Electrical Question
 

Does anyone know of a switch that plugs into a powerbar with a recepticle on it as well?

What I'm trying to do is hook up my equipment to a power bar and have the ability to turn each piece on or off by itself instead of unplugging the cable from the power bar.

For example, when I need to empty my skimmer, I have to find the cord and unplug it from the power bar. What I would like is an inline switch.

This would save wear and tear on the powerbar plugs.

Thanks

Havn't seen such a switched plug. But, you could get the old Lamp switches, that go on the cord. Wire the cord switch in, then use that but you still got to find wires, and switch them.

I was hoping not to go that route. I'd like to keep the wires intact. Hopefully I will find something.

Take a look on the internet for one of these:

American DJ PC-100

Axe music carries something similar but a different name.

The Axe music one is the
Chauvet PC09
https://www.axemusic.com/Pictures/chauvet_pc09.jpg
https://www.axemusic.com/product.asp...cordPosition=2

I have one myself and it's great to be able to control everything from one place.

Awesome thanks!!

LeeValley has a power bar with individual switches for each socket. It was fairly cheap, if I remember correctly. There was a thread about this here a few years ago.

They don't carry that unit anymore.

i have seen switching extension cords for having a remote switch on a lamp, the one i used had a foot pedal style switch but they come in different types, i found them at canadian tire.

OK so I went out today looking for some timers for my lights. Home depot had some on sale. It a Intermatic DT8003. That was mistake number 1. I can't get the timers to work. I guess I will take them back tomorrow and try again.

I think the power strip isn't strong enough to start up the MH lights. Any ideas? Anyone else use these power bars with digital timers?

PS the MH lights work on the non timer side of the powerbar???????

Coralife digital power bars? If so, they have to cycle for 24 hours before the timer kicks in.

On another note...this may sound like a stupid question but...is it searching for the skimmer cord (and unplugging other stuff in the process) or just unplugging the skimmer cord that you want to avoid? If the former...what about labelling the cord with a Brother labeler? Just an idea.

Cheers,

Not just the skimmer, but the skimmer was a good example. All the cords are marked but plugging and unplugging things causes power bar sockets to loosen over time. They aren't Corallife power bars but they are similar. I wonder if they need the 24 hour cycle??? They are made by Intermatic. They look exactly like the Corallife digital timer. Same specs and everything. The only diference is the coloring on the plugins.

I need two timers:

1 for the MH lights from 11am - 10pm
1 for the PC lights 9am - 11pm
or there abouts.
And 6 regular on all the time plugins.

How about this ... Ultra ULT31570 / 7-Outlet / Power Strip?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...023&CatId=1284

I'm in the process of building a control panel for my setup. I'll basically have a switch for each outlet at the back of the panel, and the timers will be switched AFTER the timer, so I don't mess up timing if i turn a light off. I've thought of going with a PLC unit instead, to have fully programmable control, but that'll probably be later, since I have very little time to spare, and am working mostly on getting a new custom built aquarium put together, and set up. This idea might be beyond the average person, but it's my solution, since I work with electronics, and can get all parts at a good discount through my suppliers.

You can get a Hubble part # RC308W (W is for white you can get whatever color) it is a switched plug, if you have room in your stand and the know how to wire a box up with a few of these in it you can have a homemade switched powerbar. You can also get these GFCI protected.

Im going to do the PLC route and have it perminatly hooked to my computer, i could also use it recieve feedback from any device i could think of using.
i work with PLC almost every day and do alot of other control work so it should be easy for me.