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Will Spencer 
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 Topic: More Power!!!
Posted: November 19 2003 at 8:35pm |
The other day I found, (as I have long suspected, but never verified,) that all of the power in my basement office at home is on the same circuit. This one circuit is currently running 3 tanks, and 3 computer systems. I finally blew the breaker the other day when I turned on the vacume to vacume the floor.
My problem is that on Thanksgiving weekend I will be bringing home my 4th tank. It's power requirements will be much higher than my other 3 put together.
Anyway, I'm running a new line on a new circuit. I'm considering putting enough wall outlets behind the tank that I won't need to use powerstrips. Does anyone see any problems with this? For those of you with large tanks and high power requirements, what would you do if you had it to do again, or what have you done that's worked well?
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jfinch
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Posted: November 19 2003 at 8:50pm |
If it can be planned, it's a good idea to dedicate a full circuit to a big tank or at least have two circuits in the room the tank will be located.
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rstruhs
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Posted: November 19 2003 at 10:21pm |
I don't have experience wiring for large aquaria, however, I do have experience wiring for high availability and redundancy. IMHO, I would put at least two circuits in, both on GFCI at the breaker, each breaker on a different bus. Run the lights and motors on separate circuits. And give some thought to a couple of battery backups. I would also run 10/2 w/ground wiring instead of 12 or 14/2 w/ground. Just something to think about.
Jon may disagree with me. If so, he is an engineer, so go by what he says.
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Will Spencer
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Posted: November 19 2003 at 10:43pm |
My new tank will be on a dedicated circuit. I like the idea of 2 circuits and may do it just because it would be easier to do now while I'm doing it than it would to decide to do it later. Unfortunately I only have 1 bus in the breaker box and right now installing a new box it out of the question.
Thanks for your advice.
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jfinch
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Posted: November 19 2003 at 10:57pm |
ya, what rstruhs said  .
I'm a bit flattered that you might think I know more about electricity then you. But I'm a chemical engineer, not electrical and it sounds like you do know what your talking about and it sounds like sound advice. I figure my 125 will draw close to 13 amps at peak. And could actually pull more then that during start-up of pumps or lights, so two circuits would be a good idea. But many people with big tanks don't have redundant wiring and they seem to get by.
(ohh, 10/2 is so much harder to pull then 12/2  )
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 20 2003 at 7:11am |
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I was lucky enough to have two wall outlets on opposite sides of my main aquarium that were on different circuits. It was an excellent setup and I didn't have to do anything extra!
Installing a bunch of outlets to serve the tank will make it look weird when selling the house. Might be better to use power strips from two separate outlets on separate breakers.
My 2 cents
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Will Spencer
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Posted: November 20 2003 at 1:15pm |
Good point mark. I was also thinking about how 3 or 4 timers for lights are easier to put on a power strip or two than each on 1 outlet making the 2nd socket on the outlet useless. also having that power off switch on powerstrips is nice as wells as the surge protection on the better strips.
Also it seems that I will be using 12/2 cable as that is what I have and I've already pulled it through the house.
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rstruhs
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Posted: November 20 2003 at 9:53pm |
Mark and Jon have both made good points. That's what many heads can do!
I have seen some "power strip extenders" (I think that is what they were called) in computer magazines. They are a short extension cord that you can plug A/C converters into (For the computer usage) or for us, timers! I will look around and try to find them again. They might help us be able to use all of the plugs in a power strip.
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GonZo
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Posted: November 21 2003 at 10:24am |
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As my house was built in the '80s (and the developers wern't big on my power needs) I run my tank on two Industrial Strength power strips. They have 15' long, heavy gague cable with an internal GFI and high surge protection. One strip powers the lights and timers, the other does the heater, fan, and pumps. Both are mounted to the back of my stand near the top to prevent them from getting wet. They are long enough that I can connect them to any outlet in the room and just run the cord along the wall to the tank. It's not pretty but I don't worry about problematic power draw on the outlet or frying my equipment.
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Cortney (West Jordan)
The joy of discovery is certainly the liveliest that the mind of man can ever feel. - Claude Bernard
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mereefer
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Posted: November 27 2003 at 8:51am |
you can never have too much power. I pull 10/3,and two 10/2 for power to my tank. But I have a room right next too my tank for all the goodies thats how I can have a 60 gallon drum for premixed saltwater plus circulation and heating, r/o cluster outlets ,water drain and 90 gallon sump for a 90 gallon show tank. I have found some great deals on 220 volt pump(like iwaki wrlxt-40 for $25) so all of this comes in handy if you have the room
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Will Spencer
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Posted: November 28 2003 at 1:38pm |
Well I finally got more power. I have one circuit dedicated to my new tank. I would have liked two, but to to several constraints I did not get my wish. The new tank arrives tomorrow and I can't wait. Thanks for all of the suggestions and comments.
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