When I built my game room I put an outlet every other stud. The wall where my pins are I put every 3 or 4 outlets on a dedicated 20 amp breaker. Would rather be safe then sorry.

Just remember to use 12 gage start to finish, ahead of any 20 amp breakers. 14 gage is used on all 15 amp breakers so you can possibly split up the outlets and run several circuits if you plan on running more than 4 pins total on a single circuit. Always better to separate the circuits to prevent power sags when one machine pulls high loads like ball stop magnets.

If you are starting from scratch, now's the time to plan ahead. Always good to have too many outlets, since you probably won't populate all of them at once, but will give you flexibility for placement of machines. I have had as many as 4 machines on one 15 amp breaker with no overload problems.

I have 8 20 amp circuits, 12 gauge wire, 3 outlets per circuit. Each circuit is also switched so I can turn on all machines on a circuit with a flip of a switch. There is a mix of video games and pins.

Would it be safe to assume that you're running 6 games per circuit on those 3 outlets?

I was leaning towards wiring for 6 games per 20 amp circuit. I can go with double pole 15 amp breakers for lighting if I start to run low on spots in the panel.

Just missing Xenon! ;P

No kidding!

For what it's worth.I have a 28ft wall with 7 pins there.With 4 double outlets evenly spaced 3ft up from the floor.

The most I have on one circuit is 4 machines. Have not had a problem with low voltage. My wiring system is probably overkill.

I'm not saying this is a good idea but here is my experience since my basement was already wired and drywalled.

Past: 8 pins, 5 vids, 2 tv's, 2 stereos on a 20amp cicuit. Didn't blow it until I added the 9th pin. All pins are DMD's with almost all LEDs.
Now: 4 pins, 6 vids, 2 tv's, 2 stereos, a run-dmd, and a neon sign. All was great until I added a popcorn machine and it popped at a party a couple weeks ago.
Future: No clue. I guess another in-the-way tripping hazard ugly extension cord. I really don't want to tear out drywall...

I'd plan for 4 to 6 pins per 20 amp. You will always find other stuff to plug in like neons, subs, tv's, etc. YMMV of course.

It's one of those rare days where I feel like everything is working. Pictures of working games to commemorate the occasion.

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ooooh! one more for R-A-N-S-O-M!

Chris

Wow, you have a crazy good collection. Well done.

Gord

Another amazing game room. Very, very nice space and collection.

Gord

I love that ball bowler. Very nice addition to your game room.

Gord

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games from left to right...
18 foot solid state ball bowler
42 inch terminator salvation
2 linked Tokyo drift driving games
612 in 1 multicade
Aliens Extermination shooter
Black Rose pin
Blackwater 100 pin
Frightfearland shooter

That is one trippy game room you have.

I love the DIY abstract art (stretched sheets of plastic with holes). Are those backlight reactive? All around, great space you got there, manbearpig.

Where's the Austin Powers machine?

That might very well be the brightest room on Pinside ...

Yeah, they were having a 50% off sale at the fabric store. I got a bunch of spandex and a staple gun then cut holes to give some depth. I have 6 standard T12 4 foot fluorescent blacklight fixtures and 2 American DJ LED blacklight cannons. That much ultraviolet light makes the room pop! It was fun doing the project last winter.

Austin Powers is just an Ok game, if I found one for a good price I would consider it.

Killer gameroom manbearpig, I like how you built it in a laser tag arena.

I actually got the idea from some of the concerts I have been to over the years. Most bright fabric will glow to some extent, cotton glows great and you can use most laundry detergents to paint or decorate props. The lighting fixtures is a big part of it too, the newer LED blacklights are unbelievably bright!

where did you get those blacklight rugs!? Awesome space, i'd love to smerk-a-berl and spend some time there!

Manbearpig
What do you think of the terminator salvation? I want to get a new age shooter for my game room but they are expensive and I am bit concerned about replay ability.
I am buying a crane machine but that is because my son is in love with it.

For the person who asked about LED strip lighting; Buy 120v AC strips and you can go to like 300 ft or something. The DC ones are real short distance. They are more expensive but....

Also, learn from my mistake. Don't run the light above the machine. Duh right! I had to build a soffet for the ductwork which then put the strip above the machines instead of behind them as originally planned. Now I can't use the led strips on anything but minimum dim when I play.

Hey Clubber, can you add some pic's, so I better understand your mistake?

As opposed to using LED strips, you can also use Side Glow Fiber Optic cable. If you've ever seen really long runs of what looks like neon lighting, it's usually this instead. It doesn't break and it can be the color of whatever light is driving it.

Cool stuff, I'll be looking into this for sure. I first noticed this at Disney, Space Mountain. When I got up close to it I realized it wasn't neon, but I didn't know what they were using.

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Disney uses it a lot. With no issues of length or breakage it fits the bill perfectly. They have some massive runs on Soarin' as well.

looks like a variation to the cove lighting style. it'd be fun to see what exactly it is that they're running there.

Wow - I LOVE this game room! Very nice!

Isn't EL-wire (at least the thicker stuff) on par with fiber optic cable? Plus with EL-wire is you can technically cut it to any length you want very easily with wire cutters, fiber optic (even plastic) needs to be cut with a special cutter if you loop it back around.

So blessed to have this hobby and these boys!

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Kind of a crappy photo, but the pin row as of this evening:

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Nice, what's Star Trek doing in a lineup of music games though?

♬ You've got the power ♬

Here's a few pictures that were taken just at the start of this years party.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI
269-979-3836

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See the how the soffet puts the trim lights out over the pins? I might as well have one huge spotlight hanging over my playfields.
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Are you saying, the lighted toppers are reflecting their lights from soffet, down on to playfields?

I love that big red Bally sign!

Thanks Clubber, now I understand. So your saying the lights in the soffit channel are reflecting off the ceiling onto the playfield.

The same as Black Knight?

That's one hell of a collection, John.
Howie

Holy moly John, that game room is absurd. The playfields on the ceiling are just the cherry on top.

Wow is that game room ever nice. Great job.

Gord

DSC01937.JPG[attachment=2816304,Well, now that number nine is finished, just one more spot left, I figure time to post pictures...

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Awesome rooms here everyone (and very inspirational since I'm about to start a 13' x 22' basement pin room). Been getting ideas here so I'm dangerous. Right now I'm just working off a vision in my head, but hope to have a cool little spot to share some pictures of soon.

I have a question about led/rope lighting. What type should I use? It would run along the baseboards, and also underneath a round glass table. I will have an outlet in one corner of the basement for the baseboard lighting, that's dedicated to a dimmer switch at the entrance. The glass table will also have an outlet underneath for LEDs, and will be operated by the same switch as the baseboard lights. Basic rope lighting would be sufficient along the baseboards possibly, but for the table I'll need something I can trim/mold...(it will be a craft project for me). Ideally I'll be able to dim the LEDs and have a color choice.

Room will have jet black walls and ceiling, with a glossy Caribbean blue poly finish over concrete floor. I'm hoping the end result makes it seem like a flooded basement, in the Caribbean

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Nice collection, cozy room!