Where to buy 240V components?

Parja

Parja

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I'm starting to get up to the power draw level where is starting to make sense to put in a 240V line for the efficiency gains. I've got an unused 30a dryer breaker since I have a gas dryer, so i figured I could use that breaker and just reuse the receptacle (14-30p). My mining setup is like 2 feet from the breaker box, so that'll be an easy setup.

However, in searching for surge protector power strips and power cords and such, I'm finding it hard to find stuff for 240V (for a reasonable price, at least). So for you guys that have made the switch, where and what did you get for your setup?
 
Zepher said:
what about ordering 240v stuff from Europe?
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oblox said:
Server pdus...
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Exactly. Get a server pdu, or something that takes 208v - 240v, 50-60hz. Something like this.

Keep in mind that Europe uses 230v, 50hz. Your dryer plug will probably be 240-244v, 60hz.

The voltage isn't so much of a problem, but the hz may be an issue depending on what you put in line with it. Also, keep in mind that the US makes 200+ volts by having two hot legs, meaning you are combining two 120v circuits to make a 240v circuit. Over in EU, they use a single hot leg at the higher voltage and a neutral, kinda like our 120v. So, the potential between the two circuits is the same, but the issue would present itself if the neutral line on the eu equipment was "connected" to earth ground......
 
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I am fixing to make the switch over to 240. I have a old air condition plug buy my rigs. What i like is
a ups that can do 240. All of them i have seen are 115v
 
Make sure you have an l6-20 outlet, otherwise, you will have to convert for that to plug in.
 
Kaos_Drem said:
Why don't you just buy or make a spiderbox to split the 240V into multiple 120V lines?
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Wut, why? The whole point is to get 240V to the power supplies to take advantage of the increased efficiency.
 
YOur still pulling thru the 240 line U just got something spliting it to 120v.. Or is that not how it would work??
 
Elkwood said:
YOur still pulling thru the 240 line U just got something spliting it to 120v.. Or is that not how it would work??
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It's not how it would work. Your main breaker box does the exact same thing. Its takes 240v from the pole, and splits it to several 120v branches to feed your outlets and lights. For circuits that need 240v, it just passes the pole feeds to them. So if you take a 240v cicuit, and put a "spiderbox" on it, you would only get 120v to your devices, losing the benefit of higher efficiency that 240v would provide.
 
I don't know if there is a huge efficiency gain to be had by going to 240V - some certainly, but I'd be surprised if it's signficant.

The main reason to go to the higher voltage is to lower the amp draw on the circuit. Most outlets and circuits are rated for 15A, a few are rated at 20A. That limits you to about 1.5kW, give or take, per circuit.

Going to 240V doubles the wattage off the bat for the same amp draw. Coupled with the fact that most often 240V outlets are higher amp rated anyway (such as dryer or stovetop), you get an even bigger benefit.

If it weren't for the UPS requirement, I'd say just stick with 240 then, because most PSUs are auto-switching, and you are right about some efficiency gain (I just don't know that it's a huge factor). But once you add in the UPS requirement, then I think it becomes a different matter.

Putting a 50A 120V distribtution panel fed from a 240V breaker in your main panel (say, the 30A dryer outlet breaker) in your server room would still accomplish that effect. giving you more circuits to plug more power supplies into. For instance, a properly wired and balanced 30A 240V line will give you 4 15A 120V circuits, which is about 6kW of power to deal with. The price of the distribution panel, a new ground rod, and 4 standard off the shelf 120V UPSes, I suspect would be cheaper than a 240V UPS - but I don't know for certain. 240V UPSes are a bit of a rare breed, I'm sure they exist, I just don't know if they are at commodity level prices like 120V ones are.

The thing you will need to start watching out for, is that a typical residential service only has about a 15kVa transformer out on the street. Your taking up about half of that just with that one line, and that's before you look at things like living in your house, or running HVAC.
 
An alternative would be to build your own UPS with an off-grid sine wave inverter.
 
Brian_B said:
I don't know if there is a huge efficiency gain to be had by going to 240V - some certainly, but I'd be surprised if it's signficant.
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It's typically around 2% from mid to high power draw levels. So that's basically a "free" 80 Plus efficiency level gain.
 
Parja said:
It's typically around 2% from mid to high power draw levels. So that's basically a "free" 80 Plus efficiency level gain.
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Not to mention, most of the server psu's or high wattage psu's only run on 208V + power. Or they run at a reduced capacity.
 
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Kaos_Drem said:
Why don't you just buy or make a spiderbox to split the 240V into multiple 120V lines?
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You will need to have Common (power source/generator ground) and not pole ground into the ground. If you have a 4 wire outlet one should be common and that should work. If three wire then no, there would be no common only a ground. I wired up a new 40a 240v outlets and 120v outlets all in one enclosure with breakers and GFCI. Was just pulling too much from the house outlets.

