Let's discuss electrical safety!

[~reefchik~]

Ok, admittedly I'm something of a paranoiac when it comes to electricity and water in the same vicinity.
(I did cause a fire from a leaky HOB filter over a timer with my last reef tank back in 2003, so I have my reasons)

What I have set up right now is a plug-in GFI (Shockbuster) behind the tank.
Into that are plugged two powerstrips.  One is full.  It has the pump for the skimmer, the return pump for the DT, the lights for the refugium, the heater, and two Koralias.  Everything is properly drip-looped.

The other powerstrip has a timer with my lights all plugged in.  I need to figure out how to hide it under the stand or something, because it's sitting on the floor right now. 

Tom showed me a few days ago how to add up the wattage of the things you are plugging in and checking the total against what the powerstrip or timer are rated for, so that helps ease my mind. 

I'm considering adding one or two more LED strips pretty soon, so I'm thinking the second powerstrip will then be full. 
Does this sound ok to you?

[HUNGER]

well u can screw the power stripe into the in side of the stand   thats what some of us do or we just make our on recpticle boxs in side  our stands

[cyberwollf]

I screw my powerstrips into the stand and then make sure that all the cords have some sort of drip loop so water cant make its way to the outlets.

[Wall_Tank]

The beauty of a basement tank is that most of my outlets are in the ceiling.  Outlets in the sump area are in watertight boxes with splash covers.

All outlets are fed from multiple GFCI outlets and all circuits are on ArcFlash breakers.

[ghurlag]

I think ~reefckik~'s concern was more to do with making sure she isn't overloading the power strips, and not as much with where to mount them.  I'm not presently qualified to address this, since my philosophy is "no fire, no foul.".

[HUNGER]

the most important thing is to know that ur not overloading the breaker  the power strips should say on them  what the wattage is on them

[Wall_Tank]

As long as the strip has a circuit breaker on it, it will let you know you've over done it.....and it will do so safely.   But a strip that has been compromised by salt water corrosion is where the real concern is.

[HUNGER]

salt crep is very bad 

[reefman]

+1

[~reefchik~]

The beauty of a basement tank is that most of my outlets are in the ceiling.  Outlets in the sump area are in watertight boxes with splash covers.

All outlets are fed from multiple GFCI outlets and all circuits are on ArcFlash breakers.

  Awesome!!  Can I hire you?

 

That's gotta feel good, knowing you have done it right from the beginning. 

We almost put this tank in the basement, but we don't use it often enough.  That would have been ideal, in hindsight.

[~reefchik~]

ghurlag is right, that's my concern.  Come to think of it, since everything runs through the Shockbuster, it will shut off or knock out a breaker downstairs if I overdo it, right?  As long as I keep water and salt creep out of all the outlets we should be good, I think.  And so the rest of your answers apply as well.  Thanks!

[UD Flyer]

As long as the strip has a circuit breaker on it, it will let you know you've over done it.....and it will do so safely.   But a strip that has been compromised by salt water corrosion is where the real concern is.

Many people, including myself, have always put the powerstrips into the stand without taking into consideration of what happens if the tank starts leaking and gets to the live power or even the slat creep like others mentioned. Having everything together under the tank is convenient, but with my next tank depending on its size im going to have all the power going to a matching stand next to the tank, so if theres a problem water or salt will not come close to the power and then start a fire and add more problems. 

ghurlag is right, that's my concern.  Come to think of it, since everything runs through the Shockbuster, it will shut off or knock out a breaker downstairs if I overdo it, right?  As long as I keep water and salt creep out of all the outlets we should be good, I think.  And so the rest of your answers apply as well.  Thanks!

Im not certain but i think there are a few different shock buster brand GFCI's. If the one you have has a built in circuit breaker you should be good to go. If its a "portable" one the chances are it doesnt have a circuit breaker in it.

Heres a "portable" shock buster with a built in circuit breaker for reference: http://www.lowes.com/pd_145278-33536-30334054_4294832449+4294821637+4294819626_4294937087?catalogId=10051&productId=1135929&Ne=4294937087&currentURL=%2Fpl_GFCI_4294832449+4294821637+4294819626_4294937087_&identifier=GFCI&N=4294832449+4294821637+4294819626&langId=-1&Ns=p_product_quantity_sold|0&storeId=10151&ddkey=http:TopCategoriesDisplay

[~reefchik~]

This is the one I have, plugs right into the wall:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_223791-33536-30339015_0_?productId=1268933&Ntt=shockbuster&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=shockbuster$y=9$x=20&spellCorrectedTerm=

[chromiumlux]

Add up Amps not watts

[~reefchik~]

Yes, you're right.  Apparently there was some communication dissonance during that conversation.  Happens a lot around here 

[Joel]

I think the majority of your question was answered but I think a couple more things should be said.

Ground fault is a term referring to a short or leaking electricity making it's way to ground unintentionally. When you have leaking electricity and it gets grounded, that is a ground fault.

GFCI (ground fault circit interrupter) outlets and breakers detect flow of electricity and will trip (turn off electricity) if they detect a drop in electricity flow. So with the GFCI outlet you have, it is monitoring flow of electricity and will turn off the electricity if there is a sudden drop in flow. 

