Can a <1000w external ON/OFF Switch cable be safely used with a 1000w PSU if the system doesn't draw near as much?

[Skyyblaze]

Ever since I had to move my PSU inwards in my new case I miss the ability to shut the PSU switch off so I thought of buying such a short extension cord with a built-in ON/OFF switch: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Cord-Cable-Switch-30cm/dp/B07QJWLZFJ

 

However they all say: "Can be used for devices with less than 1000w" and I do have a 1000w PSU (a be quiet! Straight Power 11) however my system doesn't even draw anywhere near 1000w, I suspect it's closer to 500w at full load if even that. Would it be safe to use the extension or do I risk damage or even a fire hazard using this?

 

Thanks for help in advance!

[Electronics Wizardy]

Why flip the switch off? For most uses I'd leave the system plugged in and on all the time. 

 

How much power does your system pull? Its probably fine with that switch though.

[Skyyblaze]

9 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why flip the switch off? For most uses I'd leave the system plugged in and on all the time. 

 

How much power does your system pull? Its probably fine with that switch though.

Thanks for the reply!

I would have to check my complete power draw but I run a 9800x3D and a 4070 Ti Super, both undervolted so I doubt I am even close to 550w. And to make a long story short, ever since I moved into this apartment many years ago I have a 50/50 chance tripping the breaker for the room when I turn the power-strip with my PC on.

 

This happened over the years with multiple different be Quiet! PSUs and with multiple high-quality power strips. It's fine if I flip the PSU off, turn the power-strip on and then the PSU back on.

On that power-strip I have the following connected:

-  PC

- Two monitors

- Speakers + Subwoofer

- Nintendo Switch Dock

- The charger for my landline phone

 

so it's not particularly overloaded either and I turn off the power-strip at night when I sleep. Ever since I moved to this case I have to unplug the PSU cable, turn the power-strip on and plug the cable back in. That can't be healthy for the cable or the connector long term.

 

And I'm in the EU by the way if it makes a difference so 240v circuit voltage.

[Average Nerd]

1 minute ago, Skyyblaze said:

ever since I moved into this apartment many years ago I have a 50/50 chance tripping the breaker for the room when I turn the power-strip with my PC on.

That's probably caused by the inrush current from all the power supplies attached to the strip.

If you leave the strip on, it won't happen again.

It's not bad for the cable, since the inrush current spike usually only lasts for half a second at most

[manikyath]

i wouldnt trust any sort of extension cord that isnt rated for the same current as the breaker it's connected behind.

 

as for tripping breakers when you turn on power strips.. you have huge inrush currents if you have all of those things come on together.. you're solving a problem you yourself created.

[CasualExtremist]

44 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i wouldnt trust any sort of extension cord that isnt rated for the same current as the breaker it's connected behind.

 

as for tripping breakers when you turn on power strips.. you have huge inrush currents if you have all of those things come on together.. you're solving a problem you yourself created.

It might have been overlooked that part of the scope of their situation is that IF there is that much "inrush", there is likely still a significant idle load. So I think they are trying to toggle everything connected to the extension cord off to save power when away. In that sense they did not create the problem in a manner that forces the issue. Assuming he need to toggle the devices off is necessary/useful.

1 hour ago, Skyyblaze said:

I doubt I am even close to 550w.
On that power-strip I have the following connected:

-  PC

- Two monitors

- Speakers + Subwoofer

- Nintendo Switch Dock

- The charger for my landline phone

 

And I'm in the EU by the way if it makes a difference so 240v circuit voltage.

**Btw, yes that amazon product you initially linked should be fine.

 

Given i don't know the electrical layout, I kind of have to assume everything needs to be on one outlet & therefore one breaker.

 

For that scenario:

One interesting technology you might not have considered yet is a Master/Slave extension cord. It could stagger the inrush current enough to prevent breaker issues and give you control over on/off of all devices by toggling just one on/off. If your monitors came with a remote, you'd plug one into the "master" slot and the rest into "slave" slots. This would give you control over on/off of all devices via the remote on/off of the "Master" monitor. Typically you try to leave the lowest idle power drawing device on the master since it technically will not be all the way off. Either way, there is typically a delay between the master and slave on/off toggle that should reduce the peak spike that is likely tripping the breaker.

 

I found a video explaining the Master/Slave Extension cord functionality. The specific device they use in the video is 120v. I have yet to see any trusted brands in 240v, but I also am browsing from the US so it might be hiding 240v from me. Should give you a decent place to start looking at the least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqk63Q5ZHX0

 

Best I could find for 240v is on ebay... But that did bring up individually switched outlet strips that would let you manually control what is on. See below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/315181446266

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266187206222

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124250650095

 

Do I have much faith in ebay sellers and their products being good quality? Not really, but maybe it is a place to start looking at options.

