Powering retro consoles

[cobaltdriver]

I am sure this has been asked a thousand times so forgive me if it has already been answered. Maybe someone can direct me to a thread with the info I'm looking for if it has. My question is, I have quite a few consoles I am going to be hooking up at one time on the same circuit in my basement. I am trying to connect everything in terms of power in the most efficient way possible so as to not have to constantly be plugging and unplugging power cables in when I want to play a specific console. That being said I was looking at a 24 outlet surge strip (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Heavy-Protector-Mounting-Brackets/dp/B07SJ823RC/ref=sr_1_8?crid=35NAKC1WE623D&dchild=1&keywords=12%2Boutlet%2Bsurge%2Bprotector&qid=1596482341&sprefix=12%2Boutlet%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-8&th=1
) from amazon which should cover pretty much everything I have to plug in at the moment. I may get two of these to have extra for any additional consoles or other items I may add down the road to my collection. My concern is whether this is going to be a fire hazard having that many consoles plugged into one spot at the same time. I would be turning the surge strip off when the consoles are not in use so as to reduce the amount of impact on my electric bill but I wasn't sure if having everything on the same strip get power at the same time when the strip is turned on even though the consoles aren't actually turned on would be a problem for the electrical circuit or if there would be any kind of possible surge that may affect the consoles in any way. One of the things I need to plug in in addition to the console is my Sony WEGA 24" CRT TV. I understand from the little bit of research I have done that it is not good to cut power to and restore power to these TV's often and that its better to leave them with constant power. Is this true or would having power cut to it along with the consoles since it is all on the same surge strip be ok? I figured some of you probably have the same situation I do and hopefully have determined a best way to do this. Thanks for any help you can provide in advance.

[oldgamerz]

All I know is

A fire Marshall once told me to never plug a power strip, into another power strip, in fact I have three power strips in my game room but each one is plugged into 3 different power locations throughout my game room. And I would never try to connect 2 power strips into the same plug location either to avoid blowing a fuse or popping a circuit.

But I was told it's ok to use all plugs in one power strip but never to plug a power strip into another power strip or surge protector

But I'm not an expert.


here is what the internet told me

Even if there are six sockets in your power strip, you should only use one or two at a given time. Plugging multiple power strips into one wall receptacle. You should never have more than one outlet per wall receptacle serving a power strip.

[byron]

You can have as many consoles plugged into the same strip as you want, just maybe don't turn them all on at the same time. The circuit breaker will probably trip before you start sucking enough juice to ignite something, but circuit breakers don't take into account the added resistance of extension cords and things. Power strips impart resistance on a circuit and electrical resistance creates heat. Be mindful of the heat the strip generates and don't bury it behind stuff. If you're worried about surges, get a strip with a built-in surge protector and fuse. Not all of them have those.

I am struggling to imagine how unplugging a CRT frequently would damage it, but I would be very interested to hear any theory on the subject. I don't keep mine plugged in when I'm not using them, but I want them to last as long as they can. All I can think is that repeatedly charging and discharging the picture tube could somehow wear it out, but I can't see how.

[tripredacus]

I am struggling to imagine how unplugging a CRT frequently would damage it

Unplugging any electronic device from a live connection has the potential to damage it. The probability of it happening is low, but it can happen.

Personally, I use some of these 12 outlet rails like this one from Harbor Freight:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html

One I got from that store is just like that listing. You can get them in other home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot, which may be better. One I got from Home Depot has a ground detector on it. For the two I have, these strips are only on when I am using them and I turn then off when I am not. I generally use this rule for the other strips in my house. They all remain off unless I use them. So the only ones I ever leave on are the ones for my computers and my HT TVs.

[byron]

These are great:

They haven't been made in years, but you can still find them pretty easily for a dollar or so at any thrift store. You can see the obvious advantage in being able to switch on and off each individual plug in the strip, and almost all of them are fused surge protectors.

[oldgamerz]

I am struggling to imagine how unplugging a CRT frequently would damage it

Unplugging any electronic device from a live connection has the potential to damage it. The probability of it happening is low, but it can happen.

Personally, I use some of these 12 outlet rails like this one from Harbor Freight:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-outlet-super-power-strip-96737.html

One I got from that store is just like that listing. You can get them in other home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot, which may be better. One I got from Home Depot has a ground detector on it. For the two I have, these strips are only on when I am using them and I turn then off when I am not. I generally use this rule for the other strips in my house. They all remain off unless I use them. So the only ones I ever leave on are the ones for my computers and my HT TVs.

I plug my consoles like, original Xbox in only when I use it, then I unplug it when I'm not using it same with most of my consoles I leave my television and stereo and cable box plugged in at all times though.

Can this cause damage to my original Xbox? or Xbox 360?

I leave my PC my and my other TV and My PlayStation 3 plugged in at all times

[byron]

The odds of you causing significant damage to your Xbox by unplugging it are likely similar to your odds of being attacked by a shark with a winning powerball ticket in your swim trunks.

