Extension Cord LAN HELP

[Avanarius]

Hey, I host various LANs at a local internet cafe but after our last event with too many people (12) we ran into a few issues with power. We quickly became accustomed to the layout of the breakers in the building (or so we think) after overloading one of them during a key moment in Left 4 Dead (lammmeee)

Below is a map of the cafe

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../lanlayout.jpg

The blue marks the general area in which were seated.
The X's mark outlets, and the different colors indicate what I think breaker layout is. This should give you a general idea why the breakers were overloaded because I didn't think that 5 outlets in a cafe would all be on the same breaker (this area is used for computers usually in general).

So essentially we had all 9 computers (3 laptops) on the same breaker causing it to trip and shut everyone off. So we moved 3 computers to the Pink outlet and everything worked as normal then on.

The main problem now is that we had intended around 16 people to come but thankfully didn't or we would have had a huge problem on our hands (trying to do this as professionally as possible).

So my question is, can I find an extension cord heavy duty enough (with a powerbar on it) to run 3 or so computers from the blue outlets? I don't know if the blue ones are on the same breaker or not but we can possibly seat people on the other side of the room if we can't use an extension cord but it's really awkward during a LAN for 3 people to sit away from everyone else. But we definitely can't sit people where they sell stuff lol (the outlet is behind the counter).

Thanks for any suggestions. Our website is Comox Valley LAN if you want to check it out.

[SephYuyX]

The best long run solution is to split the green X's to different breakers, and depending on how the building is set up, that could be done real easy like.

Otherwise, yes, they make very long extension cords, you can easily find 100ft ones, however they dont make power strip cords longer than 15ft usually. And the trick here is that it's against firecode by plugging in a power strip into anything but the outlet itself.

What you could do if you have a drop ceiling is run an cord up the wall, above the ceiling, and then back down the otherside, and then plug a strip into that. You will get a slap on the wrist if you get fireinspected, but most of the time youre notified ahead of time, in which case you unplug it and hide it in the ceiling. Just make sure you unplug it from the outlet after hours, but the chances of a fire caused from it are very minimal. This solution came from a Gamestop store I had to jerryrig.

Thats the cheapest and fastest way to do it. But id recommed getting an electrician to see what it would cost to give each outlet its own breaker, and like I said, as long as it's basic enough, you could do it yourself, or atleast if you had a buddy who knows a few things.

[Norellicus]

The incoming circuits may not be robust enough to devote one breaker/outlet so that's not always an option either.

If the electrician did his job right all the breakers are labeled and you can tell which ones go where, but that doesn't always happen

Are people bringing in their own systems or is it just a hosted event on your equipment? People with their own powerhogging boxes can make it unpredictable, what will work one week won't the next because of the varying amount of draw these juiced up PCs will require (especially heavy overclockers, it won't cause a problem at first but get the games going and the power drain will ramp up in a hurry).

If you're going to use extension cords to patch in multiple systems they're going to need to be really heavy duty, get something too lightweight and guaranteed it will melt after a few hours. Get them from home depot or the like, not your local tech shop, and you should be fine. Outdoor ones would definitely work. If you get done with one of these events and the cords feel immediately hot to the touch (hot, not just a little warm), then they're probably too lightweight and need to be replaced asap.

On a related note if people are bringing their own equipment...being a cafe, make sure none of the circuits that PCs are on are sharing with appliances (fridge, coffeemaker, stove, etc); again hard to tell if the breakers aren't labeled, and doesn't happen often, but does happen. This can damage the PCs unknowingly even without breaker trips. Don't want someone walking out of your place with something fubared and blaming it on you :X

[Avanarius]

On a related note if people are bringing their own equipment...being a cafe, make sure none of the circuits that PCs are on are sharing with appliances (fridge, coffeemaker, stove, etc); again hard to tell if the breakers aren't labeled, and doesn't happen often, but does happen. This can damage the PCs unknowingly even without breaker trips. Don't want someone walking out of your place with something fubared and blaming it on you :X

We have waivers people sign regardless and it covers everything right up to a flood or earthquake destroying the entire building. So all the legalities are covered. I'm pretty sure the appliances aren't on the same breaker at first glance on the breaker box but the manager was hesitant to let me look at it so I only got a peak at it.

I think I might try to hook up with an electrician to see if we can manage a more permanent solution for 16 ish people but if not, I'll probably buy 2 really heavy duty extension cords and give it a whirl.

[Bikpik]

If you're planning on doing this again, I would add more breakers and spread your outlet load out a bit more (less outlets per breaker kind of thing). If that's not possible, then outdoor extenion cords would be better for higher loads.

Belkin 10 Outlet Metal Surge Protector - F9D1001-15-DP at The Home Depot

Might be something you're looking for