Help With Electrical Wiring

[dinyaar]

Hi guys,
Was wondering if u guys could help with a few questions i have for the wiring which supplies the current in my audio set up.

The set up consists of a cyrus cdp,bryston Pre/power amp,B&W 805s speakers.

The set up is in a room which has two lamp shades(40W Bulbs),fan,a tube light, a cordless phone and an AC. Now minus the AC all the rest(including the system ) is connected to a 15 amp tripper while the AC is on another tripper. The wall sockets are all 6amp Anchor(roma) sockets with switches for each plugpoint.The wiring to this wall outlet is polycab 2.5 sq.mm.(didnt know, had to check with an electrician)

1. The cdp and pre must not consume much but the power amp at max output could consume 1280 watts of current. How many amperes would this amount to? Would this overload the circuit? (systm+lights+fan+phone)Naturally i would never be going close to max output!!!!!

2. By just going to a 20 or 25 amp tripper am i achieving anything as the 2.5 sq.mm. wire remains constant?Or do i have to change the wiring and go thicker?

The reason of asking all the above is not that i am having any problems but merely to understand a bit more.A dealer suggested me to go for audiophile grade electrical wiring and sockets. Is regular indian polcab or finolex or any ISI wiring not good enough?

Thanks and best regards

 

[Jambumali]

Hi guys,
Was wondering if u guys could help with a few questions i have for the wiring which supplies the current in my audio set up.

The set up consists of a cyrus cdp,bryston Pre/power amp,B&W 805s speakers.

The set up is in a room which has two lamp shades(40W Bulbs),fan,a tube light, a cordless phone and an AC. Now minus the AC all the rest(including the system ) is connected to a 15 amp tripper while the AC is on another tripper. The wall sockets are all 6amp Anchor(roma) sockets with switches for each plugpoint.The wiring to this wall outlet is polycab 2.5 sq.mm.(didnt know, had to check with an electrician)

1. The cdp and pre must not consume much but the power amp at max output could consume 1280 watts of current. How many amperes would this amount to? Would this overload the circuit? (systm+lights+fan+phone)Naturally i would never be going close to max output!!!!!

2. By just going to a 20 or 25 amp tripper am i achieving anything as the 2.5 sq.mm. wire remains constant?Or do i have to change the wiring and go thicker?

The reason of asking all the above is not that i am having any problems but merely to understand a bit more.A dealer suggested me to go for audiophile grade electrical wiring and sockets. Is regular indian polcab or finolex or any ISI wiring not good enough?

Thanks and best regards

Power = Volts X Current X Power factor. For simple calculations you can take power factor as 1, or 0.9. and that would give you the current drawn as you know the voltage 220/240V and the power rating.

If you feel that (after calculating) a 6 A socket is not enough, best go for the next step - a 15A socket. Anchor (Roma or otherwise) is a standard brand. Regular wiring (Polycab etc ) is more than adequate.
Interesting side note - pl. check if that home wiring is really Polycab. Many times the builders dont really bother about the quality of internal wiring unless the building spec says that or, unless the owner insists on particular brand.

Assume your setup as a simple room heater/water heater most are rated at ~1000-1500W. And they run off the regular 6A sockets.

Pl. remember that the 2.5 sq.mm wire is used exclusively for the socket. The wiring for the fans + bulbs is separate.

And, yes, naturally you will not be using the amp at full power on a continuous basis.

At most you change the 6A socket to 15A socket.

For power fluctuations, you need protection like a electronic stabilizer with auto-cut-off at preset levels. The model & type will depend on your budget. Check out your local market. This will be needed for all homes in India.

 

[dinyaar]

Thanks Mr Jambumali for taking the time and explaining.
U are correct for the 2.5 used exclusively for the socket. The wiring for the other appl in the room is 1.5 sq.mm
The storage geyser that i have runs on a 15 amp socket and so do the air conditioners.
I live in south mumbai where voltage should be stable.(at least i think so!!) would i still need a stabilizer for the audio set up?
WOuld it be advisable/beneficial to change the sockets to 15 amp from 6 amp even though the wiring is the same 2.5 sq.mm? As thats a simple solution and one that can be done in a jiffy.
I found that the wiring is polycab as the electrician i called last week told me so. Problem is all the wiring is concealed and frankly i cant tell the difference between a 1.5 or 2.5 sq.mm unless i read on the insulation.

Do most of u use a stabilizer for ur audio set ups? an answer from someone in mumbai would help as we are blessed(as yet) with uninterrupted power supply with no load shedding that is plaguing the rest of our country.

Sorry for the dumb questions but i feel its best to ask when one has no clue.
Regards

 

[awedeophile]

Hi Dinyar,

2.5 sq.mm wire has a current carrying capacity of about 6-7 amps under ideal conditions. If at all possible get two dedicated lines put for your setup from the main distribution box. Use 6 sq.mm cable for your amp / analog and 4 sq.mm for your digital equipment. Finolex is perfect. This takes care of the sudden peaks and power requirements of your power amp which is much more than the rating but does not affect the circuit breakers, fuses, etc. since it is there for less than their reaction time. Read this: Stereophile: Installing a Dedicated AC Line

You may not need a voltage stabilizer since the voltage in Mumbai is fairly constant. However, the power quality will be nowhere near ideal, specially if you live in a crowded area where the utility supply is shared with plenty of others. Air conditioners, microwave ovens, hair dryers, dimmers (the worst), etc. induce a lot of interference in the electrical system and cause damaging surges, spikes, etc. The best defence against this is a power regenerator but they are pretty expensive. The next best thing is a Power Line Conditoner like the ones from PS Audio, Shunyata and scores of others (huge range). A great budget option which I found worked very well is a UIT (Ultra Isolation Transformer) - these are made in India by many manufacturers - IMO the best is made by Neel Controls in Mumbai (Neel Systems).