Especially the one where the USB male plug is the Master controller. I bet one of your devices has a USB port you could tap into and get creative with.

 

 

[manikyath]

8 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

IF there is that much "inrush", there is likely still a significant idle load.

there is no relation between inrush and idle load.

 

also, if one of said devices is a charging dock for a phone, turning power off literally wastes power, because the device will run off battery, and recharging said battery takes more power than was consumed by the device (that's just a fact of life with batteries)

 

my speaker system is behind an extension cord switch, but that is because otherwise i'm individually turning 3 devices on and off.

 

and as for the power consumption of two turned off displays.. we're talking pennies annually.

[CasualExtremist]

11 minutes ago, manikyath said:

recharging said battery takes more power than was consumed by the device

That is a fascinating and good point. However, you default all other factors to negligible to rationalize never cutting power to the devices. Why do you want to focus attention to this negligible detail? It only becomes mildly relevant when scaled up past laptop battery sizes. Argument for the sake of argument?

 

13 minutes ago, manikyath said:

there is no relation between inrush and idle load.

Without extensive research into their specifics, I consider it more ideal to assume load where it is shown to be present, even if temporarily. To what end is your statement useful when it is stated that the peak load is capable of tripping the breaker? We don't have the idle specs.

 

16 minutes ago, manikyath said:

and as for the power consumption of two turned off displays.. we're talking pennies annually.

I don't believe that is a constant variable you can broadly apply as a certainty.

Overall seemingly jumping to many conclusions to generate your case.

 

I would also point out that even if they are not truly saving any significant money or energy, some people like to know the device is isolated from the grid while away and/or sleeping to reduce potential exposure to things like power surges.

 

Why so hell bent on the idea of leaving the devices always on/idle when it is clear that is not the goal stated in the initial thread post?

[manikyath]

4 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

That is a fascinating and good point. However, you default all other factors to negligible to rationalize never cutting power to the devices. Why do you want to focus attention to this negligible detail? It only becomes mildly relevant when scaled up past laptop battery sizes. Argument for the sake of argument?

because all of this is neglible. it's just that the phone charger's neglible power draw is actually a net positive vs unplugging it.

5 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

Without extensive research into their specifics, I consider it more ideal to assume load where it is shown to be present, even if temporarily. To what end is your statement useful when it is stated that the peak load is capable of tripping the breaker? We don't have the idle specs.

you're the one forming conclusions where there is nothing to base it off, it's not about my statement being useful, it's about your connection between the two being completely invalid.. as you so nicely state "without knowing the specs". you're the one dreaming up conclusions, not me.

6 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

I don't believe that is a constant variable you can broadly apply as a certainty.

Overall seemingly jumping to many conclusions to generate your case.

that's why crap like energy star exists.. to ensure devices' "off" power consumption is as close to zero as physically possible. there's plenty of people smarter than you and i that have made their career on that.

 

9 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

Why so hell bent on the idea of leaving the devices always on/idle when it is clear that is not the goal stated in the initial thread post?

i'm not hell bent on anything.. i'm just saying that if OP wonders where their problem comes from, it's one they created by having all the devices on their desk behind a single power switch, and that this is largely an unnecessary problem to have, and should not be fixed with an amazon no-name not properly rated power cord with a 10 cent switch glued in the middle.

 

11 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

I would also point out that even if they are not truly saving any significant money or energy, some people like to know the device is isolated from the grid while away and/or sleeping to reduce potential exposure to things like power surges.

presuming OP is in mainland EU, power surges arent really a thing here outside from lightning strikes, which.. it might surprise you, but switches in power cords arent guaranteed to stop that. so if that's the goal, unplugging is the order of the day.. but again, realisticly, between the nuisance and contact wear of doing this every day, for the VERY slight off chance something might go wrong on a particularly heavy storm day it doesnt make much sense to have this daily pattern.

 

point being.. if OP wants to fix the problem of their power strip switch tripping the breaker, the solution is not a cheap amazon power cord. there's a breadth of other ways to fix this, most affordably of them all being "nothing at all".

 

ironically.. if OP would prefer a single switch solution for the whole room, the solution is one of those smart plugs with a triac (not the relay ones that click), because they always turn on when mains AC crosses zero, essentially making inrush current ramp gently with the mains voltage.

