Moderators dtel Posted May 14, 2011 Moderators Share Posted May 14, 2011 I'll state it differently. You have access in your home to 400 amps of 120 volt alternating current. If you have 240 volt electrical appliances, they reduce the available current by double what the 120 volt does. We both know this, I was only pointing out that I wasn't confused as you stated. Sorry if it sounded as though I was scolding No I didn't think you were scolding, and I didn't mean for it to sound like I was either. OK to make sure I have it right, I always thought the main amp main breaker was for everything under it, both phases ? I know all the little breakers can add up to way more than the main, but they are all never even close to full capacity which I thought was 200 amps. That's how I thought it worked anyway ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I'll state it differently. You have access in your home to 400 amps of 120 volt alternating current. If you have 240 volt electrical appliances, they reduce the available current by double what the 120 volt does. We both know this, I was only pointing out that I wasn't confused as you stated. Sorry if it sounded as though I was scolding No I didn't think you were scolding, and I didn't mean for it to sound like I was either. OK to make sure I have it right, I always thought the main amp main breaker was for everything under it, both phases ? I know all the little breakers can add up to way more than the main, but they are all never even close to full capacity which I thought was 200 amps. That's how I thought it worked anyway ? You are right, the main breaker is for everything after it. Each phase you are referring to is the standard household 120 volts AC. You have it right. The reason the main breaker contains both legs or phase is because if one of the them gets tripped both legs get shut down so as not to leave any 240 volt appliances with half power. The total available power coming out of a 200 AMP 2 phase main breaker is 400 amps of 120 volt AC, or 400 X 120 = 48,000 watts. One interesting thing I have run across is when I needed to have a large building wired. It was 1,000 ft long, so the electrician used two transformers. The first one stepped up the voltage, the next one dropped it back down to 3 phase 120V. This allowed him to use a smaller wire. It was then I discovered that the power companies do this so they don't have to have wires 3 feet across to carry power. I think the wire at the top of the poles is 21,000 volts AC. The amps are what fries the wire, not the volts. That is why battery cables have to be thick, and tazer wires are thin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I have tried lots of different setups changing wire- here is my 2 cents worth Monter wire products are thin ga wire with a lot of plastic coating and fancy packaging- I have had numerous issues with their products oin general including their upper end power strips- gather the stuff up and toss it in the trash. I wasted a lot of money on Monster garbage. I bought off on the idea that 14 ga Lowes zip cord was perfectly fine- it is not Go to bluejean or the vendor of choice and buy the belden 5200ue 12-2 for your application hint- you can buy this in bulk from a local wholesale house such as Liberty wier and cable in bulk- 500 or 1000 ft rolls for about 45-50 cents a foot. i am in the process of replacing all of my HT speaker wire with this tomorrow- I have a 500 ft roll sitting in my garage. i played around with this product and i think I hear a difference. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I have tried lots of different setups changing wire- here is my 2 cents worth Monter wire products are thin ga wire with a lot of plastic coating and fancy packaging- I have had numerous issues with their products oin general including their upper end power strips- gather the stuff up and toss it in the trash. I wasted a lot of money on Monster garbage. I bought off on the idea that 14 ga Lowes zip cord was perfectly fine- it is not Go to bluejean or the vendor of choice and buy the belden 5200ue 12-2 for your application hint- you can buy this in bulk from a local wholesale house such as Liberty wier and cable in bulk- 500 or 1000 ft rolls for about 45-50 cents a foot. i am in the process of replacing all of my HT speaker wire with this tomorrow- I have a 500 ft roll sitting in my garage. i played around with this product and i think I hear a difference. Good luck Sound like some sound advice. What about the zip cord was inferior? Copper quantity low, oxidization?? BTW, have heard about the Monster insulation before. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 http://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslawcalculators.asp 110watts across 4 ohms is 5.2amps. Don't forget when we talk about wire lenth, let's say 25ft, it becomes 50ft since the plus wire is 25ft and the negative wire is also 25ft. Also, there are calculators that considers wire lenth, skin effect frequency max distances based on diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester21 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 The zip cord developed hum noises and some crackle over a period of time. My fault- I would get a new component- run out to lowes or radio shack and hook it up. Upon removal I found what apeqared to be babroken/frayed places with evidence of burned areas. I blamed the noises on my interconnects which was not the case. i am not an electrical engineer or an expert but I can tell you that the problems disappeared when changed out the wire to the belden 12-2- an exact equivalent of blue jean. The system is brighter warmer and free of hums and noises. I have seen outright breaks in Monster stuff fresh off the reel. garbage- I have seen new monster interconnects literaly fall apart at the connector. Other forum members will back me up on this. I am convinced that the BJ stuff is far superior to the box store variety which has quality issues. IMHO the 12-2 belden is a no brainer unless you want to go the audioquest route and spend a fortune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I looked at what my local audio company uses for professional install, and it is type CL3 twisted pair 75 C. The CL3 is fine strand compared to CL2 and being twisted it will nullify interference as does networking cable. It looks a lot like this wire I found at audioc.com: In-Wall Speaker Wire 14/2 Hi-Strand: (UL) CL3 & FT4 Ratings meet all fire codes* 2 x 14 gauge Copper Conductors 105 Strands per Conductor Easy pull, slippery outer jacket Outer jacket marked every foot for easy measure Perfect for use with wallspeaker installation! Available in bulk lengths Price: .65 p/ft (min order 10') .55 p/ft (min order 100') $199 p/ 500' roll (only .39 p/ft!) Compare to Monster Cable 14 gauge In-Wall at .80 p/ft. and only 42 strands vs. our 105 strands! Best value and performance In-Wall cable on the market. *When installing speaker wire inside walls it must meet building and fire codes. Affordable Price - Performance at a very reasonable price. Audition the In-Wall Speaker Wire today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Knukonceptz also carries decent-quality cable at good prices. They're worth a look.http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Speaker%20Wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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