how to do GFCI install?

[SharkBait_Mtl]

I have carpets in my apartment and I had that same concern if I had a waterleak and the carpets getting soaked.

So to solve that problem I had made my own power distribution box that plugs in to the wall outlet. All of my outlets feed through 1 GFI. but after reading a reply in this thread I am thinking of adding another GFI for my main pump, heaters and fans just in case the GFI does trip, that way I will always have circulation in the tank. 1 GFI will have the main pump and the other GFI will have the powerheads.

I figured I may as well put my timers and switches in a seperate box to make it easier to control them. ( and I could not find a plastic enclosure that would hold everything either :mixed: ) I used 1 male and 1 female computer plug to connect the 2 boxes together.

I have everything plugged in to this power distribution box...

Lights on 2 seperate timers
Skimmer on a switch to ease cleaning
main pump on a switch to ease water changes
mixing container (Maxijet1200 and heater) - to ease my water changes (I take the maxijet out of the mix bucket to remove the water from my sump into an old salt bucket 5 gal at a time)

then I have a powerbar for my heaters, a powerbar for my powerheads and fans,1 outlet is used for my RDSB, and then I have a few spare outlets for a calcium reactor when I get one and anything else I need to plug in. (always thinking ahead)


GFI does not trip when unplugged from wall... so I am assuming that it wont trip on a power failure.

I can draw up a wiring diagram if anyone would like to build this.

 

[apex003]

BeanAnimal- Do the ground wires need to be done the same way when they are hooked in parallel or can they stay wired as is?

Sharkbait- I like that power distribution panel. One question: when you lose power, do your timers reset or is there a battery backup. I have a digital timer powerstrip, but it reset and stopped working during power outage, so I am going back to a regular analog timer with a standard powerstrip. It would be nice to be able to have something like that in my stand though.

 

[SharkBait_Mtl]

yes there is a battery... i've never had to reset the time... not even when we gotta change the hour due to daylight savings... on my timers I have up to 10 programs that I can set.

 

[BeanAnimal]

The ground wires just all need tied together. Use the proper size wire nut and ensure that they are pre-twisted so that none of them come lose.

 

[K' Family Reef]

have 2 of the lowes plug in gfci
hooked up to our reef (actually all our tanks)... one is for the lights/accessories and the other is for the main return pump.

these are the heavy duty gfci used for construction equipment.
and they might cost 10-15$ each.

to check whether the power comes back on
on these gfci (when there is a power outtage) i just now went out and tripped the breaker then flipped it back on while my wife watched inside... once power was back on the reef powered back up and the gfci did not need to be reset.

this was the first had heard of the plug in gfci needing to be reset
perhaps its a certain brand of that might need resetting?

we live in arizona and in the summer the power goes off occasionally... have never had any problem w/ ours whatsoever coming back on etc.

would even say that these have worked remarkably well.
once had my hands in the tank and the thing tripped - taking the reef lights out - for what reason dont know (couldnt find a reason perhaps water splashed behind the tank)... one of those cases where glad to see safety features in action working as they are supposed to be... there have also been other times when it tripped while working on/behind the tank... other then that they have never tripped for any reason.

also like the portability factor - gfci on demand!

regards