Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

[mcrist]

That must have been a touchy 15 amp circuit. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve drawn over 20 amps on a 15 amp circuit already without tripping it. Now I wouldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t recommend doing that for any length of time so upgrading it was the wise thing to do. Undoubtedly you will add another piece of equipment sooner or later.

 

[melev]

Mike, just changing the breaker isn't really a solution if you don't know for sure the wiring can handle it. If you home is 12/2 or 14/2, 15 amps is all it can handle, and 10/2 is what 20 amps runs on.

(Any electrician feel free to correct that post if it isn't accurate. I know the concept is sound, but my numbers may be off a tad... )

 

[Dudester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11071754#post11071754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcrist
Undoubtedly you will add another piece of equipment sooner or later.

That's fo shizzle. Actually, the only equipment I plan on adding that will be a real power hog will be the 250W heater, but that shouldn't turn on when the chiller is running if my controller is worth a darn.

melev - I do not know this language you speak. Seriously dude, what the hizzle are 12/2, 14/2 and 10/2 referring to? All I know is that an electrician came to my house and supposedly gave me more power. I don't think he was trying to swindle me, but I guess one never knows. I've been at work all day and night so I haven't been able to test the full system load since it was "upgraded," but I'll be sure to do that tomorrow evening when I get home. Thanks for the 'heads up' on this!

 

[mcrist]

12/2 , 14/2, 10/2 refers to the type of wiring. The first number is the thickness of the wire and the lower the number the thicker the wire. The second number is how many shielded wires in the coil.

 

[melev]

Right. And thinner wire gets hot over time, which is why we use thicker wire for higher amperage usage.

If you had a licensed electrician do the work, he should know what is safe and what is not. He should have verified the thickness of the wire before replacing the breaker, or told you the wiring wasn't sufficient for a higher amperage breaker and thus would need a new circuit added. As long as he's a good electrician, there's nothing to worry about. If he's a new one or a journeyman, it would be nice to have his work verified by a certified electrician.

 

[Dudester]

Ah, thanks for the primer on electrical wiring. I'm pretty comfortable with most aspects of reef tank setup and upkeep, but when it comes to electricity I'm out of my leage and I immediately defer to others who know. My electrician is a stand-up dude. He's done a lot of stuff for the misses and me at home, so I'm sure he hooked me up proper. That being said, I'm sure he won't mind if I call him tomorrow to ensure that all will be well with my wire thickness.

 

[Chrisrush]

Mike,
What controller did you go with again?

 

[Dudester]

I got the Aquatronica controller. After studying, literally studying The Big Controller Comparison Chart I felt that the Aquatronica best suited my needs at a price I felt was reasonable. There are a handful of controllers that will do more, but they are appreciably more expensive than the Aquatronica. This controller does not use X10 modules, and the software looked easy to use. It is infinitely expandable and monitors/controls all parameters I am interested in, and then some. It has leak sensors, level sensors, dosing pumps and the entire spectrum of monitoring probes. It can send me email alerts and allow me to turn devices on/off remotely. Software will be available shortly that even lets one monitor how much electricity they are using. The only thing it doesn't do today (but it will eventually) is send SMS alerts. I'm looking out anxiously for this addition, as I find SMS more useful than email.

 

[20 20]

I certainly hope that 12/2 is sufficient for 20 amp circuits, because that's what I was told and used. No fires in the last year, but ya got me wondering.:eek2:

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11076866#post11076866 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 20 20
I certainly hope that 12/2 is sufficient for 20 amp circuits, because that's what I was told and used. No fires in the last year, but ya got me wondering.:eek2:

I would go up to your local Home Depot or Lowes and ask for someone working in the electrical department what they recommend.

This link isn't as detailed as I'd like, but seems to indicate that you can use a 20 amp breaker on those wires.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-Wiring-Home-1734/12-gauge-wiring-20.htm

 

[mcrist]

14/2 = 15 amp
12/2 = 20 amp
10/2 = 30 amp

 

[20 20]

It was Home Depot that told me 12/2 was OK for 20 amps, but ya gotta be careful, you never know who the heck they hire. Thanks for the 'reassurance'.

 

[Chrisrush]

Thanks Mike. I went with a Profilux for the same reason that you did plus the expandability of the controller. I don't need orp, conductivity or salinity yet, but maybe in the future, and with this controller, I can add them down the road if I need too.

 

[erics3000]

dude everything is looking sweet.....

 

[Dudester]

Thanks Chris and Eric, it's moving along slowly but surely.

Uuugh!. Last night I went to put the new drum into my OM 4-way. After installing the drum I had a hard time making the black cap sit onto the body of the 4-way, but I was able to, well, let's say I 'inticed' it down. When I opened the valves of the returns there was a small leak from between the 4-way body and black cap, so I decided to fix this by tightening the screws a little more. Note to self, don't try to fix a 4-way without first talking to Paul. When I tightened the screw, I stripped the thread, resulting in a much larger leak. I therefore had to leave the Barracuda pump off. For supplemental flow I threw in a Tunze nanostream 6055 I had laying around. I spoke with Paul today, and he said stripping the thread on 1 screw is no problem. I'll need to take it apart and make sure the o-ring is well lubed and intact, as this was probably the problem in the first place. I don't think I'll have time to trouble shoot this tonight, since I'm taking my daughter out for trick-or-treat, so this will have to wait until the weekend. Honestly, the 4-way has been this system's biggest problem thus far, but I know it will be worth it once I get it dialed in.

After that I needed a little pick-me-up, so I unpacked the Aquatronica controller and set up a few basic functions. It's not as simple to set up as my former controller (ReefKeeper) but it's in a totally different league. I really think I'm gonna like it.

 

[Bax]

It's always something!

 

[reef / aholic]

What have I missed? Been away on business, I saw you have some residents.

 

[Dudester]

Bax - Ain't that the truth!!

RoBolton - Where've you been? Business is a lame excuse. I don't know how long you've been gone, but yes I added some corals, my percula clownfish pair and a CBB. All are doing quite well and I'm getting ready to increase my livestock.

As predicted, I didn't have time to resolve my 4-way issues last night, way too much fun with the Halloween festivities. I'll get'er done this weekend.

 

[Chrisrush]

Mike,
Where did you find your metric parts for your pumps? I bought a used Euroreef RS80 and the output pipe is metric. I'm trying to find a gate valve that will work, but so far, all I've found has been in inches. I need a gate valve b/w 1" and 1 1/4".

Chris

 

[Dudester]

I found a local store where they can get almost any metric plumbing fitting via catalog. If it's not in the catalog they can special order what I need. Just do a Google search for "metric plumbing Dallas Texas" (in your case) and you should come up with a decent starting point. Interestingly, when I did that search just now using Austin, my thread was the 3rd hit. Hopefully people around here won't start calling me for 20mm fittings.