A GFCI saved me when my heater broke. As soon as the glass broke, I heard the thing click and the power went off. A $20 outlet from the Home Depot is worth nothing when compared to your life.
Power supply??
- Thread starter NewLuv4Fish
- Start date
Ok I bought one of the power strips they have at the pet store, the one that has a timer for the lights and wavemaker,etc. ...but it says NOT for aquarium use!!...and it was sold at a petstore...im so confused.
I am guessing its one of the coralife units. There was some talk about them before about being intended for aquariums but with a warning on them that says not for aquarium use. If I remember they used to cover up the 'not for aquarium use' with a sticker so you wouldnt see it! But seriously, its a liability thing, other than the fact it doesnt have a GFCI its realy no different than any other powerstrip. If your worried, like stated above, get a GFCI strip and plug your new strip into it.
I am only saying this because this person hasnt been on AC for several months (normally I wouldnt ever poke fun at anyone) but man! Thats the funniest thing I've seen in a while. 1 word spelled right... the letters of the acronym arent even in the order they were worded out (all of them out of order except the first one, G for cryin out loud)! For someone with thousands of posts you'd figure they could either spell or know atleast how to use google, lol. Man this is an old thread.
I am only saying this because this person hasnt been on AC for several months (normally I wouldnt ever poke fun at anyone) but man! Thats the funniest thing I've seen in a while. 1 word spelled right... the letters of the acronym arent even in the order they were worded out (all of them out of order except the first one, G for cryin out loud)! For someone with thousands of posts you'd figure they could either spell or know atleast how to use google, lol. Man this is an old thread.
And you will create a fire hazard.:devil: Chaining extension cords, and power strips is risky. Is your house and family worth that?
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It's not a joke. Sit in a tub of water and drop a powered appliance * that is NOT on a GFI outlet in the water with you and you'll more than likely live.
On the other hand, stand in a puddle of water and reach for that dropped, wet, electrified appliance and your odds are much higher for death.
Electricity is to be respected. We are taught from an early age how lethal it can be. The majority of people will never really understand how electricity works, in relation to a persons risk of electrocution and death. It's better to remain respectful of it than too confident around it.
For reference and part of something I posted as a response in another post:
Code only allows any circuit to be loaded 80 % of its rated load. Most devices will not be on all the time, however, there only needs to be one time for all to be on to exceed the allowed Amp Capacity of the circuit, and to be sure there is absolutely no fire hazard, the 80% rule should be followed. The reality however, is that exceeding the rating of the breaker will generally trip it. the fire hazard will come from using extension cords that are not rated for the load attached to them or faulty equipment such as lighting, etc.
A 15 amp circuit can carry only a total of 1440 watts,which is 80% of the 1800 watts found by mulitplying the volts times amps,15 x 120 x 80%= 1440.
A 20 amp circuit can be loaded 1920 watts, 120 x 20 x 80%=1920 watts.
Most homes standard outlet rating is 15amp. You can check at your breaker panel.
There was a thread here a month or so ago about amperage draws with fishie equipment, so I added up all the "stuff" I use; 8 filters, 6 heaters and 4 light units and found I was only using 7 amps.
Assuming the circuit is only a 15 amp rating, should be safe!
Got all my "stuff" on power strips. One master with other strips plugged into it. One for timers (one for main lights, other for moonlights/UV filters), one for filters,one for heaters and two others for the lights (main and moon feeding off aforementioned timers)
All tanks are in one group, so was easier to do all power distribution at one spot.
Like items on dedicated strips make it easy to turn off a separate system, ie, filter strip gets turned off when doing water changes.
Bit crowded under the one stand, but better than trying to fish (excuse the pun!) separate plugs from behind the tanks!
Assuming the circuit is only a 15 amp rating, should be safe!
Got all my "stuff" on power strips. One master with other strips plugged into it. One for timers (one for main lights, other for moonlights/UV filters), one for filters,one for heaters and two others for the lights (main and moon feeding off aforementioned timers)
All tanks are in one group, so was easier to do all power distribution at one spot.
Like items on dedicated strips make it easy to turn off a separate system, ie, filter strip gets turned off when doing water changes.
Bit crowded under the one stand, but better than trying to fish (excuse the pun!) separate plugs from behind the tanks!
Wackydan, your quoting and responding to stuff like 2 years old, not sure how any of that applies to NewLuv4Fish's current concern. The overloading of circuits and daisy chaining extension chords has nothing to do with why the power strip in question says not for aquarium use. As I already stated, I am pretty sure its just a liability thing since they do not have GFCI. If you want to be safe then put in GFCI in. There was a long thread a while ago about the coralife aquarium powerstrips that say not for aquarium use. I never did check to see if any of mine say this. I use many powerstrips, none of which are certified for aquarium use. I did however install a $5 GFCI outlet in the wall and the strips are plugged into it.
Excuse me then... so sorry for responding to some of the sub topics that popped up in here or didn't you notice I used the quote feature and didn't just pop a random thought into the thread. :huh:
For the original questions, the warning about the powerbar not being for aquarium use is a general disclaimer since the manufacturer doesn't want to be dragged into court. It WILL work, but doesn't have the GFCI protection built into it. For safety it's a good ideas to have GFCI on any plug near a water source!
As for whoever said that an hairdrier in the bathtub probably wont kill you, let's not test it. there are several factors at work. First is the way the current passes through you. next being physical condition. A shock that only passes through your hand will sting, but unless you get an electrical burn from it, there shouldn't be an real damage done, but if the current passes across the body, it passes across the heart! electrical current and the heart don't mix! A cross-the-body shock can stop the heart, expecailly if a person has a heart condition of some sort.
As for whoever said that an hairdrier in the bathtub probably wont kill you, let's not test it. there are several factors at work. First is the way the current passes through you. next being physical condition. A shock that only passes through your hand will sting, but unless you get an electrical burn from it, there shouldn't be an real damage done, but if the current passes across the body, it passes across the heart! electrical current and the heart don't mix! A cross-the-body shock can stop the heart, expecailly if a person has a heart condition of some sort.
