Extension Cord Length?

[vianegativa]

Hello there,

I've done a lot of searching through the site and forums and can't quite find the answer for my question.

I live in a rented apartment, in a fairly old building with only two prong outlets in most of the apartment, including in the room in the back (where it's quiet) that I call "the studio". The only three prong (and I'm hoping, grounded) outlets, are in the front of the apartment(kitchen and "living room")-a hundred or more feet I'm guessing(could be way off there).

I just got a used ADAT and the warnings in the manual about "lifting" the unit with one of those 3-to-2 adapters have me worried.(I have lot's of other stuff plugged in this way-pc, guitar amps, keyboard, sound module, etc, but they didn't print the warning in big bold letters in their manuals=) )

My question is (you hoped I'd get here eventually), how long of an extension cord can I run without risking damage to my recorder? Or is there really no damage to worry about here? I know little about electronics, only enough to be dangerous to myself and others=)

Thanks a lot!

 

[dobro]

I don't think you risk any damage to your recorder at all using a long extension cord. Think of the power lines coming into your residence - they're pretty long, right? The only danger I see is tripping over the extension. It'd be nice to have expensive equipment grounded, too.

 

[Emeric]

Get a good one though, not a cheapo lamp cord model, mogami probably makes one . Some of the outdoor extension cables are very heavy duty, usually orange or blue (not to be used as a guide). But, you do want some heavy gauge though, especially if your running your whole studio off of one circuit(which is another thing you will have to consider. How much amperage do you need for your equipment, will one circuit do it, or do you need two extension cords on seperate circuits). What distances are you working with?

 

[Sound Cracker]

No problem at all.

I have ran a whole studio, including a 800 watt bass amp on top of the 350watt per side monitor power amp all off of a single 15 amp circuit with no problems.

Those extention cords are rated for at least 15 amps, and I believe around 1200 watts continuous. Your little ol' home studio could figuratively run for months 24/7 off of one with no problems.

I agree though that you should get a quality cable.

You should consider though a Line Voltage Regulator if you are dealing with a house that old. It will also provide Power Conditioning too. Both are worthy of the price to your digital equipment.

Good luck.

 

[vianegativa]

thanks everyone!

After reading all of your posts, I did a quick rough measurement, came to something around 60 feet to the nearest 3prong outlet. Seems like I should be ok-and I'll be running only the ADAT and mixer off of the extension (my pc is running with a 3-2 adapter, has been for years, and it hasn't died yet-120mhz packard bell...whoo hoo! )

I'll be heading out tomorrow for a good quality heavy gauge extension cord, and to price line voltage regulators.

thanks again!