? The whole room runs off of a single breaker and it certainly is no 20A.

Cam, AV equipment is relatively low power(e.g. stuff like hair dryers and hotplates is far more demanding), so no, special circuits for that aren't necessary. The power supply sections in AV equipment are built to handle most power surges routinely and special protectors are of limited use(none in my case)for a surge which would be too strong for the equipment yet not so strong(e.g. a near direct lightning strike)as to defeat the protector. Judging from your various posts you may be unnecessarily concerned over power supply factors.

Thanks guys. In Emotivas manual it says it requires a minimum of 10 amps at 120 volts with both channels driven into 8 ohms, and also says a big screen TV should be plugged into a separate circuit (cd players are ok). My Denon manual says it draws 7 amps. My TV, DVD, and CD are all measured in watts which doesn't help. I know I'm okay. Just want to be sure.

If your Denon draws 7 amps... that's with all channels driven, right? You're not using any of those channels, so you can probably cut that waaaaaay way down. However, with such a large power draw from the Emotiva, I'd be really careful about putting it all on one strip. Most 20 amp strips I've seen are actually only rated for 16, which says to me that 15 amp strips are probably rated for 12.