[CasualExtremist]

41 minutes ago, manikyath said:

ironically.. if OP would prefer a single switch solution for the whole room, the solution is one of those smart plugs with a triac (not the relay ones that click), because they always turn on when mains AC crosses zero, essentially making inrush current ramp gently with the mains voltage.

Now that is a good idea. Do you happen to have links? My initial searching brings up seemingly industrial products that are potentially overkill in design and cost.

[manikyath]

12 minutes ago, CasualExtremist said:

Now that is a good idea. Do you happen to have links? My initial searching brings up seemingly industrial products that are potentially overkill in design and cost.

products that can do dimming are always triac, just need to make sure they dont do that "fade on and off" crap.

 

EDIT: i completely overlooked.. imagine if they actually still made dimmers that can pass any propper amount of power

[Skyyblaze]

Wow I didn't mean to kick off a whole discussion about all the intricacies but either way thanks for all the replies and insight! What would such a single-switch solution need? I have a running Philips Hue system so if anyone can recommend me a Hue compatible smart plug that is Hue compatible and can handle inrush current well I would be happy to buy it.

 

As for why I turn off my power strip at night:

1: My PC doesn't shut off all USB power when I turn it off and I haven't found a setting in the BIOS to handle this

 

2: It's mostly a cultural thing I suppose. Power is quite expensive here and basically most people are raised to switch off their power-strips when they are out of the house or asleep bar their router and landline phones. Even in the office of my company we shut down absolutely everything including lights bar the router and the main server when we leave.

 

The more I think about the problem the more I think the culprit is at the other end of the power strip. Since the power strip is behind my desk I have no easy way to reach the actual switch on it so I have one of these things between the power strip and the wall outlet because the actual wall outlet is far easier to reach for me:

 

https://www.kodi.de/p/15999900-zwischenstecker-mit-schalter-kodi-basic

 

they are supposedly rated for over 3000w but who knows if they can actually handle the inrush current. I'll remove it and turn the actual power-strip switch on the next few days and see if it fixes it even if it means crawling behind my desk each morning. If that is indeed the issue, is there any better solution via a smart plug as I mentioned before? 

[manikyath]

56 minutes ago, Skyyblaze said:

I have a running Philips Hue system so if anyone can recommend me a Hue compatible smart plug that is Hue compatible and can handle inrush current well I would be happy to buy it.

look for "philips hue smart plug" on your retailer of choice, verify it's rated 2300 watts or thereabouts

if philips hue can trigger multiple plugs with a slight delay, that's your inrush current solution. (literally a second is enough)

56 minutes ago, Skyyblaze said:

1: My PC doesn't shut off all USB power when I turn it off and I haven't found a setting in the BIOS to handle this

i cant quite recall for sure off hand, but i'm sure it's called something along the lines of "deep S5"

 

56 minutes ago, Skyyblaze said:

 

2: It's mostly a cultural thing I suppose. Power is quite expensive here and basically most people are raised to switch off their power-strips when they are out of the house or asleep bar their router and landline phones. Even in the office of my company we shut down absolutely everything including lights bar the router and the main server when we leave.

power is expensive here too, but there's a great rule of thumb you can apply: there's 8.76 "kilohours" in a year, multiple the power draw of a device (such as a router) by 8.76, and you have it's annual power consumption in kwh, then multiply that by your cost per kwh and you have the annual cost to run that device.

 

on that note.. i do hope if you're power concious you actually turn off your philips hue light bulbs when the lights are off, because every single one of them is using a few watts just to keep a wifi connection active.

 

56 minutes ago, Skyyblaze said:

 

https://www.kodi.de/p/15999900-zwischenstecker-mit-schalter-kodi-basic

those are built with propper 16A rated switches (as required by EU standards) and as a cost saving measure basicly everything else inside them is thick brass pressed into the shape of connectons needed as opposed to wires. they're cost cut to the point of there not being any weak points in them, ironically.

 

56 minutes ago, Skyyblaze said:

is there any better solution via a smart plug as I mentioned before? 

if you're power concious, again.. i should mention, smart power plugs consume power. if it's your thing and you enjoy it by any means go ahead, it's a good deed... but you also wouldnt be the first person to actually increase their power consuption by using "smart power saving devices".

 

i ordered some goodies from shelly the other day, because i want to see how much power their smart switches use while connected to LAN as opposed to connected to wifi, with having a fairly small roof plus the long term goal of being able to run at least a day or two off the grid (see the 8-bit guy's solar videos for reference) having my smart crap not sap away battery power is a pretty big consideration.