[cobaltdriver]

Thanks for all of the advice. It sounds to me like as long as I dont have everything on simultaneously that it shouldnt be a problem having the 24 outlet power strip. I do like the idea of the individually controlled outlets on a strip however I havent come across any that have more than maybe 7 outlets on them so I would need quite a few of them. Tripp lite makes one with 6 individually controlled outlets on the strip and one always on outlet but that goes back to the point of not having too many plugged into the same circuit or daisy chaining them. I have to have a new outlet ran where I plan on plugging everything in so I may have them throw a 20amp breaker in for it so it has overhead just in case and that should take care of any doubt there may be plus having a separate circuit just for the consoles wouldnt be a bad idea anyway. I'll be running ethernet to the same closet this outlet is in so i can hardwire all of my network able devices in the house so I'll be needing power in that closet anyway for the switch that will be going in there so it's the perfect spot to plug all of the consoles in so long as that 24 outlet strip wont be an issue.

[tripredacus]

The issue with having a lot of devices on at once, or using large strips/daisy chains is that you can overload your circuit. You'll know when this happens because your circuit breaker or fuse box will trip. These are safety measures to make sure that damage doesn't occur.

Here is information regarding loads on various circuit ratings:
https://www.thespruce.com/calculate-safe-electrical-load-capacities-1152361

[pzeke]

The issue with having a lot of devices on at once, or using large strips/daisy chains is that you can overload your circuit. [...]

I'm sorry, but whoever does that is a complete, and utter numbskull. (For the record, I wanted to use another word, but, you know...)

[tripredacus]

In practice, there is no difference between daisy chaining 2 power strips and using a power rail. Understand that most people may not know what is on a circuit in their house or where they live. Even if you are a homeowner, the circuit breaker cannot even be used as a guide sometimes. Where I live, I learned that the hard way, when I turned off a circuit for half of the basement to replace a light, the power to my fridge was turned off also.

The issue with having a lot of devices on at once, or using large strips/daisy chains is that you can overload your circuit. [...]

I'm sorry, but whoever does that is a complete, and utter numbskull. (For the record, I wanted to use another word, but, you know...)

[oldgamerz]

In practice, there is no difference between daisy chaining 2 power strips and using a power rail. Understand that most people may not know what is on a circuit in their house or where they live. Even if you are a homeowner, the circuit breaker cannot even be used as a guide sometimes. Where I live, I learned that the hard way, when I turned off a circuit for half of the basement to replace a light, the power to my fridge was turned off also.

The issue with having a lot of devices on at once, or using large strips/daisy chains is that you can overload your circuit. [...]

I'm sorry, but whoever does that is a complete, and utter numbskull. (For the record, I wanted to use another word, but, you know...)

Keep in mind that if your home electric system is ran by fuses, if you overload a fuse in the system you might need to go out and buy another one with the exact same voltage number on it. or you won't have full power throughout in your home. Until the blown fuse is replaced

I live in a house built in the 1940's and I have electric fuses instead of circuit breakers where I live. That is how I know.

From what I gather a circuit breaker is just like a light switch, once a circuit overloads you just need to go into your electric box and press the reset button (I think)

If you got a fuse system, you need to look for a black stained fuse, and unscrew it and screw a replacement in, It always is good to have spare fuses in a home run by fuses

(edit) they sell fuses at most hardware stores or online I'm assuming

[pzeke]

In practice, there is no difference between daisy chaining 2 power strips and using a power rail. Understand that most people may not know what is on a circuit in their house or where they live. Even if you are a homeowner, the circuit breaker cannot even be used as a guide sometimes. Where I live, I learned that the hard way, when I turned off a circuit for half of the basement to replace a light, the power to my fridge was turned off also.

I see what you're saying, but I still stand by what I said, regardless of how harsh it was. I don't care how power strips are made, at least in the context of the US, daisy chaining power strips is a bad practice - it's dumb.

In the case of the circuit breakers, why not make the effort of knowing what they're each for? I admit that we at home kept forgetting, but I ended up labeling them. Problem solved. Others could do the same.

[tripredacus]

See, that circuit tracing thing was already done... but it was never updated when things changed. I was told that the labelling was correct and trusted it. I'm going to get an electrician in to redo some of the circuits... and I suppose it is easy to figure out circuits on your own but I never had a reason to do it.

The only thing I did do was tag the cable vs old Satellite TV coax lines in my basement, because I needed to know which ones were for DECA and not and so if the cable company ever has to come over, they would know not to touch the DECA coax.

[byron]

In practice, there is no difference between daisy chaining 2 power strips and using a power rail.

I don't know about that one. For low amp draw yeah, probably true, but in my experience adding more connection points increases resistance and increases heat. Will you burn your house down doing this? Probably not. Will 20 game consoles running at one time even draw enough amps to trip a breaker? Again, I doubt it, unless you have knob and tube like oldgamerz.

But still, I gotta say: Don't plug a power strip into another power strip. Just don't do it.