240v does increase your power supply efficiency, reduces heat a little to due to less input current but if you notice that on your bill is another thing. I guess it depends how much power you are drawing, if like 20kw or something that could add up.
 
noko said:
You will need to have Common (power source/generator ground) and not pole ground into the ground. If you have a 4 wire outlet one should be common and that should work. If three wire then no, there would be no common only a ground. I wired up a new 40a 240v outlets and 120v outlets all in one enclosure with breakers and GFCI. Was just pulling too much from the house outlets.

240v does increase your power supply efficiency, reduces heat a little to due to less input current but if you notice that on your bill is another thing. I guess it depends how much power you are drawing, if like 20kw or something that could add up.
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You need two hots and a neutral. Older three wire dryer, range, and HVAC circuits would work for making an ungrounded 120v breakout box. Actually you could bond the grounding leg of the outlets to the neutral like the mentioned appliances do when plugging into those circuits, and it wouldn't necessarily be any less safe than those appliances would be (especially with the right GFCI set up).

You could technically use the grounding conductor of a 2-wire 240v circuit as a neutral...but that completely defeats the purpose of having it and compromises the entire building's grounding system. So don't do that.


One thing to note: You cannot take a 30 amp 240v circuit and make four 15amp 120v branches from it that was suggested above. That's because the neutral wire is only sized to handle 30 amps.
 
xrealm20 said:
Not to mention, most of the server psu's or high wattage psu's only run on 208V + power. Or they run at a reduced capacity.
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Right! If you need serious power, it's REALLY hard to beat a used server PSU. ~$60 for an 80 Plus Platinum 1400W power supply is what mining dreams are made of.
 
ryan_975 said:
You need two hots and a neutral. Older three wire dryer, range, and HVAC circuits would work for making an ungrounded 120v breakout box. Actually you could bond the grounding leg of the outlets to the neutral like the mentioned appliances do when plugging into those circuits, and it wouldn't necessarily be any less safe than those appliances would be (especially with the right GFCI set up).

You could technically use the grounding conductor of a 2-wire 240v circuit as a neutral...but that completely defeats the purpose of having it and compromises the entire building's grounding system. So don't do that.


One thing to note: You cannot take a 30 amp 240v circuit and make four 15amp 120v branches from it that was suggested above. That's because the neutral wire is only sized to handle 30 amps.
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Yep. Now if one connects the house panel common with the appropriate size wire to the 3 wire 240v that could work but it would be better just to put in the 240v breaker and run the wires (2 hot, 1 common, 1 ground). Anyways my air conditioner has a separate power panel from the house panel from the pole being fed by a 90amp breaker ( two 110v legs, common and a ground). Pop in a 40a breaker and wired the new panel in, now I have an additional 9600w which I doubt I will ever use.
 
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Archaea said:
Ebay,

I got some good advice in this thread where I was seeking some of the same information a few months back.

https://hardforum.com/threads/do-modern-power-supplies-auto-switch-to-240v.1947295/


I really like my three circuit HP AF914A with each circuit having it's own LED amp readout showing my power draw.

I picked up for $83 shipped new on eBay.
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Glad to see that your range breaker is working well for you.. I had forgotten about that thread when I got crazy busy at work.
 
Friendly Reminder: If you are inexperienced with doing your own electrical work on 220-240V circuits, PLEASE call an electrician. Unlike 110v where you could miswire a receptacle and probably not kill yourself or burn the house down, 220V is powerful enough that mistakes can be fatal. It's not that working with 220v is so much more complicated than 110v, it's just that the stakes are way higher for getting everything right.

By all means learn and research more about it, but call an electrician rather than take unnecessary risks. Unlike uilding your own PC or mining rig, its not a DIY activity that rewards trial and error.

That said, I swear by my 2 x 30A/220V circuits for mining rigs - it was a game changer after wasted time and headaches trying to balance rigs and power supplies across lots of 15A 110V circuits. I kicked myself afterward for not doing it a lot sooner.
 
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odditory said:
Friendly Reminder: If you are inexperienced with doing your own electrical work on 220-240V circuits, PLEASE call an electrician. Unlike 110v where you could miswire a receptacle and probably not not kill yourself or burn your house down, 220V is powerful enough that mistakes can be fatal. It's not that working with 220v is so much more complicated than 110v, it's just that the stakes are way higher for getting everything right.

By all means learn and research more about it, but call an electrician rather than take unnecessary risks. Unlike uilding your own PC or mining rig, its not a DIY activity that rewards trial and error.

That said, I swear by my 2 x 30A/220V circuits for mining rigs - it was a game changer after wasted time and headaches trying to balance rigs and power supplies across lots of 15A 110V circuits. I kicked myself afterward for not doing it a lot sooner.
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Bingo. 220v makes infinitely more sense for anyone dealing with multiple rigs. The risk of trying to use high loads continuously over a 14 gauge run on most 110v 15A breakers is just craziness.... spend the $60-80, get some 8/4 to 10/4 gauge wire, a 30A dual pole 220v breaker and suitable receptacle and onward and upward baby.
 
Brian_B said:
An alternative would be to build your own UPS with an off-grid sine wave inverter.
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And throw all your possible efficiency gains out the window, pour gasoline on them, used oil, and then throw matches at it.
 
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