An example of this is lets say your heater breaks in your aquarium and is leaking electricity into the water and you don't know it. When you put your hand in the water it is possible that you will be the ground and electricity will flow through you (you'll get shocked!) The GFCI will detect this sudden drop in electricity flow (ground fault)  and trip and prevent you from a serious electrocution. GFCI and and arcfault type breakers essentially do the same thing but are more expensive.

Another option is to install a GFCI outlet in the first outlet box out of the breaker box, then all the rest of the outlets in that string will be GFCI protected.

The area that seemed kind of gray to me on this thread is that I believe the question was,  "Am I overloading my shock buster by plugging all these things into it" and I think it was stated that if it was overloaded, it (the shockbuster) or the breaker would trip. This is not entirely accurate, a GFCI is not a circuit breaker, it is a ground fault interrupter. If it is overloaded, it may not trip because this is not what it is designed to do.

If your Shock buster is rated at 15 amps but it's plugged into a 20 amp circuit, it is possible to have the shock buster overloaded and not trip your breaker, the GFCI shouldn't trip because a ground fault (a short) has not happened. That's a little confusing but valid. Compare this to plugging a space heater into a cheap extension cord, the breaker won't trip until the cord has failed (melted / shorted).

All you need to do is determine how many amps all the devises your using on your aquarium pulls and make sure the total amps are not higher than the shock buster is rated for. If you plan to use more than one shockbuster or power strip and you know your not overloading them, still add up the amps between the two of them and make sure the amps are not higher than your circuit breaker.

I think you already had the answer you needed but just in case I wanted to cover it a little more detailed on a couple of the subjects. Hope it helps (and not add more confusion).

Joel

[~reefchik~]

Thanks, Joel, good post.  That adds to my Electrical Education for the day 

So I now know that we have 15 amp breakers.  I now know that I was concerned about two separate issues, which are only related in reef tanks:  high power consumption from one outlet PLUS keeping water out of all of them.

We blew the circuit breaker for the living room right very soon after I got my second LED strip.  Knowing that doesn't draw a lot of current, still I wondered how close I was to having too much stuff plugged in here.  I also had a frag tank going, with a filter, two lights, and a heater.  And my DH plugged in an infra-red heating unit one day.  Out went the lights, the tank and the TV.  We may have even been running the blower motor on the cast iron stove if it was a super cold day.  We never ran the IR heater in here and haven't had any more problems.  Still...makes you think.

I didn't know you could install a GFCI at the breaker box to protect everything on that circuit.  Is that what you're saying?  Interesting!

[HUNGER]

yes u can insale a gfci at the breaker they have gfci breakers out   

[Joel]

this brings up another really good point that I didn't think to mention.

Regularly we plug our aquarium into an outlet that has many other appliances in our home already plugged into the same circuit.

This is something to consider when setting up an aquarium, does the outlet & service (circuit) have enough room for the amount of amps the aquarium is going to draw. In some cases a dedicated new circuit needs to be run or added to the aquarium or some thoughtful re arranging of other appliances in the home may be needed.

In many cases, it is not that hard to run another service to your tank, we got plenty of people here in the club who have done it and could help if this is something you wanted to do.

Yes GFCI and arcfault breaker are available to monitor & protect the entire circuit (all the plugs / outlets on that breaker) But, what i mentioned in my post before, for much less money, you can install a GFCI outlet in the first outlet box off your breaker box and this will also make the entire circuit ground fault protected.

To explain a little further, lets say in your breaker box, breaker #1 is what your aquarium is on. How this works is a wire inside your breaker box is attached to breaker # 1 and runs to an outlet, from there the wire leaves that outlet and runs to the next outlet and so on. Picture a string with several outlet boxes on it and the string delivers electricity to each outlet. If the very first outlet in this string has a GFCI outlet / plug installed in it (like what you typically see in bathrooms) then all the rest of the outlets after that will be GFCI protected as well. If the first outlet box in the string turns off, then no electricity is flowing to the rest of the outlets either.

These GFCI / Arcfault breakers are kind of pricey, $80 bucks + easily at a retail level. A good quality GFCI outlet is easily under 30 bucks and can be installed by the average person (don't need an electrician to install).

Joel

[HUNGER]

joel is tha man

[ghurlag]

I have my display tank on a dedicated circuit, including a GFCI outlet first in line, as Joel has recommended (it really isn't that hard).  I don't have to worry about "juice" fluctuations on the circuit since nothing else is sharing it...  And since I routinely have my hands in or near the tank (and wet with saltwater), it gives me peace of mind to know that while it may hurt, a shock should trip the GFCI before I become past tense.

[Lost Floridian]

Everyone has done a really good job of explaining most of the things that you, and everyone, should be concerned with.
When we were trying to work through the electrical issues on our tank a lot of good people chimed in here: http://www.ohioreef.com/index.php?topic=6591.0 and it also explains the differences between AFCIs and GFCIs and how it related to you, your house, and your fish tank - definitely worth a read.

Good luck, and as often is the case; the more I learn the more questions I have. So, if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.


              edited for spelling