GFCI

[Henry]

Has anyone built a GFCI circuit onto their tank stand? Basically, since I live in an apartment, I don't want to replace to breaker or wall unit, but would like to build an outlet strip on my stand w/a couple of GFCI outlets and a few regular outlets wired in series. Has anyone attempted this? If so, please post some diagrams or something. Thanks

Henry

[captexas]

You have a couple of options when it comes to GFCI outlets in your situation. If you didn't want to have to wire up anything yourself, you can buy a 3 way splitter cord that had a GFCI built into it at Home Depot or Lowe's. The cord is like 2ft long. Just plug it into the wall outlet and it will protect whatever is plugged into it. You could wire up your own outlet boxes and mount them in your stand, but this is not advisable unless you have some experience with electrical wiring. I lot of house fires result from DIY wiring around fish tanks.

If you make your own, you can get everything you need at the hardware store. There are two ways you can go about it. If you have the power source go to one GFCI outlet and then in series to regular outlets, all outlets in that series will be protected. The only problem with this is that if you are away from the house and 1 thing trips the GFCI then everything you have plugged in will lose power and won't come back on until you reset it. This is the same as having a GFCI breaker at your electrical panel. If one outlet on that breaker surges, the breaker shuts off power to every outlet on it. The other way is to use all GFCI and wire them in parallel so that if one trips the others are still hot. If you buy a GFCI outlet, the instructions will have diagrams that illustrate this and the proper way to wire them up in each situation.

You will probably have to use handy boxes (single duplex box) if you want the face plates on them as hardware stores don't usually carry the quad GFCI faceplates. Do a search on reefcentral under the DIY forum on GFCI. You will find several examples of custom built power boxes.

Hope that helps.

[Henry]

Thanks, I think I might do a couple of GFCI wired parallel. This way hopefully everything in my tank won't die if one does trip. Thanks for the tip on RC.


Henry

[newtosa]

Excellent post Chris.

Thanks for the info.

[Tim Marvin]

The ground fault circuit interupt (GFCI) is merely a secondary breaker. Typically 20 amp. A powerstrip with built in breaker will do the same thing. I have actually had the powerstrips pop sometimes before the GFCI's. Use a powerstrip with the built in ground fault and don't worry. When you get your own house then you can put it in. The reason they put in the GFCI's in bathrooms and kitchens is so they will pop before the house breaker which may be 30 amp.

[captexas]

Yes GFCI outlets are designed to trip to prevent you taking the full power of the usually residential 20amp breaker at your electrical breaker box. Regular breakers are not designed to protect you from getting electrocuted, they are designed to keep you from burning down your house if you overload circuits. You do not have to have GFCI outlets in your bathroom or kitchen IF you have those circuits tied into a GFCI breaker at the breaker box. GFCI outlets are not merely secondary breakers and power strips do not function the same!

With a GFCI, you may get a quick jolt, but nothing compared to the usual 15 to 17 amps it takes to trip a 20 amp breaker (the quality of breakers varies and they will trip at different amp ratings). By the time that breaker shuts off, you will be seriously injured or dead. If you have GFCI outlets and get shocked, the power is actually surging (as Josh says a drastic increase) as your body is taking more power than what was being used before. A surge protector power strip is designed to pop it's small fuse if there is a power surge on your electrical lines coming to it to protect what equipment you have plugged in. A power surge can fry electrical devices easily. Even a small surge on your phone line can short out your cordless phones. Also, if you are working on your tank and splash some water over the side on to the outlets, a power strip will still be hot while GFCI outlets will shut off and prevent you from being electrocuted when you reach down and touch things.

When dealing with anything having to do with electricity, if you are not sure what you are doing or don't feel comfortable about doing it, consult an electrician. Usually things aren't that complicated, but it's much cheaper to pay an electrician a few dollars than to pay for someones funeral or replacing the things you lost when your house burnt down.

Hope that helps :D
Chris

[Tim Marvin]

Well, I am no electrician. I do have GFCI's on all the lines near water. I just know I have popped the powerstrips easily when they get water on them. Of course with our fish tanks loading the strips up it usually doesn't take more than a little humidity to pop them LOL...... Kidding.... My house fuses run mostly 15 amp, a few 20 amp, and one 30 amp. Anyway, since Chris is an electrician it is best to listen to him.

[captexas]

Everyone -
First off, I am not an electrician, nor do I pretend to be one. Usually I feel insulted when someone calls me an electrician! :-D I do however install electronic equipment that requires knowledge on electrical construction and wiring. I work with electricians frequently at all kinds of sites and situations. The information I have given is based on my experience and knowledge I have learned over many years.
Second, houses are built these days with many different electrical panels and breakers. Usually, a house will have a main panel where power enters from the utility company. There will be a few large breakers there, usually a few for the outlets requiring 220 power (oven, dryer, hot water heater) and a breaker that is for the remote service panel which contains the breakers for all the smaller circuits. At these panels the size of the breakers can vary, but are typically 20amp breakers. These control the lighting, outlets, and such throughout the house. These breakers will actually shut off at less than 20 amps depending on the brand and quality. If you have a breaker that doesn't shut off when it should, you need to have it checked as it may have gone bad over time.
Third, power strip fuses are small. Because they are massed produced and made cheaply, on some strips the fuses will blow very easily and on others they won't blow at all. GFCI is designed to be used in areas where water is used frequently or could come in contact with the outlet or the device plugged into that outlet. They are designed to protect you. Power strips are designed to allow you to plug more things in and the "surge protection" is designed to protect what is plugged in to it, not you.

While Tim's power strip experience was good when his power stip fuse blew, I have had I don't know how many incidents where water has splashed and poured on strips and the strip has stayed hot. And I know many others have experienced the same thing. If this happens to you, the best thing to do is to make sure you aren't standing in any water and then unplug the power strip from the outlet. Then dry up the water with a towel and make sure there is no water inside the power strip. If there is let it dry out before plugging it back in.

Hope this helps :D
Chris

[Tim Marvin]

Especially if it is salt water! The saline quality conducts electricity even better than fresh water. Also when unplugging these strips, if you haven't turned the breaker off, do it with one hand and have the other on your hip or elsewhere. If you ground your other hand on the wall, outlet, tank, and so on the current can pass through your chest and heart. Milli volts passing through your heart have been known to kill.

[Tim Marvin]

Probably dominant hand. Either will work, just as long as the path does not lead through the chest. Putting some of our heads against the wall may help though....LOL......

[Chris]

Something about the current more likely to go through your heart if you use your left hand. I dunno, that high school teacher was also the shop teacher and was about as bright as my moonlight bulb. I actually told him that I was going to skip his classes and he said okay, which could explain why I don't know much...


I think that's referring to not using both hands as the current would run through your chest like Tim said and that's bad for the heart. When using a single hand(left or right) the current would travel through you to the ground.

It's fun not to die. :beer:

[Tim Marvin]

Also low currents are more dangerous than higher short burst of current. Low current can cause your hear to fibrilate, flutter so to speak, were a higher current contracts the heart completely like a beat. As long as you don't stay connected to the voltage you should be ok. Again use only one hand.