leaving machines on???

[LaughingJim]

Final note...

36 machines running in the winter time will reduce your heating bill, but bring up your electric bill. You have to decide... Save money on your electric bill and be bored, or save money on your oil/gas bill and be entertained! (I guess it would depend on the cost of oil at that time of year.)

We all know you would choose to sit in your warm and flashing pachislo parlor and play games. (Just call the electric company and tell them you have electric heat... they will give you a reduced KWH rate!)

[gwarzin]

For anyone that wants to measure the power consumption of their own machines I highly recommend the "Kill-a-Watt" meter that LaughingJim mentions. It's probably the least expensive, and easiest, way to do these measurements.

There is also another brand of meter available called "Watt's Up?" It comes in 2 models, the normal "Watt's Up" and the "Watt's Up Pro". These are a little more expensive, but do a little more. They will save a "peak value" (I'm not sure, but I don't think the Kill-a-watt does than). This way you can see what the real peak at turn on is. Typically you'll see a turn-on surge with almost any appliance. It may last a second or two and the meter display tends to average that out just a little. For example (and these were measurements I made six months ago so I don't remember the exact numbers but there were something like this) a bank of 8 machines looked like they where drawing about 12 amps during the turn on surge if you went by the meter reading, but the stored maximum value actually showed a peak of around 16 amps. If anyone is really interested in the exact number let me know and I'll dust off the meter and do the measurement again.

I've got the pro model with also lets you record data over time and then dump it via USB to your computer. This way you can actually play the pachislo and then look at a graph of how the power requirements change over normal play.

Of course, all of this is fun from an academic point of view - but anyone can do the real test, which is how many machines can you have plugged in (and being played simultaneously at a party) before you pop a circuit breaker.

[luckydog]

i only leave my machines on when playing them,

i'm not concerned about electric, but about fire hazard with transformers expecially.

all of mine are on power strips.

[LaughingJim]

Power strips or Surge strips?

Power Strip = No protection, it is only a switch to turn off/on several devices. Usually sells for $2.00 - $4.00

Breaker Strip = Current draw protection. These are power bars with a pop-out mini circuit breaker and some have mini GFP, flavors are 5A, 10A, 15A, 20A. Usually for power tools. Usually sells for $3.00 - $8.00

Surge Strip = Mild protection against surges/spikes and some offer mild Ground Fault Protection. These usually have a reset switch which is also the power switch. $4.00 - $30.00

Isolator Strip = Great surge protection and also provides noise isolation from outlet to outlet. Stops noisy motors and electronics from transmitting noise to more sensitive information. (Basicaly it is a mini-surge on each seporate plug, along with a major surge that is shared by all the plugs on the strip.) These feature lights to indicate bad ground, reversed or dead connections, poor connections. These also have a reset button, for non-severe resets. These usually sell for $8.00 - $45.00 (This is what I use)

Lightning Surge Strip = Gimic version of a normal surge strip. This may provide mild surge protection, and claims to resist lightning. (No strip has EVER done this...), They will guard against lightning related surges. These are electrical surges that excede normal surges from lightning being near a power-line. Usually these sell for $6.00 - $120.00+ (These usually offer useless $60,000 insurance for connected devices...)

UPS with AVR and Surge... The ultimate solution for any devices. Surge/Brown/Black/Dips/Spikes... all except lightning. (Must be matched to load.) (I also use this)

[Tulsa]

If you take a direct lightening hit, it's not going to matter in the slightest. 4 million volts is 4 million volts and it's only going to laugh at the best 150 to 200 joule suppressor anyway.

[LaughingJim]

(I laugh at all thier claims...)

Talk about playing odds...

Lightning strikes 1 in 5,000,000 homes... (Example)

5,000,000 * $20.00 = $10,000,000 - $60,000 (Protection loss) = $9,940,000 proffit

[LaughingJim]

He, he, he... I have a bannana that you wrap any cord around to resist lightning... I will offer $60,000.00 protection to any connected device... BUY NOW $20.00

[talk]

thats 100,000,000

[LaughingJim]

Oops, I forgot a zero... (My bad)