Hi all,
 
Question. I currently have a battery backup surge protector with I believe 8 outlets. That's my PC, 2 monitors, Midi Keyboard, Audio Interface, two monitor speakers, router, cable modem, 3 external harddrives, a lamp... And as you can see I'm already way over haha. I just got a Faderport which is gonna be 14.. I'd love to connect another external, that's 15, charge my laptop that's 15, have a phone charger that's 16. Currently I have one of those old school 6 outlet power strips plugged into an extension cord running to the other side of the room to accommodate the other stuff (oh forgot printer too).

Yea. So anyway, I guess my question is, so that I don't have wires running all over my room, can I connect a second, non-battery backed up just regular surge protector to that same wall outlet? Probably like an 8 or even a 12 outlet one. The house is relatively new (I think like 2004ish) if that helps in making the decision.
 
Thanks for the input. 

Hi PB,
 
Not quite if this is what you are asking, but the surge suppressor/battery backup unit is only going to protect the units "plugged in to it." Anything plugged into the second wall (duplex) outlet will not be protected (or backed up by the battery).

In addition, you might want to make sure you are not too close to the circuit rating of the duplex wall outlet with all those units you intend to plug in. A typical newer home has 15 amp circuit breakers per circuit that can take up to about a 20 amps peak load (or  20 amps x 110 Volts = 2200 Watts). You may have other things already on that curcuit (air conditioner, toaster, etc.) that may kick you over that 20 amps and ruin your recording day by tripping the breaker.

Hope that helps!

h

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I'm a total idiot at this stuff and I'm from the "that's an outlet and this plug fits in it" school of electricity haha.

But yes I definitely know that only the stuff in a surge protector will be protected and only the stuff on the batter backup will stay on in the event of power loss... I know all that.

I'm just wondering if it's safe to have like 20 things plugged in between two surge protectors coming out of the 2 outlets on one Wall. I wouldn't even know where to begin adding up watts and amps. I'm mainly worried about a fire or things getting blown or me dying haha.
 
EDIT: Oh and like I said... the 20 things are already plugged in in this room (minus like 1 or 2)... It's just half of them are plugged into a surge protector on the other side of the room. I'd rather have both surge protectors plugged into the same 2 outlet wall plate so I can just have all the wires under my desk and out of the way.

polarbear
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I'm a total idiot at this stuff and I'm from the "that's an outlet and this plug fits in it" school of electricity haha.

But yes I definitely know that only the stuff in a surge protector will be protected and only the stuff on the batter backup will stay on in the event of power loss... I know all that.

I'm just wondering if it's safe to have like 20 things plugged in between two surge protectors coming out of the 2 outlets on one Wall. I wouldn't even know where to begin adding up watts and amps. I'm mainly worried about a fire or things getting blown or me dying haha.
 
EDIT: Oh and like I said... the 20 things are already plugged in in this room (minus like 1 or 2)... It's just half of them are plugged into a surge protector on the other side of the room. I'd rather have both surge protectors plugged into the same 2 outlet wall plate so I can just have all the wires under my desk and out of the way.

You are probably OK, but to be sure you could add up the wattage rating from the stickers on all those devices, to be sure you're not getting close to 2000 watts on that one circuit!
 
Most electronics these days use power supplies that convert to DC voltage with just a few amps per wall wart.
 
I would pay particular attention to any heavy wattage devices.  The biggest loads are electric motors and heating elements like toasters and space heaters.  The main PC power supply could hit 400-600 watts on peak load, depending on what you have installed, as far as discrete video cards and drives.
 
I would try to separate just the stuff I needed to keep running onto the battery backup, with everything else going into a surge protector, without backup.  I like to keep my cable modem, router, monitor and computer on the battery backup.  That way I can finish up and save my work if the power craps out.  The modem and router is typically low wattage, so if you shut down the PC, you can continue to keep your Wi-Fi running for a while longer to stay connected with a laptop, tablet, or phone.
 
Just having a bunch of stuff plugged in isn't necessarily a big issue, especially if they're not all being used at the same time, or if they are low wattage electronics.
 
And yep, those two outlets on that faceplate most likely share the same 15 amp breaker ...

I think I'm gonna order a nice surge protector (couldn't hurt to have a better one anyway) and then when I get a chance I'll add everything up like you said. Probably be a good thing for me to learn anyway haha.

You'll be fine. If you were overloading things, you'd know, because that UPS would complain about overload long before you hit the maximum load of the actual electrical circuit. So given that it is happy, you are way below what your line can handle.
 
Also, you really do want to do what you are talking about because having surge protectors plugged in to UPSes is bad news. Because of the way a line-interactive UPS works, and the way a surge suppressor's clamping works, they can get screwed up and blow each other out in the event of a power failure. So you never want to plug a surge protector in to a UPS.

Sycraft

Also, you really do want to do what you are talking about because having surge protectors plugged in to UPSes is bad news. Because of the way a line-interactive UPS works, and the way a surge suppressor's clamping works, they can get screwed up and blow each other out in the event of a power failure. So you never want to plug a surge protector in to a UPS.

Oh no I know that much at least haha. I meant the UPS in one plug of the two outlets on the wall and a surge protector in the other plug on the wall. You know how every wall plate has 2 (or more) outlets. One in one one in the other. Not the surge protector into the UPS. :-)

polarbear

Sycraft

Also, you really do want to do what you are talking about because having surge protectors plugged in to UPSes is bad news. Because of the way a line-interactive UPS works, and the way a surge suppressor's clamping works, they can get screwed up and blow each other out in the event of a power failure. So you never want to plug a surge protector in to a UPS.

Oh no I know that much at least haha. I meant the UPS in one plug of the two outlets on the wall and a surge protector in the other plug on the wall. You know how every wall plate has 2 (or more) outlets. One in one one in the other. Not the surge protector into the UPS. :-)

And you really wouldn't want to see what I have going on behind my living room entertainment center and media center PC, LOL!!!  The good news is, no flames yet, but I do have a fire extinguisher in the utility closet 

Oh man I make it sound like the question is just for my studio but it's 2 rooms that need this much power for me too haha. Ugh... We're addicted haha

polarbear
Oh man I make it sound like the question is just for my studio but it's 2 rooms that need this much power for me too haha. Ugh... We're addicted haha

+1
 
Yup, LOL!!!