Thanks! Getting there slowly but surely. Can't wait to get those machines powered up more often when the electrics are sorted out
Converting a "Garden Store" to an Arcade room
- Thread starter Shun
- Start date
I think you are being as cautious as needed. I'm not an electrician but I just wanted to isolate the room. Crack on
going to be a nice space when finished
Yeah having the room isolated from the rest of the house would be nice, even having it on its own circuit breaker would be better as well. Problem is, the consumer unit is at the front of the house and this room is at the back of the house and I don’t fancy routing a new cable through the rest of the house 😅. The circuit that I have in this room already is a 20amp radial so is fine to add on to.I think you are being as cautious as needed. I'm not an electrician but I just wanted to isolate the room. Crack on
I forgot to add Donkey Kong (how could I!) to that spreadsheet for its power usage. I have it noted down here as 0.487amps. So less than half an amp which is less than my PC powered MAME machine. In fact it’s the least power hungry of my machines which is surprising seeing as it was made in 1981. The Pac-Man cab might be less though. It’s in bits at the moment so I can’t measure it 😅.
If anyone is interested I measured the amp usage with one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/230V-250V-Monitor-Consumption-Calculator-Analyzer/dp/B07FZZ17ZY
Does the job but the battery on them runs out after a couple of years and a new one needs to be soldered in for it to work again. Had to do this recently by buying one of these:
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Yeah, I can’t wait to get this room finished. It should have been almost finished by now but I ruptured my achilles tendon in May last year playing Football, so lost most of the summer as I had to wear a big boot to allow it to repair. I’m hoping to get it mostly done by the end of this Summer 👍.
Phils Arcade
Senior Member
Just remember that many machines, not just arcade ones, will have a peak load and a continuous load. The peak load would occur when you first turn on the machine. Once warmed up, usually within seconds for an arcade machine, the load would normally be lower. I've seen people have all their machines come one at once and trip a breaker, especially if the peak current is close to the trip, but turning them on one at a time is fine.
For what you have though, you should be fine.
You can also run armoured cabling outside, either run along a wall, or underground if needed, rather than trying to get it through the house.
For what you have though, you should be fine.
You can also run armoured cabling outside, either run along a wall, or underground if needed, rather than trying to get it through the house.
Good point. Would turning the machines on, one by one stop that from happening? I’m thinking of buying some remote control power socket adaptors when I get all the machines plugged in so I don’t have flick the switch on behind each machine.
Phils Arcade
Senior Member
You should be fine.
I've got those, the ones you can connect to Alexa or Siri and just ask to turn the machines on, or in banks, etc... Great when they work, lol.
I've got those, the ones you can connect to Alexa or Siri and just ask to turn the machines on, or in banks, etc... Great when they work, lol.
Nice one mate.
I'll be knocking down my garage and redoing it within the next couple of years once the mortgage is paid off. It's really interesting seeing how you have done your space and also how Muddymusic did his garage. Gives me something to look forward to!
I'll be knocking down my garage and redoing it within the next couple of years once the mortgage is paid off. It's really interesting seeing how you have done your space and also how Muddymusic did his garage. Gives me something to look forward to!
Thanks mate. Knocking down and starting again would have been what I wanted to do as well. When I was getting quotes on the roof I also asked for some quotes for integrating the room into the rest of the house. They said that I would have to get the concrete tiled floor dug up before they even started and I think it ended up being at least £30k all in. That's a big ask when nursery fees are around £1k a month at the moment! So I went with the cheap optionNice one mate.
I'll be knocking down my garage and redoing it within the next couple of years once the mortgage is paid off. It's really interesting seeing how you have done your space and also how Muddymusic did his garage. Gives me something to look forward to!
.Did Muddy post a thread about doing up his garage? Would be great to see other ideas for inspiration.
Naa, you don't need to knock down what you have mate, your space looks awesome.
I have a prefab garage at the back of the house on it's last legs. Shane (Robotech) helped me a couple of years back plug some holes and extend the life of it a couple of years. I've got cabs in there but it's too grim to do anything in there so it needs sorting.
Yeah, Muddymusic did a thread a while back showing his progress. Not sure how I'd find it tbh, I'll have a wee search later and see if I can dig it out. Unless @muddymusic can point us in the right dorection.
I have a prefab garage at the back of the house on it's last legs. Shane (Robotech) helped me a couple of years back plug some holes and extend the life of it a couple of years. I've got cabs in there but it's too grim to do anything in there so it needs sorting.
Yeah, Muddymusic did a thread a while back showing his progress. Not sure how I'd find it tbh, I'll have a wee search later and see if I can dig it out. Unless @muddymusic can point us in the right dorection.
Here's Muddymusics garage conversion, some pics are missing but there are some pics still in there. Maybe give you some ideas mate?
https://www.ukvac.com/forum/threads/muddymusics-garage-arcade.29705/
https://www.ukvac.com/forum/threads/muddymusics-garage-arcade.29705/
Thanks for finding that mate. Have been trying to look for that thread today.
I've fully finished my space since then. I'll get a new thread done showing what I did for the upgraded space. Since I've done it I now no longer need to run a dehumidifier at all which is nice, it keeps constant in there.
You should be OK with a 20amp the biggest risk of popping the breaker will be what is called inrush current, old machines with the transformers etc. create a much higher inrush current and you can have specific breaker types (A,B,C,D) that can handle different current curves, usually type C in a home which is not great at handling this. I never turn mine on in one go even though I could group and do it with Google as they are all on smart plugs.
I've read through your original thread, and the room looks great as it was. Looking forward to seeing what else has been done with the space.
Yeah, I'm going to get some smart plugs and turn them on either one at a time or in smaller groups.
Great work so far @Shun. You've taken on some decent work there and some new skills found. Feels good when it starts coming together.
I converted my integral garage into a dedicated space for my cabs and stuff. It's only small, but having a space for it all, really makes you keep it tidy and the games playable.
Looking forward to the next updates.
I converted my integral garage into a dedicated space for my cabs and stuff. It's only small, but having a space for it all, really makes you keep it tidy and the games playable.
Looking forward to the next updates.
Thanks
. It really start coming together recently. I had some holiday left over before the end of the financial year, so took four/five days off recently to finishing the wall insulation and put in the false ceiling frame. With the evenings getting lighter, I'm hoping to do some work on the room during the week. Is this your blog: https://neilsarcadediary.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/garage-to-games-room/. If so, it looks great!Thanks
Yep, that's me! Thank you. Looking forward to seeing your next update.