determining amperage of each channel

[Guest guest]

sorry to post this, i know there is a post but after a 1/2 hour of searching i just cant find the post.

i was wondering how you calculate the amperage of a string of lights so i can add them up and not overload each channel

i am using mostly miniture white lights, for the most part there are 100 bulbs in each string.

thanks for your help

[Guest guest]

Rick Williams is working on a spread sheet as we speak that will help you with all of this. But you can download the older version of the speadsheet now if you needed it now. Here is the post that tells that.

http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum25/7065.html

[Guest guest]

that list is great, but it dosent solve my problem, i need to determine the amprage of the light i have, i cant just accept his numbers as correct. is there anyway to determine the amperage of a string of lights?

[Guest guest]

The only way to get an exact reading is to use an Amp Meter like the one below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260032027657



You just clamp it around ONE (and only one) of the wires on a cord that goes to all you lights and it will tell you how many amps you are using.

[Guest guest]

Do you still have the siver tags on the string of lights? If not, you just might have to get yourself an amp meter. You can figure out a rough estimate by the type of lights and number of lights. What type of lights and how many?

[Guest guest]

I have a Kill-A-Watt, which works pretty well. You plug it into the wall, plug the electrical device into it, and it will show you how much engery the device consumes. Easier to use than a multimeter, you can put it in-line with your light strings to figure out just how much juice they'll consume at max power, dimmed, etc.

Here's the cheapest price I could find on Froogle ($18): http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=30183200136

[Guest guest]

im pretty sure i ripped all those annoying (now very important) silver tags off. but i use mainly 100 bulb mini lights. also several icicle lights. i guess i will invest in an amp meter cause i want to be sure (a little ocd) i am sure im not overloading cause im using only a max of 2 strings per channel. but im looking ahead to the future. all boxes are running on dedicated 15 breakers (1 breaker per side or 2 breakers per box) so i think im safe for now

[Guest guest]

I have a how-to on using the clamp on multimeter and an Appliance load tester. Both of these devices will measure the amperage of your strings.

http://www.kindlachristmas.com/HowToMenu.asp