Circuits?

[tebstan]

How many circuits do you use, and what size tank do you have?

I'm going to be making some changes (hopefully improvements) with my electrical mess. I'm a little paranoid about electrical fires after an incident a while back left me with nightmares.

I have one (almost) dedicated circuit for my 90. Its pretty basic at this point, no ATO, no reactors, etc. But I still have a ton of stuff plugged in. If I'm making changes, should I add another circuit to make room for future improvements?

I'm told I'm being paranoid. I say the word is 'cautious.' I asked how I tell if I'm drawing too much power... "feel the outlet and cords, are they warm?" Screw that, that is not a good enough answer for me!

To see how I'm doing, I add up voltage, amps or what? And how do I know my limit? This circuit is shared with the spare room and the attic fan, so the tank is the only draw.

[BIGBIRD123]

What you have to do is see what kind of "draw" each of your components need. If you are on a "dedicated" 20 amp circuit, which you probably are not, each component draws so much amperage. The pump (8 amps), the skimmer ( 6 amps), power heads ( 6 amps), then you now have 20 amps of usage. If you add more draw to that breaker, you have a potential of overheating it, tripping it and wearing it out. The more a breaker trips, the weaker it becomes. If it is not a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter), it may not trip and the result can be catastrophic. Not trying to scare you but electricity and water don't mix. If you have concerns, I would have a Certified Electrician look at your system and evaluate your needs. I did mine myself but I have been in the "business" for over 35 yrs.

[CoryDude]

Add up the amp draws to figure circuit load. All you devices will be pulling 110-120V, or they will not work. I wouldn't worry so much about voltage as amps, as Steve said.

I've got a dedicated 20 amp circuit for lights and pumps and a 2nd semi-dedicated circuit for the chiller. I could probably run them all on 1 circuit, but I want to play it safe when the chiller kicks on.

[allan]

Just agreeing with everyone else. Voltage in a parrallel ckt will always be about the same. Amperage is additive as steve pointed out. You can usually pull that data from the information plate. Sometimes it's shown in watts and you have to convert to amperage.

Most plates will give you the upper limits of what that machine pulls. It's a safe number to go with although not alawys the most accurate. You can measure amperage individually with proper equipment.

Additionally remember that a pump that's rated at 1.5A will pull much more than that as condition of the machine degrades.

Feeling your ckt breaker during full operational load, although highly inaccurate, can be a good first step to determine overall condition, but unless your fingers have been calibrated against a known standard you won't get a good "reading".

I'm running way to much for my single ckt, and plan on installing an additional line from the drop box outside (in coming power).

I was quoted $750, and because of that I'm relegated to doing it myself.

[jroescher]

I have a 20A dedicated circuit to mine. The breaker is a GFCI. The only time I've ever had it trip is when I unplugged something once. Not sure why that would be.

The only thing bad about having a single dedicated circuit is that if the breaker trips, everything is dead. If you can, wire in more than one circuit.

If you want to add a little protection to what you already have, you can change your breaker or plug to GFCI without having to rewire.

[tebstan]

Best I can tell I'm between 13 and 14.5 amps. :confused:
I assumed its a 20 amp circuit, but its an old house with a lot of 15s in the box. I thought I knew which circuit was the tank, but apparently my memory doesn't win over my poor labeling. I'll figure it out during daylight and label it properly. I'll try to determine what else may be on the circuit, as well. If its a 15 amp circuit, that's cutting it close for my taste. I'm sure I'll want to make improvements to my system in the future, and I'll need more power.

[CoryDude]

If you're actually pulling that much on a 15A switch, you'll be able to find the controlling breaker since it's probably going to be pretty warm.

So, is there only a double outlet that you're running on, or are there multiple plugs? If that's the case, you may get lucky like me and the different plugs could be on multiple circuits. I was pushing that amount of amperage, but then started flipping breakers and found out the load was spread over 2 different breakers.

[tebstan]

Its a four outlet plate. It is a 15amp circuit. <sigh>

The amps I listed is if everything is at max output, which it usually isn't. My heater sure never comes on anymore. It only came on one day I think. And I included the pump I use for water changes, which isn't plugged in all the time. And I had to guess on the fuge pump because it hasn't arrived yet. (Adding the fuge is what started this.)

So I'm 'safe' for now, but if I make any further improvements I will be in trouble.

The christmas lights have their own dedicated circuits already, but the box is outside and the switches inside - those really run hot. So we're going to run lines to bring the box inside, and add a few 20amp circuits while we're at it. Then I'll have 2 truly dedicated circuits for the tank. I'll make everything GFCI. I like the idea of splitting my pumps between two circuits in case one fails.

I'm a little paranoid. Safety first!

[alton]

Since your breakers are 15amp I am guessing your wire size is #14. Aquariums are considered continuous load because everything runs more than 3 hours. You are only suppose to run continuous loads at 80% or 15a x .8 = 12 amps max(1,440 watts), 20a x .8 = 16 amps max(1,920 watts) I feel if you have a chiller this item should be on a seperate circuit due to the start up of the compressor.
I have a 300 gallon with 1 - 90w pump, 45w pump, wavemaker 40w r(runs when 45w pump is off) 35w pump, lights 3 x 250w@.95 pwr factor= 790w, 1 - 160w VHO@.98 PF = 164w, and 1 - 28 watt CFL for fuge. Fans 3 x 20 watts Total 1,212 watts / 120v = 10.1 amps max