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Pictures of your Home studio (pg. 293)
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| Andy28 |
| quote: | Originally posted by tehlord
What about if I swapped out the consumer unit?
One thing that concerns me in the studio I plan to build is running multiple extension sockets. I'll need to plug in 20-30 devices. |
If you have spare ways in your existing CU its pointless installing a bigger unit. If you are after a load of additional sockets installing then yes it would be better to install a new circuit from the board rather than tapping into an existing ring/radial circuit. One 32amp circuit will be more than enough for you so really you'll only need 1 spare way in your CU. Its not as straight forward as that though, if your consumer unit is not up to current standards, along with your earthing arrangements, all that will need sorting before any new work can be done and it will all need to be tested and certified which could open up a whole can of worms which won't be cheap. If everything is up to date then there is a few other factors to take into consideration but it really shouldn't be a problem. I can't say much else without seeing your setup so your best bet is to get an approved electrician round for an opinion. |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Raphie
Phase 3 is only bedrooms (with no polutors) and studio
indeed one is kitchen and living and 2 are all "wett groups"
within phase 3 i've got my own circuit breaker for the studio
I'm not sure how they did the earth but i had a huge pin been hammered into the floor when house was built, so not sure if i got got 2 or they "upgraded" the pin :D |
Wow, you either have an absolutely massive house, an over achiever of an electrician did you build out or Holland goes way over the top when it comes to electicity :wtf:
I've never seen a single family home or apartment getting it's own 400v 3 phase supply unless it's a ing estate/mansion etc. To do that for every home just seems complete overkill - it's just not needed, but then I suppose if the cost of all that extra is covered by the home owner, then the energy companies are probably hugely thankful and also a reason why you never get voltage drops etc. Totally over the top in my mind,
Palm, what is IT net?
@Geoff - Andy is on the money but I would suggest running a new circuit for the studio from the consumer unit but I would go with a few differnt breakers (not one 32a). Split the lighting circuit on one (flourescents, dimmers etc will really dirty things up) and another for the kit. You also don't want a blown bulb taking out all out your plug sockets :toothless
It is pandoras box though if you've got an old house as Andy says; you may have to bring the whole wiring up to current code which in some cases can be a nightmare but if your house was built or at least renovated from 1980 onwards then you're probably alright.
I cannot understand why any leccy would ever allow earth on neutral - it completely defeats the point of having a discrete earth at all. |
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| Andy28 |
| The 32amp circuit is for his sockets only, you couldn't run lights on that circuit as switches, fittings etc are not rated that high. Even if you could, you wouldn't anyway its not how things are done. I can't see the need to run another lighting circuit if you have lights in there, it won't make any difference. |
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| tehlord |
Ok thanks dudes.
My current place had all new electrics from the consumer unit (also new) in 2007 so I'm assuming they'll be the latest specs. It's not something I'm going to do here anyway.
Once I finally move I'll be creating a dedicated studio so I'll need to think about the power supply then, putting in a new consumer unit if need be. I'd like to have at least 6 double wall sockets around the area where the studio is, and I expect I'll be running a 6 slot extension socket out of each wall socket giving me 36 possible power outlets in total. |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Andy28
The 32amp circuit is for his sockets only, you couldn't run lights on that circuit as switches, fittings etc are not rated that high. Even if you could, you wouldn't anyway its not how things are done. I can't see the need to run another lighting circuit if you have lights in there, it won't make any difference. |
I know what you're saying but I would not want a single 32a for my wall sockets; none of this kit is high wattage so it would take a load of pull to throw the breaker. Most high end kit has slow blow fuses so the protection is there but then again that's another reason why I personally never like anything more than 15a for a plug socket breaker.
As for the neutral + ground issue, just get a multimeter and test the resistance between the two - anything other that zero means call an electrician immediately to sort it out (but first check for AC volts between neutral and ground oh and if you fry yourself doing this, not my fault etc.). |
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| JPaulizle |
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| Andy28 |
32A is how you would do it, 20 at least depending if you use a ring or radial circuit and what cable size you choose. Why limit yourself to a 16A MCB when you could up it to a 20A at least? Won't do any harm at all. The circuit breaker is there to protect the cable, that's its main job. Fuses will discriminate so the fuse closest to the fault will blow first (usually with a few exceptions but not always the case) meaning any fuses inside the faulty equipment or even in the plugtop will go first. Even if the mcb were to trip, the difference in how quick it would go between a 16A and a 32A is very small, your talking milliseconds depending on the fault current being drawn in which in most cases will likely to be very high. If not high and the fault current doesn't exceed 32amps at all then you would expect the plugtop fuse to blow long before your 16amp MCB would do. All this of course depending your up to date and using 60898 mcbs (UK/Euro) and not old ty ones, but as mentioned earlier you would need to be up to date with the regs to install this anyway.
I can understand your thinking behind this and opting for the lower size breaker but from an electricians point of view I think you're being over cautious and underestimate how reliable the protection actually is, you've been across the pond too long :p |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Andy28
32A is how you would do it, 20 at least depending if you use a ring or radial circuit and what cable size you choose. Why limit yourself to a 16A MCB when you could up it to a 20A at least? Won't do any harm at all. The circuit breaker is there to protect the cable, that's its main job. Fuses will discriminate so the fuse closest to the fault will blow first (usually with a few exceptions but not always the case) meaning any fuses inside the faulty equipment or even in the plugtop will go first. Even if the mcb were to trip, the difference in how quick it would go between a 16A and a 32A is very small, your talking milliseconds depending on the fault current being drawn in which in most cases will likely to be very high. If not high and the fault current doesn't exceed 32amps at all then you would expect the plugtop fuse to blow long before your 16amp MCB would do. All this of course depending your up to date and using 60898 mcbs (UK/Euro) and not old ty ones, but as mentioned earlier you would need to be up to date with the regs to install this anyway.
I can understand your thinking behind this and opting for the lower size breaker but from an electricians point of view I think you're being over cautious and underestimate how reliable the protection actually is, you've been across the pond too long :p |
, you nailed it lol, I've been here too long :toothless Plugs over here don't ever have fuses in them (not to mention hardly any power leads or appliances are 3 conductor or grounded) so the whole wiring is based around having the breaker lower rated. The slow blow fuses in pro kit mean you rely on the breaker or power conditioner. |
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| Innocence Lost |
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| Innocence Lost |
I left my keyboard on top of my bass station because i was gaming with ESO Online. When I'm in producing mode it goes in the middle infront of the screen. So dont't get picky now.
Pulse 2 and Ensemble ships Monday. |
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| Innocence Lost |
Bam, now lets see that microbrute geoff. |
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