Idiot requires help

[Ecto]

Hi all,

I have just created an account here as I am in need of a little advice, I am unsure if this is the right forum but if anyone can be of help, it would be greatly appreciated!

I am looking to hold an event that will require 64 to 128 Xbox 360's & screens. On top of that I will need to provide around thirty extra spaces for desktop computers & monitors and around twenty laptops.

I presume this is going to take an awful lot of power to run. My question really is what type of assurances should I be looking for from venue's that they can support this type of power requirement.

This will be the first event of this nature I've held, as you can imagine for a computer based event having power without fail is a necessity!

Any certifications I should be looking out for from venues?
Any warnings flags I should be aware of?


Thanks for reading & for any comments you can provide!

 

[i=p/u]

earth leakage is factor for you computers, ask them to speak with their electrician, he should be able to work out whats needed or added etc

 

[i=p/u]

they'l need to know exactly how many of what and what power they all use

 

[telectrix]

bearing in mind that if their circuits are RCD protected, you can't put more than 8 computers on 1 RCD ( roughly) because of the high leakaqge current. liason with the electrician responsible is essential.

 

[Phil]

if you are hosting an event you are charging money for it may be worth while you having some t&c`s written up incase of the venue not being suitable and you having to refund people etc, stops you being out of pocket

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Phew, that is some sockets you will need. Most of the kit only needs a small amount of power. I would be tempted to find out the rating of an X-box and times it by the maximum number of X boxes to be powered, do the same for TV's and the rest of it, once you have a figure in watts, you can calculate the amps required. That will tell you what the circuit loading needs to be, but add a bit on say 10% just in case. You will then need to work out how long your circuits will be, to work out how big in CSA the cable needs to be to handle the power over the distance. I am not sure if any of this lot will cause grief with RCD's, my guess is that they will due to earth leakage. without seeing first hand what you are up against it would be difficult and unwise to give you duff info, so i won't. But this looks like it needs a good coat of looking at, and some good maths if it isn't to pop a fuse etc. Another consideration would be a UPS backup just in case, the list of considerations is vast. I somehow don't think you will be an idiot if you are taking this on.

Cheers........Howard

 

[telectrix]

life was soooooo ssssimple before these wretched computers took over intelligent life.............. 1 TV and a VCR= 1 double socket in lounge + a single for the hoover. iron plugged into light fitting........................... the good old days, long lost. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.

 

[ezzzekiel]

picked my sisters son up a while ago from a lan party and it was prob as big as the one youre planning - it ran in a church hall with lots of extensions - everything apperared to go off fine - although im not recomending it.

 

[accordfire]

They may well refuse to provide power for complex arrangements. It is common in such arrangements for them to provide space in lieu for your own generator, and a means of getting supply to your stand(s).

Lets assume 128 X Boxes @10W maximum load, 128 screens at 120W maximum load, 30 computers at around 500W, and 20 laptops at around 30W charging.

So, we have 1.2kW, plus 15.36kW, plus 15kW, plus 0.6kW = 32.16kw. At 230VAC, this is just under 140A, which is probably over the limit which the venue will provide.

Seems to me as though you'll need a generator capable of delivering power in the order of the above which allowing for calculations (kVA is calculated by dividing true power by apparent power, and we don't have figures for this), would be in the region of an output of no less than 150kVA. Someone like Aggreko can give pricing on hire.

 

[pushrod]

picked my sisters son up a while ago from a lan party and it was prob as big as the one youre planning - it ran in a church hall with lots of extensions - everything apperared to go off fine - although im not recomending it.

probs running on BS3036s


As already said by most the electrician who checks it will need to know all the earth leakage associated with all the equipment and as telectrix said usually means about 8 computer thingy's per circuit. He/she will also have to know about hi integrity earthing.

 

[Ecto]

Thank you all for your speedy comments so far, its a world of help in an area I unfortunately know little to nothing about!

Might I ask (apologies for leaving the math to you), if I were to reduce the number of xbox's to 32, would that bring the power requirements back down to a more reasonable level that a standard venue would be able to support? or am I still in trouble!?

 

[BillyTheSparks]

They may well refuse to provide power for complex arrangements. It is common in such arrangements for them to provide space in lieu for your own generator, and a means of getting supply to your stand(s).

Lets assume 128 X Boxes @10W maximum load, 128 screens at 120W maximum load, 30 computers at around 500W, and 20 laptops at around 30W charging.

So, we have 1.2kW, plus 15.36kW, plus 15kW, plus 0.6kW = 32.16kw. At 230VAC, this is just under 140A, which is probably over the limit which the venue will provide.

Seems to me as though you'll need a generator capable of delivering power in the order of the above which allowing for calculations (kVA is calculated by dividing true power by apparent power, and we don't have figures for this), would be in the region of an output of no less than 150kVA. Someone like Aggreko can give pricing on hire.

Just throwing this out there, but would you not need to take diversity in to account?
So therefore not needing so much power???

 

[accordfire]

Just throwing this out there, but would you not need to take diversity in to account?
So therefore not needing so much power???

I'd think you'd want to be thinking about the opposite, given that you won't know from one go to the next how many are going to be in use, and working hard.....if it's a generator supply, bigger is probably better.......I'd stick with maximum demand in this case, rather than risk the stand plunging into darkness.....

 

[pennywise]

Where were you planning on hosting the event?

 

[accordfire]

Thank you all for your speedy comments so far, its a world of help in an area I unfortunately know little to nothing about!

Might I ask (apologies for leaving the math to you), if I were to reduce the number of xbox's to 32, would that bring the power requirements back down to a more reasonable level that a standard venue would be able to support? or am I still in trouble!?

Yes, it would reduce power, 320W or so on the X Boxes, and just under 4kW on the screens, plus the second 15kW and the 0.6kw = just under 20kW. Load at that power would be around 87A.....which in all probability will require a genny too - unless they have 100A capability for single stands.

 

[pennywise]

According to the back of my Xbox the transformer produces 202W, and a quick google search suggests it can draw 170W

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-2.htm

 

[accordfire]

According to the back of my Xbox the transformer produces 202W, and a quick google search suggests it can draw 170W

XBOX 360 vs PS3 (and Wii) - Power Consumption Report - hardCOREware.net

K - that skews things - I did a Google search and came up with 10W for an XBox 360 - a factor of ten more than I allowed for then

OP - you'll probably need a big generator.

 

[BillyTheSparks]

I'd think you'd want to be thinking about the opposite, given that you won't know from one go to the next how many are going to be in use, and working hard.....if it's a generator supply, bigger is probably better.......I'd stick with maximum demand in this case, rather than risk the stand plunging into darkness.....

Good point, I'm not 'au fait' with this type of work. So I didn't think of those points