UNLIMITED POWER!!!!

[Wiu]

I guess this is a question for anyone that has a fair amount of hardware or is an electrician...

Is it safe to run 6 or 8 gang extension leads (like the kind I've linked) into each other?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eurosonic-Surge ... nsion+lead

I'm guessing it's not really very good to. Currently I don't, but due to having too much shit, I always find myself needing more plugs. Often it's just due to the power adapters being too large and not fitting next to each other or opposite each other. So yah, is this something I could do without risking a small electrical explosion? I'm just wondering how others go about powering stuff. Or is my only option to get an electrician in to fit more wall sockets?

Cheers for any help chaps!

[willemb]

I am not sure, but recently got a 10 way similar to the below for the same reasons as I didn't want to chain too many extensions... I am interested in the answer.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Surge-Protected ... nsion+lead

[Barfunkel]

Under normal circumstances, there is no danger of explosions or any other danger. With the possible exception of some very large mixers (and possibly some vintage gear), music gear uses very little electricity. It's different if you, for example, wanted to use 5 washing machines at the same time and they were all connected to the same fuse. Then the fuse will easily blow. I've seen it happen (I'm an electrician), but haven't noticed any explosions, just blown fuses with no damage to the washing machines.

If you do get extra sockets (if you have a really insane amount of gear), ask the electrician to connect them to different fuses. If they're all under the same fuse anyway, there's no difference between extra sockets and extension cords.

[Lost to the Void]

It all depends on your total load and what the ring main load that your plug points are connected to, is.
For the new mastering studio I`m having to (both for clean power and amount of power reasons) get a separate 30 amp ring just for the monitors and amplification (using tube amps to drive the monitors, which suck a lot of current).

I think most uk homes have the wall plugs on a 30amp ring. 1 per floor, but you never know unless you check your fuse box.

30amps is a decent amount, but you have to take in account everything else on that ring.

For the new place I think I`m just going to run off 2 rings, a 20 or 30 amp isolated ring to cover the monitors and amps, and then my own 30 amp for all the gear, which I will probably distribute via 2 of those tower type units linked above. I`m hoping I won`t need a power conditioner.

[Críoch]

Good answers here

[Mslwte]

I'm currently daisy chaining two 10 way extension leads from a wall socket (twice) and Not had any issues. My father in law is an electrician and he said that I am ok to daisy chain a couple of times. It might not be the "legal" thing to do but it is ok. I have surge protection on the first extention and always turn off at the wall when not in use.

[Hades]

I guess this is a question for anyone that has a fair amount of hardware or is an electrician...

Is it safe to run 6 or 8 gang extension leads (like the kind I've linked) into each other?

!

you know the amount of HW gear I have Wiu...
ALL of it runs on the same ring !!!

and all of it comes in through one current box,
with a safety protector that switches off as soon as it registers something suspicious
(which totally works, as I found out once by accident a few years ago while cutting the ground line of an obsolete electricity plug one floor down),
the box was installed by my electrician, and 2 weeks after installment we had a power spike in our street that killed several tv's and hifi's and ended just 3 houses before me...

other than that, I have all my really rare and expensive gear getting power from a furman power conditioner (PL-PRO DMC E)
which was an expensive investment, but totally worth it if you ask me,
and that thing switches off in like 2 nanoseconds or so if anything is wrong and constantly shows you the amount of current it is currently getting...
(plus it gives you 2 nice rack lamps as well) !

but yeah, I have one of the plugs from that furman connected to a 6-plug extension...
which goes on into an 8-plug extension...
which (for the moment, who knows what comes next ?) ends in a 10-plug !!

And it ALL runs totally fine !!!

I asked my electrician about it, and just as I expected, he said :
"dude, those things don't take too much power each (which is why they all have power conditioners),
so as long as these units are not massively power-hungry
(which 95% of your gear will never be, especially synths),
you won't have any problems really..."

And yeah, it all works fine, honestly.

I just had my Aga oven installed 2 days ago, and my electrician (or rather his helper because he didn't have the time back then) had forgotten to properly connect the current to the box that was giving the Aga its power.
So the guy who was installing it said he was only getting 50 Volt.
I was rather furious, and had a decent phone-call with my electrician,
who showed up (with the helper) 2 hours too late for me to still cook my dinner in my new Aga...
Reason I was furious was because I knew my Aga is one massive energy sucker,
and I feared for a moment that my electrician had forgotten to connect it to a line/ring that would be strong enough...
Thank god he didn't, so for the last 2 days everything has been running fine now...

anyway, moral of the story : if your gear is not some massive energy-sucking piece of shit, you will be MORE than fine, honestly !!

