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I have studied the Archives, and it seems the only thing that is universally accepted, is to hire an electrician if you are not absolutely sure what you are doing.My comfort level ends at the service panel/ciruit breaker box; so installing an isolated ground would not be a do it yourself option. However, I am familiar with the basics--such as replacing switches and outlets, and adding new outlets/lighting fixtures. I have a couple of dedicated lines (20amp/15amp) that were installed years ago for other purposes, that are no longer needed. So, I would like to reroute these to my stereo. These lines were run down the center of my basement, along with a half dozen or so other lines. I figure that the least I can do, would be to isolate the two dedicated lines from the rest.
It should be noted that the 15amp circuit does have one outlet one it that is directly adjacent to the service panel. While this is not ideal for a dedicated line, it does give me some options--It gives me a place to insert Enacoms or Quietlines; and long as I am rerouting the lines, I could change to 10 or 12 gauge wire from the outlet to my stereo room. My first inclination was to run separate wires in metal conduit (leaving a little extra at the outlet, so that an electrician could perhaps someday finish the run directly into the main panel). However, while this would be fine as far as code, there seem to be differing opinions regarding the interaction between the wires and the conduit--However, PVC conduit would provide no shielding? What if I were to place PVC conduit inside a larger metal conduit? (I am assuming that the conduit/s may have to be a minimum size?) Or should I be satisfied with separating the two dedicated lines from the rest?
Also, if I were to insert a couple Enacoms or Quietlines in the outlet adjacent to the breaker box, would their effectiveness be dimished by the time the wire reaches the stereo (around 100 feet)?
Thanks!
Follow Ups:
Go to www.stereophile.com and search out the archives of Jonathan Scull's 'Fine Tunes' columns. Some time ago he did a very good in-depth treatise on "GROUNDS" that included much good info on dedicated lines, how to properly split 220v lines, phasing, etc. Should be 'required reading' for anyone contemplating a dedicated AC line.
You should also consider a 'dedicated ground' for the dedicated AC line (also covered in the same Fine Tunes). "Ground" is the other half of EVERY circuit and one of the most mis-understood and neglected areas of good electrical practice("All grounds ain't created equal"). Most of the "grounding systems" in household wiring are sufficient to operate without burning the house down or getting you electrocuted but they are URINE POOR for audio use. As for the steel conduit for the dedicated line, it will not prove very effective as a shield for the dedicated line. Most ferric materials are very poor shields for both EMI & RFI reflecting/re-radiating most of the garbage rather than containing it. Thus the copper plated chassis in audio equipment of late. The copper is better than nothing, attenuating approximately 1/3 of the garbage and re-radiating the other 2/3. The best shielding material currently available is TI Shield from Texas Instruments. This is a proprietary ferric alloy with 1 mil of copper on each side of it (in sheet form) that TI claims attenuates over 98% of the garbage. The bad news is that it is releatively expensive and Michael Percy seems to have the retail market on it cornered. You might try using separate (un-paired) solid conductors for the AC line which would be twisted together before running the wire. This would not contain any garbage but it would prevent the dedicated line from picking up garbage from the rest of the wiring, appliances (mainly motors), etc. in the house. It seems that nothing worthwhile is ever easy......I have often thought that by the time you pay for power supply upgrades (Hi Quality diodes, caps, etc), line conditioners, hospital grade outlets, exotic linecords, and dedicated AC lines it would be cheaper and quite probably sonically better to buy a supply of car batteries and charging equipment and be done with it for good and all.
Happy Listening !
Go to www.stereophile.com and search out the archives of Jonathan Scull's 'Fine Tunes' columns. Some time ago he did a very good in-depth treatise on "GROUNDS" that included much good info on dedicated lines, how to properly split 220v lines, phasing, etc. Should be 'required reading' for anyone contemplating a dedicated AC line.
You should also consider a 'dedicated ground' for the dedicated AC line (also covered in the same Fine Tunes). "Ground" is the other half of EVERY circuit and one of the most mis-understood and neglected areas of good electrical practice. As for the steel conduit for the dedicated line, it will not prove very effective as a shield for the dedicated line. Most ferric materials are very poor shields for both EMI & RFI reflecting/re-radiating most of the garbage rather than containing it. Thus the copper plated chassis in audio equipment of late. The copper is better than nothing, attenuating approximately 1/3 of the garbage and re-radiating the other 2/3. The best shielding material currently available is TI Shield from Texas Instruments. This is a proprietary ferric alloy with 1 mil of copper on each side of it (in sheet form) that TI claims attenuates over 98% of the garbage. The bad news is that it is releatively expensive and Michael Percy seems to have the retail market on it cornered. You might try using separate (un-paired) solid conductors for the AC line which would be twisted together before running the wire. This would not contain any garbage but it would prevent the dedicated line from picking up garbage from the rest of the wiring, appliances (mainly motors) in the house. It seems that nothing worthwhile is ever easy......Happy Listening !
Ask your electrician to install a 100A subpanel - from which you can run 20A circuits. This will be the best.
Thanks for all of the tips--I already have a 100A subpanel in which there are two extra circuits. Also, the very first circuit in the main panel is a dedicated line. I have read that it is desirable to have both circuits on the same side of the panel--Is the location in the panel important as well? Would the first circuit be special?I would really like to know if inserting Enacoms or Quietlines in the outlet of the dedicated line that is adjacent to the service panel would be beneficial--or would the effectiveness be lost 100 feet away? I imagine that if I were to insert filters in this outlet, that it would be that much more important to use metal conduit for the dedicated line?
1. Always hire an electrician if you can.
2. Adding or changing a breaker is usally easier than adding or changing an outlet. (There is usually just 1 screw)
3. Metal conduit would be preferable and contain ONLY your dedicated circuits. Metal shields while plastic does not and can not.
4. If you're running 100 feet I would install 10 AWG THHN 3 wires each circuit (White- Neutral / Black- Hot / Green - Ground)
5. The "Isolated" ground does not require any special installation, the outlet is just designed differently but hooks up normally.If you can identify the dedicated circuits at the panel, simply turn off those breakers and proceed. You can install a box at the first convenient location, cut the wire existing and splice it to new wiring run through new metal conduit to your new outlets.
Putting the conduit together is very cheap and easy, you can buy prebend pieces or simply use cheap boxes at each change of direction.
The whole project will probably cost less than $25!!!!
A IG receptacle ground is isolated from the device strap and provides no ground for a metal box or cover plate, a seperate wire must be run to ground these items. hence the term isolated ground.
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