Mayday, Mayday, Mayday?. Technical Question Regarding Electrical??

[Walker_]

Thanks everyone for your input! Nice to have some good heads to pick!
OK!!! So after some suggestions and a bit more research/experimentation these are my findings…..


1.
I asked a friend of mine who is an electrical engineer & electrician and he told me:

Running two GFIs in the same line will NOT cause anything funny to happen, it Is simply not necessary in most instances….

My logic for having 2:
Of all the equipment in the tank the lights are the most complex, there-for I reasoned there is a higher chance of them leaking power, etc… and tripping a GFI. By placing the lights on a separate GFI I was simply hoping to avoid this scenario: I leave home for a few days, the lights pop the GFI, all pumps heaters etc are also killed, and I have no fish when I get home… By adding a backup GFI in the line, if the lights were to pop the GFI the rest of the tank would remain operational, so its sort of a redundancy thing…

2.
I opened the box that houses my ballasts and was able to find the following when running things through both GFIs:

I can run the fans for an indefinite period of time with no inherent issues…
I can run the Right ballast with no inherent issues….
I can run the Left ballast with no inherent issues….
IF I run BOTH ballasts at the same time THEN I get the closest GFI tripping… Regardless if it is on a single or a dual GFI…

This leads me to the question and hopefully someone can tell me: what is the Power Factor (PF) for a PL-PAC- 400MH at startup, as well as all the way up until the bulbs are at temperature?
Or more specifically how many amps would 2 units pull at peak and contin? And before someone give me I=E/P remember this is single phase AC and im betting there are a few capacitors and resistors in these ballasts so I “think” I should be using I=P÷(E x PF)
BTW if there is an expert out there that is looking at this and shaking her/his head Please let me know, I could be totally out to lunch with these formulas.

So at this point Im thinking exactally what Galaxy said.... That the GFIs are tripping because the current pull as the ballasts are warming up is too great, Apparently a GFI WILL trip if feels an unsafe current draw… the GFIs I am using are rated for 15 Amps contin and 20 amps peak….
I did everything with 10Gauge cable and at the moment things are just on a 15 amp braker "Crosses fingures" HOWEVER the tank WILL be on a dedicated 30 amp line and a dedicted 20 amp line when I finally finish my renovations and managed to string new conduit to the room that its going in...
So I think Ill probabbly just have to either add a second timer, and stagger the start times, OR get a third GFI and run each light off of one, AND wire each one individually straight into the 30 AMP line...


Thanks guys!!!!!


-----------------------------------
Iv had a few PMs about the funny plumbing so here is a post on the topic:

All of those hoses btw are for running the pumps etc… I built things so I could plum the tank into street water and street sewage. The idea being that all one would have to do to change water, add water, back flush the diatom, back flush the bio, Prime the diatom, Or add chems that need to be dissolved (IE calcium if this thing ever goes salt) is to simply turn a series of valves in a particular sequence…. IE no mess, no fuss… However seeing as this tank is NOT running yet it remains to be seen how effective this theory is, here are some pics of the pluming, once again this is a work in progress so that’s my excuse as to why things are still a bit ratty…

-walk

pps:
Thanks Sardesign!!! Maybe that would be a nice change in jobs, seeing as anything has got to pay better than what Im doing now!!!!!
lol how easy is it for a Canuck to get a job down there?!!

 

[jimmyyahoo]

I have absolutely nothing constructive to say in the way of your problem...

But man that mess o wires and tubes and more wires and boxes... ITS BEAUTIFUL!

DIY DREAMSCAPE! WTG YOU!

 

[got_nailed]

I need to get into my 2 300 gallon tanks and get a good inventory on equipment, pics, and a diagram on how it all works. One’s a planted fresh so it’s not too bad and the other is a salt with all the extras (lacking a little in lighting).

As for the volts amps watts…
Volts X amps = watts.
120 X 15 = 1800


As for my fresh water system I’m running. About 400 total gallons
1 20 amp for my 2 main pumps
1 20 amp for my lighting. If my timers are not set right it will trip.
1 15 amp for UV
1 15 amp for my for 2 power heads, ph monitor, Co2 system, and timer control box.
Set up with auto generator backup.


My salt water system has; about 500 total gallons
1 20 amp for my 2 main pumps
1 15 amp for secondary pump and small light box
Set up with auto generator backup.
1 15 amp for UV
2 20 amp for my lighting. If my timers are not set right it will trip.
1 15 amp for my for 4 power heads and 2 timer control boxes.
Set up with auto generator backup.
1 15 amp for skimmer, calcium reactor, and ph monitor


I had to change over my house / business over to 2 meters. My business is running on 2 200 amp panels and my house is on 2 200 amp panels. Both of my big tanks are on one 200 amp panel (pulling about 190 if you add it up).

I do know my system is over done with the electrical but it’s what I worked it all out to be when I started to plain it all out.


If you let me know which one you want drawn out I will do one of them.

 

[Minnesota Fats]

I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about nor do I have any clue as to what is going on in any of those pictures, but that looks freakin awesome.

 

[Walker_]

Hey thanks a lot guys!!! I think maybe I had a bit too much time on my hands..... Probably time to get out and find a new GF and stop spending time building a tank!!!!!!!

 

[djlen]

I'm having a difficult time figuring out what this is doing on the planted tank forum.


Len

 

[sardesign]

Simple solution (probably already stated above)... run the lights on a completely seperate circuit. If they do blow, they will leave the rest of your tank equip. intact. They will also not be able to draw enough power to blow that breaker.

Your theoretical solution about having two GFIs makes sense... but only in theory. I have a feeling if that one GFI trips it's going to trip because of the total power being pulled so the other GFI might trip too. It's not necessarily because it starts at the light. I may be wrong and I'm way too tired ATM to really think about it, but you would be much safer just using two circuits. One for the lights and one for the other equip.