NEC PA653UL Projector Actual Current Draw at 230V vs Epson EB-L615U Power Usage

Hi

I am looking at buying 2 NEC PA653UL projectors to stack them to create 1 projection image, but when looking at the input current specification I am in doubt if this is going to work. The input current specification states that it can draw from 4.5A to 10.2A, which seems unnaturally high. The maximum wattage is 672W and Voltage goes from 100 to 240V.


1. Now I would like to know if this 10.2A is accurate because it seems too high?

2. If the 10.2A is not correct how can I know what the required current is because I'm also looking at the Epson EB-L615U which maximum power usage is like 350W and then I will rather take that one but the problem is that Epson does not give its current requirements?


(I am from South Africa so the Voltage that the projector will run on is 230V)


I've attached the spec sheet of this projector but others are available online.


Thank you!

Interestingly. it says the "Power requirements" are 100 – 240V AC and "Input Current" is 10.2A - 4.5A.  Given that they put the lowest voltage first and the highest current first, I would assume that the 10.2 A goes with 100 V and the 4.5 A goes with the 240 V.  If the electrical load of the projector was nice and linear, like a pure resistance, I would expect the power draw at 100 V to be 10.2 A * 100 V = 1020 W.  And at 240 V, it would be 4.5 A * 240 V = 1080 W.  (Notice that the current changes with voltage but the power is about the same.)  But the spec sheet says the "Power Consumption" is only 672 W in non-ECO mode.Most likely the load is quite non-linear, thus the power factor is less than 1.  This means that the current is not perfectly aligned with the voltage and/or it is distorted.  I would expect the main load to be the light source and electronics to drive it.  Since this is a laser LED, rectifier in the power supply probably distorts the waveform of the current drawn from the mains quite significantly away from a pure sine wave.  Thus, instead of 1000-ish watts being drawn, it is the apparent power is 1000-ish VA.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor#Non-linear_loads for details.If you are worried about overloading the supply circuit you should probably use the current levels in the spec to judge load capability of your power source.  And you should note that because you have a 230 V supply, the current you will see is closer to 4.5 A.As far as the Epson EB-L615U goes, it seems like it is a higher efficiency projector.  It is a 6000 lumen projector which is close to the NEC which is spec'd at 6500 lumens, while the power draw is nearly half.  The light source is also a laser diode so it may also have the same sort of relationship between power consumption and Input Current.  Thus, if it draws 350 W and the NEC draws 672 W, perhaps at 240 V the Brother draws 4.5 A * 350 W / 672 W or only about 2.34 A.Sorry I can't give you more certain numbers here.  Unfortunately neither of the spec sheets say anything about power factor correction (PFC) which helps in linearizing their loads.  If you really want to know, I would recommend asking the manufacturers how best to size the circuit breakers for these loads.

Hi John Thank you for taking the time to give me such an incredible response and clearing up my questions. I really appreciate it!!

My pleasure. -JD