Two PCs connected to one wall socket - safe?

KatanaDV20

KatanaDV20

KatanaDV20

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I was'nt sure if this should go in General Discussion or in here
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My gf and I each have our own Dell PCs.

Her Dimension 1100, my Dimension 8400 and a Netgear router are plugged into a surge-protection tower thats connected to a single wall socket. So its:

Wall socket--->Surge tower---->2 X Computers, 1 X Router

Im clueless when its comes to electricals lol.

I just want to know...is it safe to have 2 PCs drawing power from the same wall socket, its not like "overloading" the circuit or something is it?

Because of the placement of the telephone outlets in our apartment we cannot utilize another socket.

Thanks :)
 
Should be OK. I bought a plug-in digital power testing device recently from a certain high street store that can't be named. Putting this in circuit with my desktop showed that the computer was using 125 Watts at rest. I didn't test it under load but I doubt that the power consumed under load would exceed 200 Watts. When you consider that a 1 bar electric fire plugged into a domestic circuit consumes about 1Kw (1000 Watts) that puts the relatively modest consumption of computers in perspective.
 
Depends how well you're wired in :p I have 2 pcs and 2 laptops on one socket, and phone charger, desk lamp... used to have a hi-fi too. I've got a one-socket surge protector on it though, just in case.
 
Should be fine.

Not had any problems myself, and I have 2 pcs, my monitor, my stereo and a sub all plugged into a surge protector that's plugged into the wall :p
 
As long as you have a power surge extention lead you should be fine.

Even if you have two sockets it wouldn't make any difference - still runs from the same ring and the same main fuse.
 
for argument sake lets say all you can pull from a single ring main is 13amps (its much higher than this, more like 30amps but this is just an example).
now maximum power you can pull before fuse blows is: P = VxI, so thats power = voltage multiplied by current.
so e.g 230v * 13 = 2990 so its safe to say that you can pull around 3kw from a single socket without any problems.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
for argument sake lets say all you can pull from a single ring main is 13amps (its much higher than this, more like 30amps but this is just an example).
now maximum power you can pull before fuse blows is: P = VxI, so thats power = voltage multiplied by current.
so e.g 230v * 13 = 2990 so its safe to say that you can pull around 3kw from a single socket without any problems.
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really? i think that's awesome to know. i need a life i think though :)
 
Its fine.
I dought Both PC's are drawing enough Power to cause the Fuse to blow!
And if they did keep blowing Fuses, well then they would be best on two seperate serge protectors.

I just recommend pulling the plug out when theres a thunderstorm! Or both PC's would get fried when on! :(
 
I just recommend pulling the plug out when theres a thunderstorm! Or both PC's would get fried when on!
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Ye for sure! I make sure I do that each time Im going away for a couple of days but if you think about it I guess you should just yank out all the plugs when you go to work everyday lol. Never know what the weathers gonna do :eek:
 
A surge protector should in theory protect electrical equipment from a lightning strike.

Some manufacturers have special guarantees that if any appliances do get fried while "protected" they will pay out money to replace said appliance. So even if it did go whiz-bang you'll get a cheque :D
 
I have a plug in power-o-matic too. In one socket i have . . . wireless router, cable modem, r200 printer, cordless phone, medusa headphones and amp, logitech speakers, pc as per sig (620W corsair power supply) and a 20.1" monitor. It draws 260W from the mains idling along and 341W fully loaded. The router, cable modem and phone are the only things left connected 24/7 (I have a 'kill' switch on my desk that cuts all power to pc and peripherals). These draw 13W. Its quite surprising how little electricity they actually use.
 
You can run a portable welder from a UK power socket, so a PC or 5 won't matter.

The fact that you could run a welder in your bedroom in the UK does have most foreign countries amused at how we wire up our houses!!

S
 
keybaud said:
The fact that you could run a welder in your bedroom in the UK does have most foreign countries amused at how we wire up our houses!
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Yeah... properly. :p
Spain have dodgy electrics don't they? TBH (ok going off topic now...) when I went to spain I thought the whole place was pretty shoddy... Nothing seemed uh, "nice" or kept well.
 
KatanaDV20 said:
Ye for sure! I make sure I do that each time Im going away for a couple of days but if you think about it I guess you should just yank out all the plugs when you go to work everyday lol. Never know what the weathers gonna do :eek:
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Or just get a UPS like I have, then you should be able to use your pc through a thunderstorm. But I dont think I would trus a ups in a bad storm. Would u?
 
KatanaDV20 said:
Ye for sure! I make sure I do that each time Im going away for a couple of days but if you think about it I guess you should just yank out all the plugs when you go to work everyday lol. Never know what the weathers gonna do :eek:
Click to expand...

Or just get a UPS like I have, then you should be able to use your pc through a thunderstorm. But I dont think I would trust a ups in a bad storm. Would u?
 
speedy2004 said:
Or just get a UPS like I have, then you should be able to use your pc through a thunderstorm. But I dont think I would trust a ups in a bad storm. Would u?
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how long do UPSes last when the powers gone out? are they generally long enough to save and shutdown or are we talking serious lengths of time?
 
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