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Junior Varsity
PA System Power - Overloading Circuits
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<blockquote data-quote="Brian jojade" data-source="post: 59925" data-attributes="member: 211"><p>Re: PA System Power - Overloading Circuits</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Breakers work based on heat generated by the load. A very short burst above 20 amps may not trip the breaker, but with enough of them, over time, it will trip. In my small racks, I like to have 15 amp breakers and design my current load based on that. If a breaker does trip, it's likely going to be in my rack, which is easy to reset. If I push right to the 20 amp load limit, and something else is on the circuit that I'm not aware of, then I have to go track down the breaker to get back up and running.</p><p></p><p>Now, you have to look at what amps you are using to know if they are going to trip a breaker or not. Reality is, you can't create watts. A 20 amp breaker means at 120 volts, you have 2400 watts available to you. With a single amp of that size, it's possible to blow the breaker on its own.</p><p></p><p>QSC has a good current consumption chart on its amps. </p><p><a href="http://qscaudio.com/products/amps/plx2/plx3602_specifications.htm" target="_blank">QSC - PLX3602 Specifications</a></p><p></p><p>This amp is roughly half the power rating of the Crown 9000. Both are fairly efficient amps, so I'm guessing the crown power draw would be roughly double. If you're running at 1/8 power, the PLX, at 4 ohms draws 11.5 amps. 1/8 power is generally just tickling the clip lights. 1/3 power would draw 19.5 amps, which is generally a solid clip light. If you go balls out with the amp, it can pull 40 amps from the wall, which will undoubtedly sound like crap and blow the breaker.</p><p></p><p>I often do run 2 3602's off of a single 20 amp breaker with no issue, as long as I stay completely out of clip territory. However, if its a show where I need to crank things up, I'll make sure to have 2 circuits available.</p><p></p><p>With the 9000i at 4 ohms, I'd want to make sure i have a good solid 20 amp service available for just that amp if I'm expecting to push any sort of real power with it. While it's a nice powerful amp, it really limits your ability to split your power draw if you don't have the full 20 amps available to you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Brian jojade, post: 59925, member: 211"] Re: PA System Power - Overloading Circuits Breakers work based on heat generated by the load. A very short burst above 20 amps may not trip the breaker, but with enough of them, over time, it will trip. In my small racks, I like to have 15 amp breakers and design my current load based on that. If a breaker does trip, it's likely going to be in my rack, which is easy to reset. If I push right to the 20 amp load limit, and something else is on the circuit that I'm not aware of, then I have to go track down the breaker to get back up and running. Now, you have to look at what amps you are using to know if they are going to trip a breaker or not. Reality is, you can't create watts. A 20 amp breaker means at 120 volts, you have 2400 watts available to you. With a single amp of that size, it's possible to blow the breaker on its own. QSC has a good current consumption chart on its amps. [url=http://qscaudio.com/products/amps/plx2/plx3602_specifications.htm]QSC - PLX3602 Specifications[/url] This amp is roughly half the power rating of the Crown 9000. Both are fairly efficient amps, so I'm guessing the crown power draw would be roughly double. If you're running at 1/8 power, the PLX, at 4 ohms draws 11.5 amps. 1/8 power is generally just tickling the clip lights. 1/3 power would draw 19.5 amps, which is generally a solid clip light. If you go balls out with the amp, it can pull 40 amps from the wall, which will undoubtedly sound like crap and blow the breaker. I often do run 2 3602's off of a single 20 amp breaker with no issue, as long as I stay completely out of clip territory. However, if its a show where I need to crank things up, I'll make sure to have 2 circuits available. With the 9000i at 4 ohms, I'd want to make sure i have a good solid 20 amp service available for just that amp if I'm expecting to push any sort of real power with it. While it's a nice powerful amp, it really limits your ability to split your power draw if you don't have the full 20 amps available to you. [/QUOTE]
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