[Hades]

oh yeah, and I'd like to add that I wouldn't even be afraid to add 2 more 10-way extensions to that same set-up.
I'm quite sure it's not a problem at all...

Though, obviously, all of the above would only be safe with gear that is fully functional electricity-wise...

[terryfalafel]

Under normal circumstances, there is no danger of explosions or any other danger. With the possible exception of some very large mixers (and possibly some vintage gear), music gear uses very little electricity. It's different if you, for example, wanted to use 5 washing machines at the same time and they were all connected to the same fuse. Then the fuse will easily blow. I've seen it happen (I'm an electrician), but haven't noticed any explosions, just blown fuses with no damage to the washing machines.

If you do get extra sockets (if you have a really insane amount of gear), ask the electrician to connect them to different fuses. If they're all under the same fuse anyway, there's no difference between extra sockets and extension cords.

If you're an electrician, I'm surprised that you don't mention current in your post, and you talk about the possibility of explosions. Not the info I'd have expected from an electrician.

Current draw is what determines safety in the context of the OPs question. If current draw of the connected equipment is below the limit of the supply and connected wiring (and breaker) then it should be safe, irrespective of how many extension cables are daisy chained.

If current draw goes above the capability of the supply, hopefully the breaker will trip. If not, wires will get hot, things will melt and the possibility of a fire becomes a reality.

If you're worried, add up the current draw of all the equipment you intend to connect and then compare with the current rating if the breaker in the consumer unit (fuse box) for the circuit you're connecting to. The current draw of any piece of equipment should be stated on the equipment or in the manual.

If you're really worried, put an extra RCD at the wall where you plug your extension cables in.

Bear in mind that the inrush current for most equipment is significantly higher than the current draw when it is in normal use because the PSU caps draw more when youfirst turn the equipment on. If you're popping the breaker when turning the power on to all your gear, try turning it on one piece at a time.

[arc]

I have a long power strip like this one and can't recommend it enough.



The one I bought was really cheap - like $20. Strangely though I haven't been able to find it again, they only stock really expensive ones now ($50+).

As far as the risk of electric fires go, you should be fine. The only time electric fires are a risk is if like someone else mentioned is if you're trying to run 2 washing machines on the same circuit. Don't plug an area heater onto the power strip or you will trip a breaker and potentially melt the strip. But most synths and FX units don't really draw many amps. The only thing you should be concerned with drawing high amps is your speakers and computer running at full load.

[arc]

Sorry for the gigantic picture lol

[bergertron]

that is like one that you would use on a server rack.

If I am using a few gang sockets I would try not to chain them too much and divide out evenly. If there is two sockets in the wall I would connect 2 gang sockets one in each.

[Mslwte]

Basically, don't fucking worry about it.

[Wiu]

Thank you all for your answers chaps

I feel much better about things now. I use 3 different wall sockets, 2 with a 10 gang adapter and 1 with an 8 gang adapter. Like I said in the op, it's down to the size of the power adapters and which side the wire comes out of which preventing me using every socket on the adapters, which is why I think I'm going to have to daisy chain an extra adapter.

Thanks again for the help and advice!!

[innovine]

30A seems like a hell of a lot since the wiring in the extensions shown will probably be warm at 7amps, and probably become a fire risk over 10A. Note that the danger here is not blowing a fuse, it is that the copper conductors and contacts become hot enough to start some smoldering or burning. The fuse won't protect you from this until the fire melts the electrical gear and by that time your studio is destroyed.

As someone pointed out, the current draw from most music gear is very low, so you'll probably be ok plugging in loads of gear and extensions. I've about 30-40 things plugged into a mess of extensions and it draws fuck all. To be safest though, get a current monitor and put it at the head of the chain so you can see what kind of draw you have. A few amps will be fine.

[Wiu]

youtu.be/BEnCPnMAzaM

[bergertron]

youtu.be/NowdrL6fvb4

[Wiu]

Damn, I so need to watch the Back to the Future trilogy again. Been way too long since I last saw them. Classic movies!

[Hades]

Damn, I so need to watch the Back to the Future trilogy again. Been way too long since I last saw them. Classic movies!

I just bought the 1st part on a fleemarket sunday and watched it with my oldest.
She can read subtitles now, and I've been looking for a while for films that have no sex nor too much violence in there
and that still have some decent content (= not for lobotomized people).
She fucking loved it just as much as I used to do back in the days.
Great moment.

[Hades]

now, gentlemen,
to ruin your day...

youtu.be/nm6DO_7px1I