Need Electrical Ideas

[fkshiu]

I agree with Brad: multiple circuits - the more, the merrier.

If you have to use powerbars, use those DJ power centers with individual switches and cover unused receptacles with those child safety things.

Also, keep all electrical bits as far away from the tank as possible and well off the floor.

get a battery backup system I recamend a upc 1500 or larger and run return pump, one heater and your skimmer onit and that is all you want it to last as long as posible. I get about 2-3 hours out of mine with a new set of bateries. You could get away with out having your skimmer on this unit and everything will work for longer and if you wanted to float hot water bottles all you would need to have on this unit is the return pump which would increase the amount of time you can run the upc for. Also good for winters and power failures they kick in right away on interuption in operation of equipment. The upc also acts like a isolation transformer.
Bill

[lastlight]

Drip loops are a must.

And use black tie-wraps to keep things SEXY.

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by bvlester

get a battery backup system I recamend a upc 1500
Bill

BE VERY CAREFUL with APC/UPS as they can often cause the very problem they are supposed to prevent. Our company does network support for a well known national restaurant chain; this chain installed hundreds of APC/UPS on the networking gear(modems, switches etc.) in hopes of preventing downtime in case of power failure. Now one by one around five years after the UPS were installed they are starting to fail and when they fail the circuits they are supposed to protect are DOA resulting in prolonged downtime until the batteries are bypassed or another APC is installed. Some of these restaurants are down for 2 -3 days until another UPS/APC is shipped and installed even though the power to the restaurant is fine!

Google "failed apc ups" and you will see these things often cause power loss, exactly what they are designed to prevent.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by Snaz

BE VERY CAREFUL with APC/UPS as they can often cause the very problem they are supposed to prevent. Our company does network support for a well known national restaurant chain; this chain installed hundreds of APC/UPS on the networking gear(modems, switches etc.) in hopes of preventing downtime in case of power failure. Now one by one around five years after the UPS were installed they are starting to fail and when they fail the circuits they are supposed to protect are DOA resulting in prolonged downtime until the batteries are bypassed or another APC is installed. Some of these restaurants are down for 2 -3 days until another UPS/APC is shipped and installed even though the power to the restaurant is fine!

A good UPS is a continuous power UPS, this means that whatever you have plugged into runs off the batteries all the time and they are constantly recharged. This way there is no interruption, however brief, when the power goes out. Unfortunately it also means that the batteries wear out eventually, every continuous power UPS has this problem just like a laptop, cellphone or camera does. 5 years is about average.

Every UPS I can think of also has a USB or Ethernet jack so you can use the included software tools to monitor the health of the unit and test the status of the batteries. You could even get a piece of software called a SNMP server (free) that will alert you when there is an issue. If you have a problem you could maybe plug your stuff into the wall or something rather than wait 2 or 3 days.

How a national restaurant chain employs a consultant that doesn't a) know this and b) plan for it amazes me.

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

How a national restaurant chain employs a consultant that doesn't a) know this and b) plan for it amazes me.

The UPS/APC were installed long before we touched the account. We just have to deal with the angry owner when they call to say they can't do any transactions and we hear the UPS beeping like crazy in the background. All we can say is contact your IT helpdesk and replace the UPS.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by Snaz

The UPS/APC were installed long before we touched the account. We just have to deal with the angry owner when they call to say they can't do any transactions and we hear the UPS beeping like crazy in the background. All we can say is contact your IT helpdesk and replace the UPS.

Oh so you're maintaining stuff you didn't deploy then? Been there, sucks doesn't it.

[PoonTang]

I have 2 generators for power outages are not a concern. I had my tank location rewired while I was waiting to get my new tank. I now have 2 dedicated 15A circuits for the tank and 4 separate GFI plugs. My plan is to run a powerbar from each GFI. Each 15A circuit will have its own powerheads and heater. Other things like ATO, Carbon reacter, Skimmer etc will all be distributed among the circuits so that if 1 circuit trips the tank will still survive. The misteak I made with my old tank was that all my electrical plugs were in my sump cabinet (warm humid enviornment) and all my life support stuff was all on the same GFI. After 2 years in the stand 1 of the power bars corroded enough to trip the GFI and the rest is...shall we say history. I was wondering about either building a moisture proof "box" for all of my plugs that went inside the stand with the sump, OR building some sort of small attractive cabinet that could go beside by stand and house all of my electronics. Anyone done anything similar for either method?

Hi again I have a APC/UPS the batteries in these units are suposto be changed everey 3-4 years. As they dry out from being contantly charged they are a sealed unit so you can not top them up or anything like that. A set of new batteries costs me about $120.00 every 4 years, I think that is a good deal as I get mine from the battery man. my unit will power my return pump for about 2 days. or if I have my heater on it also I can get about 6.5 hours out of it.

Bill