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Thread: What did *you* upgrade today?

  1. #11
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    OK, so here's the breakdown on my project. Going from 100 AMP 16 pole to 100 AMP 32 pole. I also had the 2 230volt circuits run, but I omitted all the hardware for that and subtracted that time from the electricians hours listed here as well.

    Electrician 6 Hours labor
    New breaker panel
    ground bus bar
    5 new 15Amp breakers
    8 new 20Amp breakers
    2 new ground-spikes
    100 ft of #4 wire for grounding
    staples for groundwire
    2 new 4 inch boxes
    4 inch box covers
    3/8 nm connectors
    Communication grounding device

    $541.50

    When I was researching it, ballpark figure for upgrading to a 200Amp service seemed to be around $2,000 across the country. Because you need to replace the "socket" as well as having the Electric company involved and permits and all that. My gut feeling is my electrician really gave me a sweet deal and it wouldn't have cost that much more had I gone that route. But I don't expect you would find such a conveniently obliging electrician as mine.

  2. #12
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Quote Originally Posted by John P. Myers View Post
    I definitely need more than 100A. I don't need 200A, but for convenience i might as well get it. I do have central air, electric oven, electric fireplace, etc. If i use the fireplace, i can't use the Nvidia GPUs in the 3770K box. If my wife irons her work clothes in the bedroom, i have to turn off the electric heater there or a fuse blows. The main reason i want 200A is because all my standard circuits are 15A and need to be 20A. The extra fuse slots in the higher amp mains would allow for more dedicated outlets. Every time i look at an outlet in my house this feeling of restriction always comes over me
    "fuses?" Wow, that is an old school house then.

    That just says you have too much on shared circuits. Computers can get you to 15 Amps at 110volt really easy. And 15 Amp is old school for outlets. Around here, you are allowed to do 15 Amp for light circuits, but not outlets. Biggest concern I see is that bit about upgrading from 15 Amp breakers to 20 Amp. According to code, that should also require 12 gauge wire running through the walls rather than the 14 gauge that's appropriate for the current 15 Amp circuits. Unless your house was wired with 12 gauge, that'll probably be a huge additional expense. 250 feet of 12-2 GA ran me $61, but pulling it through the entire house would be a huge project. Also, the outlets themselves are probably rated for only 15 Amp, so they would need to be replaced as well. Doing like me and installing dedicated circuits for computers would probably eliminate your breaker problem and give you the 20 Amp circuits to dedicate for hardware without upping to the 200 Amp.

    And don't confuse the total of breaker Amps with what the main panel is rated for. (Like I did. ) In my case, I now have 290 Amps worth of breakers in my 100Amp box. When I started, there was 205 consumed by the 16 pole box that seemed to be drawing about 13. Most of those Amps never get used. Things like the 50 Amps for the electric stove are almost never drawn. And many of your 15 Amp circuits sit there idling to support a lightbulb or three.

  3. #13
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    By "fuses" i meant "breakers" And i know i have to upgrade the wire guage. However i may not rewire what's already there, but instead add some additional dedicated circuits that are 20A. I know the rating of the box can be far less than the total of all breakers. Not everything is in use at once. I actually have the majority of my lights on a single 15A circuit which is fine since most of my bulbs are LED anyway. Waiting for the rest of the flourescents to burn out I'm also aware the outlets themselves need to be rated for 20A. They're like $3 at Home Depot But i've about hit the limit on what i can draw, and since i'm a cruncher, of course everything is always running when the oven is on, the dryer is on and the central air kicks on all the same time :/


  4. #14
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mumps View Post
    And with APC's, you can walk into a BatteriesPlus and buy replacement batteries off the shelf for small change. Very easy to replace.
    Unfortunately the problem with the CyberPowers is not the batteries. It's one of the control boards.



    You'll never know what you're living for until you know what you're willing to die for.

  5. #15
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Quote Originally Posted by John P. Myers View Post
    By "fuses" i meant "breakers" And i know i have to upgrade the wire guage. However i may not rewire what's already there, but instead add some additional dedicated circuits that are 20A. I know the rating of the box can be far less than the total of all breakers. Not everything is in use at once. I actually have the majority of my lights on a single 15A circuit which is fine since most of my bulbs are LED anyway. Waiting for the rest of the flourescents to burn out I'm also aware the outlets themselves need to be rated for 20A. They're like $3 at Home Depot But i've about hit the limit on what i can draw, and since i'm a cruncher, of course everything is always running when the oven is on, the dryer is on and the central air kicks on all the same time :/
    In 2010 I upgraded my electrical service & panel from an actual "fusebox" to a 200A 40 circuit panel. I also had the electrician install a 50A sub-panel in the attic so I could easily run new circuits from there. All together it was about $1400, but a good investment which has made renovation/upgrade projects since then much easier.

    JPM, the guy I used is in Bartlett so I don't know if it would make sense for you to use him... but you could call him and get a ballbark price for what you want. Billy Wallace 901-373-3107

    Oh, and I think Mumps is right - for 200A service we had to replace conductors from the weatherhead all the way to the service panel, including a new socket.



  6. #16
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Today i upgraded my (wife's) socket 775 computer from a Q9550 to a QX9770.


  7. #17
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Quote Originally Posted by John P. Myers View Post
    Today i upgraded my (wife's) socket 775 computer from a Q9550 to a QX9770.
    Nice! That's actually a pretty nice crunching chip, even all these years later.

  8. #18
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    The jump from the old Pentium architecture to the Core was seriously impressive.
    "Don't confront me with my failures, I had not forgotten them" - Jackson Browne

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  9. #19
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mumps View Post
    Oh, so I guess my answer to the question I posed is "I upgraded my house!"
    I'm finally happy to report that I, too, upgraded my house.

    I took more of a "replacement" route, though. Wife and I got kicked out of our old place (owner wanted to sell it), so we, in a panic, found a place to buy. Closed and moved two weeks ago. But the reason I'm posting this tonight is that we finally got internet tonight. Hooray!

    Now, I'll actually be able to turn my machines back on. It'll be a slow process, but it'll get there.

  10. #20
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    Re: What did *you* upgrade today?

    Way to go! Gotta love the "this is mine (ours)!" feeling. Plus the mortgage tax credits are nice too.

    Now, learn how to yell at kids to git off your lawn for some reason. Also, every time something breaks, ask yourself why you ever bought a house.

    Seriously, congratulations!
    "Don't confront me with my failures, I had not forgotten them" - Jackson Browne

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