 

[dinyaar]

hey thanks a ton awedeophile. I am in the information gathering mode at the moment.
My amp is relatively a small amp(300 WPC), if i was running say the 7BSST pair am sure i would have addressed this issue earlier.
Best regards

 

[awedeophile]

Hi.. One other thing I forgot to mention is that you MUST have a good earth (ground) connection. This helps reduce RF from the chassis and any shielded IC's and power cables you use.

 

[dinyaar]

Dear awedeophile,

Now u are confusing me buddy? how can i find out whether the earthing is fine?
The rotel 1080 i had earlier would sometimes trip the breaker but the bigger bryston(albiet it has a soft start and hence no big current draw on start up) seems to work fine. Actually since i have moved in i have not done any electrical work and since i am re painting in may i thought it best to check whether i should get a dedicated line etc.
Regards

 

[Kamal]

Do get in a dedicated line for your stereo eqpt, with upgraded breakers,Plugs/sockets/cable-it'll be well worth it.
And, do go in for a good quality Isolation transformer, short of an AC regenerator, this is an effective way of reducing noise in the power line ata a reasonable cost.
The above is an echo of awediophiles' recc, but I have personally experienced the benefits, so am adding my tuppences' worth.

 

[Kamal]

Dinyaar, here's a link to a nice article on the subject:
The Power and the Glory

 

[dinyaar]

Thanks guys

 

[awedeophile]

With a multimeter check your Earth to Neutral Voltage. This should typically be below 4V AC. If it's much higher it means that the earth is weak which is not good for your setup or for you (potential shock)!

 

[Jambumali]

Thanks Mr Jambumali for taking the time and explaining.
I live in south mumbai where voltage should be stable.(at least i think so!!) would i still need a stabilizer for the audio set up?
WOuld it be advisable/beneficial to change the sockets to 15 amp from 6 amp even though the wiring is the same 2.5 sq.mm? As thats a simple solution and one that can be done in a jiffy.
I found that the wiring is polycab as the electrician i called last week told me so. Problem is all the wiring is concealed and frankly i cant tell the difference between a 1.5 or 2.5 sq.mm unless i read on the insulation.

Do most of u use a stabilizer for ur audio set ups? an answer from someone in mumbai would help as we are blessed(as yet) with uninterrupted power supply with no load shedding that is plaguing the rest of our country.

It is Ms. Jambumali.

Yes, you NEED a voltage stabilizer irrespective of wherever you live in India, the only exclusions would be townships/colonies that are fed regulated supplies from their own plant supplies.

Yes, you can change the socket to 15A and that should solve your problem.

In case you have a problem in your earthing, you will experience a very mild shock (tingling sensation) each time you touch any object that has metal body or even screws.

If the earthing is really bad, the tingling will be not exactly mild and in case you have an ELCB (Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker) in your mains that will act to isolate the circuit. Else, you will get a shock.

So in case you don't have any multimeter etc, just feel - very lightly. You will know!

 

[awedeophile]

So in case you don't have any multimeter etc, just feel - very lightly. You will know!

Hahahaha... Good one!

 

[dinyaar]

Hi Ms. Jambumali,
Well i am a little shocked!!!!!!!! But pleasantly.

Anyway if thats the way to check poor earthing i think its ok as i am constantly checking the amps operating temperature so would have been shocked by now!!!!!!!!!

Have called an electrical contractor tom to have him check out a few things and advise.

Thanks a ton.
Regards

 

[realactivex]

dinyaar,
i use a pure sine wave online ups 2KVA capacity for my system. mine is from APC and cost me 38k. i checked the output of this ups to be a pure sine/50Hz signal at 230volts. you could buy one too if you believe that a good input signal will do wonders for your sound apart from keeping your system in good health

 

[ranjeetrain]

Hmmm, so there are mane Electronics graduates here, good including a woman, better

All said and done, having a dedicated Inverter cum UPS and CVT is a better solution.

Main => CVT => UPS

Calculate the power required by these equipments by adding the wattage multiplied by 1.5. So for a load of 3500 watts, I'd go for a CVT and a UPS both at 5kVA. Job done in a much simpler and portable way. And probably cost-effective and more effective also.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi,
My neighbour has an HT set up with a Rotel AVR and Quad speakers.
He was experiencing some interference in his sound when operating the fans/lights in his apartment. He is using unshielded Ics and VDH speaker cables and the stock power cords.
Any idea what could be the cause of the crackle/interference as i checked all the connections and tried to seperate all the cables as much as i could but the problem persists.
Regards

 

[particleman]

He should get a separate power line for his a/v equipment from the building/flat mains. Also, good power conditioning/protection would be a good idea. Sorry for the brevity, written in a rush.

 

[awedeophile]

Hi,
My neighbour has an HT set up with a Rotel AVR and Quad speakers.
He was experiencing some interference in his sound when operating the fans/lights in his apartment. He is using unshielded Ics and VDH speaker cables and the stock power cords.
Any idea what could be the cause of the crackle/interference as i checked all the connections and tried to seperate all the cables as much as i could but the problem persists.
Regards

Is he using dimmers? They inject EMI in the lines and are the no. 1 source of noise.

Some info for you: Light dimmer circuits

 

[dinyaar]

Oh God,
He does not use dimmers but i do!!!!!!! Have put my ICS in his set up but the problem persists. Put my power cords(3 pin UK sockets) on his gear but the damn buzzing is still there. Maybe his switchgear in the room is faulty? Maybe its the damn fan regulator!!!
Anyway will experiment on his set up some more tom night!!! HAHAHA
G Night