Dan wrote: > At 10:36 PM -0700 6/13/2009, Clark Martin wrote: >> Dan wrote: >> > Daisy chaining power strips is a political issue - between you, the >>> size of the circuit breaker in the garage, and your fire insurance. >> That isn't a big deal either, every power strip you are likely to >> find has a 10-15 A circuit breaker. Daisy chaining them and adding >> loads to the additional power strips just increases the chance of >> tripping the breaker on the power strip or the circuit breaker >> protecting that outlet. > > Yes, but most wall sockets are at least twofers. So people add two > or more chains... Not good. My housemate did exactly that with his > pc, big crt monitor, etc. The daisy chained power strips were happy, > and their cords were room temp. But the wall socket, and the wall > below it, got HOT and started to smoke!!!!
Then something is wrong. Any given wall outlet should be able to supply up to 20 amps total (provided the breaker matches), 15 amps max from one socket. If it is getting significantly hot the wiring or outlet is bad > > ...the house is 50 years old. The wiring is so odd. Can't run the > coffee pot and toaster at the same time in the kitchen without > blowing the breaker -- that takes out that one socket in the kitchen, > the whole family room, the dinning room, and the left front driveway > light outside. My parents house is about that old and it has more or less adequate outlets and ampacity in the kitchen. My old house was built around 1946. There were originally only two 20 amp circuits in the whole house for plugs. In the intervening time the whole modern kitchen idea came about with lots of things to plug in and draw power. And even that was well before the advent of the microwave oven. > >> At the school I worked at we had a local fire marshall come through >> and they had no problems with daisy chaining power strips but >> wouldn't allow any power strips hanging off an extension cord (which >> carries the same protection. > > Ya ever notice that the wall sockets are just never in the right place! LOL Code calls for an outlet with in 5 feet of any point along a wall. This is done specifically to avoid the need for an extension cord. But what blew me away was that a public building, a grade school, was exempt. This was a new school building, designed in the era of computers. The design allowed for one spot in the room for computers, a data drop and several power outlets. But there is a corner on the other side of the room that is also a good location for computers (and several of the teachers use that location). But the closest outlet is 15-20 feet from where power is needed. It's just nuts. > > Extension cords are ok IF they're large enough gauge. I often > recommend to people that they use heavy gauge *outdoor* type round > (never flat!) extension cords. And never use any extension cords > that are so long you have to coil them. > >> This despite the fact that adequate wall outlets weren't provided in >> the new buildings, something that would have been required by code >> in any house but since they were public buildings they were exempt. > > LOL. Doncha love our building codes?! Oh yeah! -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
