Check Out My Electrical Panel; Step by Step Pics....

[electric130]

Well it's a recently revived one. Thanks for sharing. Are all your receptacles inside that panel?

no they're up in the stand:

 

[SHOmuchFUN]

Where is that buzz coming from?

OH, it's coming from under all your stands!!! Hahahaha, nice work guys. I wish I knew something about switch panels like that. Adds another technical dimension to an already expansive hobby!

 

[mikeo1210]

no they're up in the stand:

Very nice!

 

[reeftechie]

this is a dumb one, so you have this wired to its own 20 amp breaker x 2? how would you go about doing this? go to your box and add it to an open spot in the breaker? and put it on its on 20 amp breaker?

Thanks
RT

sorry for the dumb question

 

[LunarCubes]

RT,
Yes. There are 2 seperate circuits on my panel. The left side goes to 1 breaker and the right side goes to another. Yup go to the breaker box, find an open spot and pop it in. Well, its a little more complicated then that and I wouldnt recommend you doing it unless you are confident with wiring. There is high voltage going through there and even if you turn the main lug off, there is still some current flowing through so you have to be careful.

- Jeremy

 

[reeftechie]

RT,
Yes. There are 2 seperate circuits on my panel. The left side goes to 1 breaker and the right side goes to another. Yup go to the breaker box, find an open spot and pop it in. Well, its a little more complicated then that and I wouldnt recommend you doing it unless you are confident with wiring. There is high voltage going through there and even if you turn the main lug off, there is still some current flowing through so you have to be careful.

- Jeremy

Thanks bro, I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t feel comfortable at all ha-ha, but that never stopped me before . No I will be hopefully having a new friend come on over and help me with this for sure. I will just provide the tools, money for the stuff, and beer

Thanks again bro,
RT

 

[reeftechie]

ps
How many watts can a 20 amp breaker hold before it breaks and has to be reset?

 

[jpatrician]

WOW!

 

[kroc33]

The breaker will trip when the current on the circuit reaches 20 amps. The formula for figuring wattage is volts x amperage so a single pole 20 amp breaker will deliver 2400 watts.

 

[reeftechie]

kroc,
Thank you so very much bro. Like I said I dont know anything about wiring up homes now computers and planes is another thing .

Thanks again bro,
RT

 

[LunarCubes]

You also have to allow for the surge a MH or PC ballast needs when it first fires up. There should be a rating on the ballast somewhere that tells you how many amps it needs. When it first fires up, it uses more power then usual. Take a look at the ratings of the timers I used. You can see that it handles 15A but if you are using a ballast it can only handle 8A to accomidate that surge.

Resistive Heater 15 Amp 120-277 VAC
Tungsten Incandescent 15 Amp 120 VAC
Ballast Fluorescent 8 Amp 120 VAC

- Jeremy

 

[Runner]

The breaker will trip when the current on the circuit reaches 20 amps. The formula for figuring wattage is volts x amperage so a single pole 20 amp breaker will deliver 2400 watts.

True, but most will trip over time at 16+ Amps, or 1920 Watts (80% loading). Never place more than this much on a 20 A breaker.

 

[reeftechie]

nope max will be 1200 for my 3 400 watt mh's, (they fire up 1 hour apart so the load one be anything more then 400 + a few) then my chiller and reactor on a diff one, kalk and few other things on another one. I am going to run 3 back to the fish room.

Thanks for the bro

 

[DonBossung]

Jeremy,

Nice job, a couple questions.

Is the relay for the auto topof?

What kind of and where did you get the digital timers.

Thanks

 

[LunarCubes]

Thanks. Yes the relay is for my auto top-off system. The digital timers are made by intermatic and I got them at my local home depot. I dont remember the exact model number but if you click here http://www.intermatic.com/?action=subcat&sid=112 you can see them. The ones I have are either SS7C or SS8.

- Jeremy

 

[LunarCubes]

Looks like I get to redo part of my panel, fun fun I posted about a possible problem with the GFCI earlier in this thread. Well it turns out to be the stupid PC ballast which now seems to trip the GFCI on a daily basis. After some researching I find out that this is a common problem (although I had no problem with the Coralife PC fixture or Marine Depots MH/PC retro systems that I used on my previous 55g). I am going to have to rewire timer #3 to bypass the GFCI. This is not going to be fun with all the equipment in there now :mad2: plus I have to run more wire to the timer as well as rewire 2 outlets. HD here I come. I will try to get parts within the next few days and let everyone know how it turns out.

- Jeremy

 

[mikeo1210]

I sure keep hearing a lot about gfcis' tripping unexpectedly. I don't have one yet but I'm starting to question the advantage of having one. Either way someone has to be home if the gfci trips or if the breaker needs to be flipped off. Do they make a (gfci) breaker or receptacle that will reset itself after being tripped?

 

[bulldogfish]

mikeo1210

No they don't. This would be in violation of the electrical code. GFCI's work by detecting a difference in current flow. If it trips then it thinks there is another path for the current to flow. This is what keeps you from getting the PI$$ shocked out of you.

HTH

 

[Ryan]

And ruin all the fun of grabbing a power strip with your bare, salty wet hands? Where's the adventure?

J/k, phenominal how easy you make it look!

 

[mikeo1210]

mikeo1210

No they don't. This would be in violation of the electrical code. GFCI's work by detecting a difference in current flow. If it trips then it thinks there is another path for the current to flow. This is what keeps you from getting the PI$$ shocked out of you.

HTH

Just seems like they're a PITA. I read a post by a guy who's tank crashed b/c he was out of town for a couple days and his gfci had tripped.