Can't use toaster when MH are on...any electricians avail?

[Snarf]

So the 300 gal is up and running . No fish in it yet. got water, rock, sand, snails, etc... Still working out any problems we might run into before adding fish and guess what happens...

Today I was making late breakfst and realized I can't use the toaster once the Metal Halides kick on. Hmmmm breaker keeps popping. And we only have 2 MH running right now...not using all 4 HM yet. yes we did foresee this problem but not with the toaster.

Rule learned..Never buy a house that was owned by an electrician from the 1960's. I've upgraded alot of electric in this house already and got rid of all the fuse boxes.

Have 120 line in basement pretty much below tank. Need help to get to that line. Any electricians out there?

here is the tank

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/216864300fish3.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/216864300fish2.jpg

 

[chuggy]

you have room in the box for another breaker?

 

[RFD4]

Check to see if you have 100 amp or 200 amp service coming into the home. if its 200 split the amp by adding another box 100 amp each run two dedicated 25 amp breakers to GFI sockets near your tank (your gonna need them) then leave at least two breakers open to run two more 15 amp to the tank for pump etc! its easy to do if your have way handy. you might want an electrician to put in the other 100 amp service.

if you only have 100 amp - add another breaker and a dedicated line to the tank for a GFI for your lights.

Good Luck

 

[Snarf]

barely...not in the box that is easy to get to. That line runs the central air and not sure if i can use that one. The previous owner really messed up alot of wiring in here. that's why i need someone that can take a look and see what we can do.

Chuggy..you are always welcome to come by...not just because we have electrical problems.

I have lots of fragging to do too in the 120 tank. anyone wanna show me how to get it off the rocks? got 3 rocks of star polops, 2 rocks of pink palys and a bunch of green bay packers zoas. Tried to frag and didn't do so well getting them off the rock.

 

[Pescado Amigo]

Stop making toast!!!!!



LOL

 

[OrrG]

Haha. I can't run my microwave for over 60 seconds without tripping a breaker when my halides are on too. I need an electrician also so let me know if you find one.

 

[Ohiomom]

Just had a really good electrician come and replace our box..will look his name up he was really good..we also do have at least one reefer who is an electrician to will look at my pms and see if I kept his name/number.

 

[puffster]

If you are going to take the trouble to run a dedicated line, run 220 for the MH's. I sat down with maintenance guy at work and we figured that 220 line would only pull 1 amp per bulb. Running 110 line you would be pulling around 2.64 amps per bulb. It will cost less to run. As for the toaster, plug it in another room. Too much on one circuit. Good luck and I hope this can help in some way.

Ernie

 

[Kreeger1]

our ballasts aren't 220 ballast though

 

[mike660r]

You can buy them in a 220V configuration though.

 

[Kreeger1]

I would guess that 0.5% of the ballasts people are using for saltwater are 220 though. Saying that you could run them on 220 line is going to cause a do it your-selfer some serious problems. If you wanted 220 equipment it would have to be special ordered too.

When you come across the problem of your mh running and your toast not working, if you wanted to switch to 220 line, which is expensive, you will also have the extra costs of new ballast. So how long until the savings catch up with the new material costs? 20 years? not sure.

 

[Snarf]

The toaster was in the kitchen. Ha Ha..
The "new" fish room, dining room, livingroom, part of kitchen and other various things all went when the breaker popped. .

I still have switches that do nothing like the tv commercial where the switch controls the neighbors garage. That is my house. I can turn on my outside front lights from my bedroom.

I am not an electrician...but i could play on on tv... And I would want someone to look at it before I go putting more boxes in the house. 1/2 the breakers are not marked on the boxes I had put in 2 years ago.

I guess I will start to look for an electrician in the phone book unless anyone knows somebody???
Thanks for all the input.

 

[serpentman]

Definitely sounds like something is wrong. There are probably a few things you could do yourself to save some $ before you call an electrician. First thing I would do is label your box. All you have to do is flip a breaker and go around and see which outlets/fixtures/appliances are effected and label accordingly. Basically, that's the first thing an electrician is going to do but at his $ rate/hr.

Based on what you described, if that many rooms are tripping, it sounds like the previous owner was sharing circuits which I believe is a code "no-no". I am no electrician but I think each of those rooms should be on a dedicated breaker. You obviously ended up with one that it overloaded.

Either that or your wiring is like my old house which rather than having a single main, had 2 x 50A sub-mains that divided the house in 2. It was funny because we could only vacuum at night or before the MH kicked on.

Long story short, sounds like you will need to crack the phone book.

 

[landers96]

If your serious about getting some work done, get a hold of me.

 

[puffster]

If you are not electrical savy, there may be someone in the club that might be able to do what you need in wiring minus the cost of the equipment for a frag or two and a beer. (oops, did not read all responses before posting) I don't know anyone my self. But it is worth a try. I also agree with the serpentman, there is a lot going on inside that box of yours. And I think you should take up landers96 on his offer. Gas, frag and a beer. Good luck