You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider MK6PIN.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Depends on if you believe in the 8amp/ 120v fuse for overcurrent draw is dramatic overkill or not.
I think if you're only playing one at a time, it's not a big deal.....but if they are all cranking at the same time, suspect the amperage can easily pop a 20a breaker w 5 or 6 pins. I've never actually measured full load on these things...
Only have 3 on a 20a dedicated circuit in my rig.....headroom
Quoted from darcangeloel:Hmm my game room has 6. All have leds. I have yet to pop the breaker with all of them on and playing. I think it's a 20 amp breaker. Possibly 15. Either way I've never got it to trip the breaker but maybe I'm just lucky? I need to use an amp meter and see how much each machine draws while in use.
I seem to recall reading they draw around 2.5amps @ 120v, so w 80% rule, suppose 5-6 on a 20amp breaker would be ok.....I just wonder about inrush on coils when multiple games firing.....having only 3 per circuit, I figured I could easily add a couple more, plus all the other gizmos in the room
Aren't the main fuses 8amp@120v? guess they protect for a ground fault type of occurrence....
When I put a new panel in my house, I measured around 90 amps on a leg with everything on. Don't remember how I got to sizing the main disconnect @ 200amps...have to drag my code book back out.
Quoted from Fizz:I only have 2 pins currently, but have been considering adding more, so just last night I put a meter on my WOZ to measure the current draw.
There's a pretty wide range of current draw while playing the game. Anywhere from below 2 amps in attract mode when all lights are off, all the way up to over 7 amps when the top lanes magnet and flying monkey kick in.
It just spikes that high briefly. In general, I would say the game draws in the neighborhood of 4 to 4.5 amps during game play.
Not sure how much effect the brief higher spikes will have, as far as popping the breaker. Still need to measure my TSPP as well.
I only have a 15 amp circuit in this room currently.
That's the inrush I was referring to, not overcurrent (surge) protection. Just remember, you can't just pop a 20a in where a 15a was....wire gauge must be correct from the feeder.....warming the wire not a good thing... 14awg for 15a, 12awg for 20a....
Alright..I don't know what I did.....my last 2 posts are responses to the prior poster...(#8 and #10, are my posts).... 
Quoted from KerryImming:This is a recurring question and will never be answered to everyone's satisfaction. Some things to consider...
1. The 15A circuit in your home already has the safety margin built in to it. You don't need to extend it.
2. The breaker tripping is a nuisance, not a safety issue.
3. LEDs do reduce the current draw of the games by a lot.
4. A 15 amp breaker does not trip at 15 amps. It takes over 30 seconds to trip at 30 amps, so you don't have to worry about short surges. Web search for "15 amp breaker trip curve" if you want details. Fair warning: it takes some time to understand the chart.
5. The raw current capacity of a 14 gauge wire is way more than 15 amps. Electric code limits the voltage drop to 5%. This allows 160 ft of 14 gauge wire in a 15 amp circuit, but code is probably more conservative (see #1).
6. The distance from your outlet to the electric panel will be a factor (see #5).
I've never heard of anyone with 6 pins on a 15amp circuit that blew a breaker but I can't declare it impossible.
- Kerry*
*Electrical Engineer but not a licensed electrician
Some of the above is not quite right ( except the first sentence)
Not worth the bandwidth or the deep dive....just know that wire size, type of wire, and disconnect overcurrent device (breaker usually) are quite relative, and engineered as a complete system...
When a breaker trips, something is (went) wrong.....there for safety and integrity of the design ( as opposed to melting the insulation off the wire in your wall).
We can design load capacity easy in my world as power amplifiers are very specific on ratings (all about the heat, btw, raw current capacity has zero relevance and dangerous to even put in this equation). Pinball machines are certainly more dynamic on the power draw, but I've read several threads that claim 5-6 on a single circuit work fine. Doubt I would ever run more than 4 on a single circuit in my home, as they are individually fused @ 8a/ 120v, maybe they pull 2.5, maybe inrush to 7...apparently not a biggie......but I'm just a paranoid, licensed electrician (one of my hats). Just grab a couple of modern hair dryers and start plugging them in together.....you'll get the point.
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider MK6PIN.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-size-breaker-would-suffice-for-5-6-modern-pins-?tu=MK6PIN and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.
Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.
