Power multiple devices, single outlet

Ray, you are making this way more complicated then it has to be.

you can easily get an adapter that converts a duplex outlet into a 6 - way.

What if I want to run only a single power cable, instead of multiple power cables? And having 6 power bricks on the wall looks really unattractive...

--ray n.

I know what you are saying. I am in a wall wart jungle here too. I bought a strip with the receptacles spaced out to permit 6 warts but it is still a cludgy solution. The problem is the manufacturers say you should only use their wart for their equipment. (warranty, safety and such) I would be the first to jump at a unified wall wart replacement power supply that had lots of ports using the common voltages so I only had one supply plugged in and sucking juice. I have heard estimates that people can spend over $50 a year on wall warts alone.

Part of the UL certification for each device involves circuits unique to that brick. You know the current and VAC voltage. But do you know what else is inside each brick? For example, what is the breakdown voltage? How is the output power electrically related to earth ground or is it isolated? If you power multiple devices from same 'brick', then now each device no longer has electrical isolation from the others. Is this a problem? You need details of circuits inside the separate appliances to answer your question.

A second point bothers me. Code says an outlet must be located within 6 feet of an appliance located along the wall. How is it that the 20 amp receptacle is more than 30 feet? Is it not better to run a new receptacle where the power will be used? Better to run 120 VAC most of those 30 feet rather than

Third, is that receptacle 20 amp or 15 amp? 15 amp receptacles are on 20 amp circuit breakers. That does not mean the receptacle is 20 amps (a minor question).

Tom,

Thank you for your very informative post.

The 3 devices in question, according to their specs, have the following power requirements:

1. 9-15V AC, min 10VA or 9-15V DC, min 8W.
2. 9-15V AC, min 10VA or 9-15V DC, min 8W.
3. 12-24V AC or DC, min 13VA

Devices 1 and 2 includes 12V AC, 9.6 VA power bricks. Device 3 includes a

Now, I am able to pick up a 12VAC 4500mA/54 VA adapter from Parts Express. All these three devices seem to be able to use 12V AC power, and 54 VA is enough for all three devices. Note that these are low power devices. They are not appliances. More specifically, they are network cameras and accessories.

This is an installation in a residential house, and I _cannot_ put conduits on the walls, nor open the dry walls. My idea was to use above adapter, run lamp wire to the devices 30 feet away, and split it three way to the devices.

Will this work? Is there a better solution?

There are two issues (addressed below) concerning whether it will work - a power issue and a signal issue.

Power issue: It might work, if the specs are accurate. That means that the transformer must NOT, under any circumstances, put out more than 15 vac. Often, devices using wall warts depend on the wall wart being electrically small enough that it's output voltage is "dragged down" by the device so that it won't provide too high a voltage to the device. Your parts express transformer is electrically big and so its voltage will not be dragged down as much as a smaller unit. So it is important that its output voltage with no load attached be less than 15 vac. That's issue #1

Signal issue: You may create a possibly harmful signal path between the cameras, since they will share a common supply. The devices may depend on the wall wart to provide an isolated supply. Impossible to predict whether that will happen without detailed knowledge of the devices.