ABS Tagan 1100w PSU and my wall outlet

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beefynerd

New Member
I purchased two years ago a PSU for a build I was doing at that time. However, I was unable to finish the build and kept the PSU. The PSU is an ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ1100 1100W.

I am currently in the process of another build and since then have become more conscientious of power draw and etc from PSUs, and have become concerned regarding this PSU and the wall outlet it will be hooked into, and that the set up will result in a failure. The breaker it's hooked to is a 20A breaker, and according to the PSU side panel, the PSU draws 18A on 115V. There are other devices hooked to the outlet as well via a surge protector (monitor x2, printer, scanner, 5.1 sound, USB hub, router, cable modem, digital photo frame. Currently a PC with a 500W PSU drawing 10A according to the side panel is plugged into this surge protector).

I've been thinking on purchasing a Kill-A-Watt to determine if an existing PSU I own really does draw as much power as the side panel indicates. I've also been pondering purchasing a PSU that will work on this outlet, but I'm curious if that would be a waste of funds. So here's the question. Does a PSU really draw the maximum amps listed on the side panel (18A) at all times?

Thanks for any input.
 
Aastii

Aastii

VIP Member
beefynerd said:
I purchased two years ago a PSU for a build I was doing at that time. However, I was unable to finish the build and kept the PSU. The PSU is an ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ1100 1100W.

I am currently in the process of another build and since then have become more conscientious of power draw and etc from PSUs, and have become concerned regarding this PSU and the wall outlet it will be hooked into, and that the set up will result in a failure. The breaker it's hooked to is a 20A breaker, and according to the PSU side panel, the PSU draws 18A on 115V. There are other devices hooked to the outlet as well via a surge protector (monitor x2, printer, scanner, 5.1 sound, USB hub, router, cable modem, digital photo frame. Currently a PC with a 500W PSU drawing 10A according to the side panel is plugged into this surge protector).

I've been thinking on purchasing a Kill-A-Watt to determine if an existing PSU I own really does draw as much power as the side panel indicates. I've also been pondering purchasing a PSU that will work on this outlet, but I'm curious if that would be a waste of funds. So here's the question. Does a PSU really draw the maximum amps listed on the side panel (18A) at all times?

Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

No, it depends on the load it is under.

If your system is only pulling 300W, it will only be using 300W worth of power, it won't be working under full, 1100W load. However, if your system is pulling 1KW or even ~800W, you will be running into troubles with your breaker, because it will be drawing 18A, or close to
 
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beefynerd

New Member
Aastii said:
No, it depends on the load it is under.

If your system is only pulling 300W, it will only be using 300W worth of power, it won't be working under full, 1100W load. However, if your system is pulling 1KW or even ~800W, you will be running into troubles with your breaker, because it will be drawing 18A, or close to
Click to expand...

Yeah...that's what I figured. Now I get the distinct pleasure of calculating the power this rig will be pulling.

Give's me something to do since I'm work with nothing to do...:D'

Thanks for the help!
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
P=IE

1100W/(0.80) for efficiency loss(at a mean of 80%), 1375W.

1375/115= ~12A;)

The amperages on the side panels are generally rated at the low end of the scale if they are automatic voltage switching, which is generally around 80v, and that is usually combined with the peak output power as well. At 80v you would be talking about 17A of draw at full load, which coincides with the 18A listed on the label. As Aastii said, the actual power draw is going to be what the computer is actually using, divided by the efficiency as a decimal(most tagan units are rated at 80plus or above), and then divided by 115 for amps.
 
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B

beefynerd

New Member
bomberboysk said:
P=IE

1100W/(0.80) for efficiency loss(at a mean of 80%), 1375W.

1375/115= ~12A;)

The amperages on the side panels are generally rated at the low end of the scale if they are automatic voltage switching, which is generally around 80v, and that is usually combined with the peak output power as well. At 80v you would be talking about 17A of draw at full load, which coincides with the 18A listed on the label. As Aastii said, the actual power draw is going to be what the computer is actually using, divided by the efficiency as a decimal(most tagan units are rated at 80plus or above), and then divided by 115 for amps.
Click to expand...

Good to know... After my calculation, all the components in my rig would come out to be something like 700w or so assuming full load conditions. Granted I'll probably never reach full load (unless I do some heavy 3D rendering - then probably not even close), it doesn't look like I need to worry too much about the breaker.

I even thought about upgrading the breaker to a 30A and the power cord to 10 gauge one point... LOL :eek:

Thanks!
 
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bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
beefynerd said:
Good to know... After my calculation, all the components in my rig would come out to be something like 700w or so assuming full load conditions. Granted I'll probably never reach full load (unless I do some heavy 3D rendering - then probably not even close), it doesn't look like I need to worry too much about the breaker.

I even thought about upgrading the breaker to a 30A and the power cord to 10 gauge one point... LOL :eek:

Thanks!
Click to expand...

NEC dictates that no more than 20A(the capacity of 12 guage wiring) circuits are allowed at 120vac.
 
FuryRosewood

FuryRosewood

Active Member
you wouldnt want to do that...you would be putting yourself at risk of a housefire...due to overheating the wires...
 
memory

memory

Member
Yeah, what are your specs? There is no way that psu is going to pull 18 amps. On my system in my sig, under load running Intel Burn Test, it only draws 3.4 amps and 409 watts. At idle, it is 2.1 amps and 250 watts. And that is with everything hooked up to the kill a watt, monitor, 5.1 speakers, case fans running at full speed, video card fan speed at 90%.
 
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