electrical outlet question..

[JEAE21]

thanks rallysman.
The filter and heater will be having their "own" outlet..the one that has 2 holes.
I will be getting extension cords and I have 2 options.
Get 1 extension cord and put the multiple handle device thing. then plug in 3 things there..another filter, air pump, and a heat lamp(I barely use)

Or get 2 extension cords, and plug in the filter and heat lamp into the multiple device thing. and the air pump gets its own outlet hole(not the whole thing..just one of the 2 holes..) using a extension cord.

do you know the price of extension cords and the multiple outlet things are?
Do they sell really short extension cords..like 6' or less?

 

[Wolf3101]

With any extention cord...never buy the cheapest ones...get the heaviest wire possible. Your looking at 15.00 for the cord and 12.00 for a good power strip with it's own built in breaker...this will trip BEFORE overloading the house line. Most of the advice you've been given is sound from a safety standpoint but the load your talking about adding is a lot less than most household appliances.

One last thing...every outlet (wall plug) in your house does NOT have its own breaker, in fact thats rare. There are usually several of them on each breaker so unless you know for a fact that your drawing power from another circut using an extention cord to another outlet wont help...especially one thats CLOSE to where your tank is.

We run 3 large chest freezers on one 15 amp line in our garage with no problems at all. That equates to about 10 times the load your talking about running...just to give you a little perspective. We DID have to move the air compressor to another circut because it would trip the breaker when it came on.

 

[Red Devil]

thanks wolf; so you're saying that everything is gonna work as their supposed to right.
and not be like a weak filter, cold heater, not much oxygen heater, etc.

where is all that electricity coming from? what is the inside of an outlet like?

rallysman, what would happen if I overload a circuit..explosion? should I talk to PG&E before I start my 5 devices on only 4 outlets?

I would not intentionally overload anything and you cannot always trust the breaker will trip..my fire started under pacu tank and caused the 220 gal tank to explode due to heat from fire.I have since changed everything and also added smoke detectors..i am not trying to scare you in any way but definitly make sure everything is safe and working properly..nothing to fool around with.

 

[wataugachicken]

use power strips or surge protectors - NOT extension cords. power strips are meant to handle large loads, which is why they have several outlets on them. extension cords are generally meant to be used temporarily or with lighter loads. just get a power strip with a very long cord. the more connections you make between the wall outlet and the appliance, the more things can go wrong. appliance in outlet - one point of contact. appliance in power strip - 2 points of contact, appliance in strip w/ extension cord - three points of contact.

 

[JEAE21]

well after all the good and scary advice you guys gave me..
I will have to have someone show me in person..will call the electricity guy.

i'll go find a powerstrip??(the multitask thing) that has a long cord

red devil..what was the fire caused from..and is your tank glass?

 

[Ianab]

Each device should have it's power rating written on it someplace. So you can do a basic check to make sure you aren't overloading things.

However it may be in AMPs or Watts.

Amps are a measure of the current that is flowing while watts measure the power being used. They are of course related, watts = volts x amps.

So if you have a 100 watt light running off 115volts it is going to draw 100/115 = 0.87 Amps. So you could actually plug 17 of those into a 15 amp circuit and not overload anything.

There is a few other technical things that affect this, power factor and startup current etc, but for working out power to a fish tank this maths is close enough.

So when you look at your fish tank you might find:
Heater = 300w
Filter = 25w
Light = 100w
Airpump = 10 w

Total = 435 watts max

You know your wall outlet will supply 15a x 115v = 1725w

So i'ts fine to plug in a multibox and power things up.

Things get to be a problem when you plug in a toaster oven or a microwave that is going to draw maybe 1500w. Double up 2 of those and you start blowing circuit breakers

Cheers

Ian

P.S. Now who actually paid attention in Science class at school

 

[Wolf3101]

A greater danger than overloading are the exposed connections. I use Diaelectric grease on all of the plugs under my tanks to prevent moisture from building up and causing a short.

 

[JEAE21]

haha, no worries about the microwave.
I am only gonna let aquarium products share each other.

 

[torontoleafs_rock]

i would still recommend a gfi plug to keep u 100% safe.... plus if water ever gets in one of the plugs it will keep n e one from being electicuted

 

[Bderick67]

Wow lots of misinformation in this thread, Rally gives the best advise of all though. When talking electricity you need to be very careful as to what advise you follow.

Each of your devices (pumps/heaters/filters) have a power rating in watts or amps. Get that information and talk to an electrician about if it will be safe or not if you're concerned. Usually you have nothing to worry about.
You could post what you have here and we could tell you, but we don't know what other things are plugged into the same circuit (TV, toaster, etc.)

For your sitsuation, you are not going to have any problems as long as your house is properly wired. It is a good idea to have your aquarium accessories on a Ground Fault Circut Interuptor(GFCI) This very well could save you from being electrocuted(this means dead). A GFCI will not protect your wiring or your equipment though. The circut breakers/fuses protect wiring and surge protectors and overloads protect equipment.

Using a power strip is a good idea, but it will not expand your power capabilities. The PS with internal breaker are really not serving any purpose, except maybe saving a trip to your breaker box.

For anyone who is thinking ofdoing your own electrical. It looks simple because it is simple, but a simple mistake can be very deadly.