Tell me more ×
Home Improvement Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

Basically I have an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) which has a 20amp plug and I know that the load on the UPS will NEVER exceed 15 amp (Bought it mainly because it can attach more battery units to it for extended runtime).

Anyway since I am moving to an apartment that does not have any 20amp outlet, and since I know that the load will NEVER exceed 15amp, I want to enforce this via a fuse/breaker inline or in the outlet so that it WILL trip before too much power is drawn from the outlet.

So I am wondering if such thing exist or if there is any recommendations here?

share|improve this question
The fuse/breaker in the main panel will trip if you draw more than 15Amps on the circuit (given that it is a 15Amp breaker), so you shouldn't have to worry about it. Likely there will be more receptacles on the circuit (with things plugged into them drawing power), so the breaker will trip long before anything on the UPS can draw over 15Amps. – Tester101♦ Jun 23 '11 at 23:32

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Get a 20A to 15A converter cable, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Conntek-1F515520-1-Foot-15-Amp-Adapter/dp/B00439KIF6

It is perfectly safe to plug a 20A device in to a 15A receptacle on a 15A breaker. If your device draws more than 15A, the breaker will trip. You can reset the breaker and try again, with a lower load. If you never exceed 15A draw, you'll be fine.

15A is a lot for a computer. You can use a Kill-A-Watt to measure your actual load, if you're curious.

share|improve this answer
1  
normally I would not recommend altering a 20A appliance to fit a 15A outlet, but since it is a UPS plug strip, what Jay says is correct. +vote for kill=a=watt. – shirlock homes Jun 24 '11 at 10:20
I used the ups information status display and the highest I've seen it go is 30-35% of the UPS capacity which is 665 watt or so, and I've checked, the PF on all of my PSU are at least 0.95 or so. So yeah, I'll look in getting an adapter like that. – Pharaun Jun 24 '11 at 21:31

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.