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Amp power, you have enough, but do you have enough current?
Actually were going to focus on current here but it's all related...That's right.. from my lips..er keyboard... mr. too much power is never enough. Well it's all fine and good to have a rack with a Mac 5000, for the subs, a Mac 3600 for the mids and a Microtech 1202 for the horns, but that little combo can draw well over 100 amps if called on to do it! So what size drop cords are you running your system on? 12 gauge? How much current will a 12 gauge wire carry safely? Well a single 12 gauge SO wire will carry 9.33 amps, that UNDER 20 amps for a standard 12 gauge SO drop cord. I see systems all the time run on a single 14 gauge cable... that's just under 12 amps...and 16 gauge about 7.5 amps. Remember also that the length of the run also acts as a bottleneck to the current you need for your system...Here is a table of wire gauges and other simple facts.
http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html
It wouldn't hurt to sit down and figure out just how much potential current your system could draw..and if your not at LEAST in the 50% of capability your asking for trouble.. I run 8 gauge cable to my amp rack in distro form with a 50 amp 4 lug plug that runs just 5 feet from the actual service entrance! I run about 13,450 watts for the mains and 7500 for my monitor rig. :arrow: that's about 21,000 watts (capability) and the guru's of electricity will tell you you cannot convert watts to amps, but as a rule of thumb divide the watts by the voltage and you'll get :shock: 84 amps @ 240 volts!!! BTW @ 120 volts that's 175amps! :evil: and that doesn't even consider the consoles, the peripherals, and the OH OH Lighting! have you seen the light show I run UUFDA! I'll have to do a rough calculation on that sometimes.. I bet it's MORE than the system by a LOT!
So I just wanted to let you know because you have a 5000 watt amp for your lows.. if your feeding it with a 14 gauge cable.. guess what :?: your amp will NOT meet the specs, and you could exhaust the power supply and the amps could easily run out of power and go into current overload and you would be in a brown out situation.. and the next thing that happens.. the smoke gets out...
Gadget
http://www.interfacebus.com/Copper_Wire_AWG_SIze.html
It wouldn't hurt to sit down and figure out just how much potential current your system could draw..and if your not at LEAST in the 50% of capability your asking for trouble.. I run 8 gauge cable to my amp rack in distro form with a 50 amp 4 lug plug that runs just 5 feet from the actual service entrance! I run about 13,450 watts for the mains and 7500 for my monitor rig. :arrow: that's about 21,000 watts (capability) and the guru's of electricity will tell you you cannot convert watts to amps, but as a rule of thumb divide the watts by the voltage and you'll get :shock: 84 amps @ 240 volts!!! BTW @ 120 volts that's 175amps! :evil: and that doesn't even consider the consoles, the peripherals, and the OH OH Lighting! have you seen the light show I run UUFDA! I'll have to do a rough calculation on that sometimes.. I bet it's MORE than the system by a LOT!
So I just wanted to let you know because you have a 5000 watt amp for your lows.. if your feeding it with a 14 gauge cable.. guess what :?: your amp will NOT meet the specs, and you could exhaust the power supply and the amps could easily run out of power and go into current overload and you would be in a brown out situation.. and the next thing that happens.. the smoke gets out...
Gadget
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