How many tanks off one plug in (outlet) ???

[dawnmarie]

Justin , You sound like an intelligent and responsible adult.
So I am going to assume I got the wrong impression that you were suggesting that you , or anyone else, would consider altering the electrical system of your domicile without the express knowledge and consent of the rightful owner.

You obviously are mature enough to know when to ask for professional assistance. We all , myself included, have to know our limitations.

I get the feeling that after receiving permission from your landlord you would have no problem doing the install with minimal technical assistance.

I will add my own offer of tech support that others have expressed.
Feel free to PM.

 

[knifegill]

This gets me wondering about my own redneck powerstrip messes. Maybe I should do some math...

 

[12 Volt Man]

I am actually sort of going through a similar experience with my fishroom.

its on one 15 amp circuit (which is technically maxed out at 1800w).

however, electrical codes (in Canada) state that to be safe, you should never run more than 80% of the total load of the circuit in continuous use - so around 1440w (12 amps) is your safe limit for one circuit. most places will have a similar safe limit at 80% or 85% of the max circuit load.

continuous use is defined as more than 3 hours per day.

in my fishroom I am at the safe limit (at just at or under 12 amps depending on what lightbulbs I put in my ceilings -the power compacts save a lot of wattage).

for your garage, as mentioned, its going to be too much with the 4 heaters alone.

to get your total amperage, add up the watts of all your equipment (which should be stated on a sticker somewhere on it ) and divide by 120 (120 is the voltage).

amps = watts/volts (which is usually 120v)

for the kind of load you are talking about between those two monster tanks, you will need to have the tanks split between two circuits for sure.

 

[Aridd]

Thanks for asking Justin, i was wondering the same and im no good with electricity either.

 

[JK47]

Justin , You sound like an intelligent and responsible adult.
So I am going to assume I got the wrong impression that you were suggesting that you , or anyone else, would consider altering the electrical system of your domicile without the express knowledge and consent of the rightful owner.

You obviously are mature enough to know when to ask for professional assistance. We all , myself included, have to know our limitations.

I get the feeling that after receiving permission from your landlord you would have no problem doing the install with minimal technical assistance.

I will add my own offer of tech support that others have expressed.
Feel free to PM.

Thanks for the offer, but again I will be calling in an electrician.
I was a home owner for 6 years before moving to WA and anyone one who has been to my place knows I take superb care of it. (not easy with two boys either) When I requested permission, I asked if I could have a certified electrician do another panel and would NOT ask the landlord to credit my rent for the upgrade (hoping that would help move things along) and I can't get response, I never do from him. I sure hope he does soon so I can keep this tank.

I am still suprised that outlet is exceeded by 4 heaters.... I wonder how many other people are exceeding the limits or risking fire and not even knowing it??? If any new members read this, do some quick math and make sure your good.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I am still suprised that outlet is exceeded by 4 heaters.... I wonder how many other people are exceeding the limits or risking fire and not even knowing it??? If any new members read this, do some quick math and make sure your good.

the thing is, normally 4 aquarium heaters would not overload one 15 amp circuit. but in this case, each heater is 400w which is a very powerful heater. each one draws 3 amps by itself.

400w is more than a normal 90g setup will draw altogether, as an example.

the catch being that in 99.9% of the time, everything will not be running at once.

but if it does, the wires will heat up and the circuit breaker will trip...in a perfect world.

this is where house fires can result.

the circuit is overloaded, gets too hot, and the breaker that is supposed to trip fails.

you have an electrical fire.

so, many people may have overloaded circuits and not realize it because they have not run into a situation yet where everything happens to run at once, and even then, it has to often run for an extended period of time before the circuit gets hot enough to trip the breaker.

there are a lot of variables to consider.

another thing that applies to motor driven pumps, chillers etc is that the intial current draw on start up is high (it takes energy to get the impellers/fans going from a static state) but the running amperage is much lower.

a classic example would be my vacuum cleaner. it is 12 amps (the total of what I am already running on the circuit). I can plug it into my fishroom and vacuum for a while with no issues.

two things are happening here:

1. most of the current draw is in the first second or so

and

2. I don't run it long enough for the wiring to get hot and trip the breaker.

all this electrical stuff can be complicated, which is why it is good to get a a qualified electrician's opinion in situations where you need to re-wire/modify circuits etc.

 

[Toby_H]

There is a ton of wonderful information contained in this thread.

This gets me wondering about my own redneck powerstrip messes. Maybe I should do some math...

I hope this thread has made a lot of people wonder that same thing...

 

[dawnmarie]

I asked if I could have a certified electrician do another panel and would NOT ask the landlord to credit my rent for the upgrade (hoping that would help move things along) and I can't get response, I never do from him. I sure hope he does soon so I can keep this tank.

I am still suprised that outlet is exceeded by 4 heaters.... I wonder how many other people are exceeding the limits or risking fire and not even knowing it??? If any new members read this, do some quick math and make sure your good.

Your landlord sounds like a short sighted putz.
I learned a long time ago that a happy tenant makes for a happy landlord.

You are probably very correct that many are overloading a circuit and won't find out until it is too late.
Just because they can doesn't mean they should. Oh Well
Good Luck

 

[JK47]

Great post 12VM, that makes sense. When I started this thread I was more concerned about tripping the cirtuit not fires etc... I really appreciate all the feedback guys. The heaters are neccessary because of the fish I am planning on keeping need about 84 degree range. It gets cold out there in the winter and I had to add a second 400w during the winter low to the 220g since one would not keep up. I got some planning to do that is for sure...

 

[JK47]

Your landlord sounds like a short sighted putz.
I learned a long time ago that a happy tenant makes for a happy landlord.

You are probably very correct that many are overloading a circuit and won't find out until it is too late.
Just because they can doesn't mean they should. Oh Well
Good Luck

I wish you were my landlord... Not to derail but its so frustrating not getting a response from him ever on anything. My wife and I decided it would be better to rent for a while and let someone else handle any "problems" that come up but I was wrong. We had to get my son out of the school he was in back in Oregon ASAP and now I'm still fixing things. At least he let's me keep as many tanks in the garage I want, he's got that going for him.