Electrical fires due to aquarium???

[boosted306]

Has anyone noticed the amount of pictures of tanks that have a million wires plugged into several extension cords from one maybe two outlets? How big of a fire hazard is this? I use one outlet with one GFI extension cord. A total of 6 plugs to one outlet. I am scared to put anymore than that on one outlet. What do you guys do about this?

I am wanting to add some powerheads (2-3) but am scared to add any because of the amount of power drawing from one outlet.

 

[roscoe]

That is a good question!!! I've thought about that myself. I have everything hooked up to 1 outlet. Kinda Scary but so far so good. Keeping my fingers and toes XXXX

 

[beaujames]

It depends on how many watts each device is using. Usually small powerheads use less power than lights and large pumps.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Powerheads shouldn't be a problem. Even the really energy hungry ones don't really draw that much.

I think the biggest opportunity for fires would be not from overloading, but from installations that allow salt water or spray the opportunity to come into contact with the live circuit. Good examples are cords with no drip loops, or power strips mounted with the plug ins facing up. How many pictures have we all seen of a tank's power strip sitting on the floor BEHIND the tank, with the plugs facing UP? Perfect way to get the sparks flying...

 

[roscoe]

I hear you on the power strip Kurt. All my cords are drip looped.

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

I had the same question when I setup my tank. So I asked my brother who is a Master Electrician. His response was it all depends on the breaker supplying the circuit. The circuit is rated to run no more than 3 hours at 100% of its rated amps. Or at 80% of its capacity for continuous loads. Now this is for all outlets and lights on the breakers circuit. He said the amount of outlets per circuit can be unlimited in theory as long as the total load is below what the breaker is rated at.
For example the power circuit feeding my tanks outlet is on a 30Amp breaker and has 10 wall outlets throughout my basement including the two my tank uses the total continuous amps being drawn with everything on and running on those ten outlets is only 15amps 50% of the breakers rating and well under the breakers 80% continuous capacity rating. I hope this answers you question on how much power you can pull from your outlet safely.
As far as how many power strips you can run my answer from experience as a Firefighter and fire inspector is only one per outlet plug. For example a wall outlet has two plugs so two power strips can be used one in each plug. Where you run into a fire hazard is a power strip plugged into another power strip that is a no no so if you need more add more wall outlets or possibly another circuit with more outlets.
I hope this answers all of your questions.

Joe

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

As far as how many plugs can you have per outlet all depends on how many plugs your power strip has and the circuits rating as above. I have two power strips running my tank supplying power to a total of 12 appliances. The lighting for my tank has its own separate dedicated 240v circuit.

 

[windwaterwaves]

I am not an electrician, although I have seen a lot of these things over the years and done a bit of wiring..

Electricity load creates heat, when the load creates enough heat it overloads the circuit, and the breaker pops protecting the wire from melting. If you are using small extension cords (christmas cords, the little white cords etc) they are not rated for 15 amps. Especially if you chain them together they may be too small to carry the load and trip the breaker then the heat will literally come out of the cord and.. well you know the rest. A toaster is an example of an overloaded wire.

Most outlet strips are rated for 15 amps (average household circuit), just use the good ones with at least 14 gauge wire and rated for 15 amps, check the breaker it's on though if it's a 20 amp use 20 amp rated cords (12 gauge). You can reduce heat with ventilation/air space and the correct wire gauge. DC adapters are a different issue and are notorious for melting down so give them LOTS of air space and keep away from combustibles... The number of plugs doesn't have an affect, it's the load. Also make sure your plugs have good contact! If the aren't solid then they arc, and create heat as well (i.e. welder).

The worst case scenario is to have an underrated extension cord, with a high load, the cord will burn before the breaker pops. Also try to use GFCI it may save your life when your wet, although they can prematurely pop in an aquarium environment and lead to power outage. For sure put in a ground probe!

 

[mark peacock]

i have my whole system on its own power breaker box like the one my house runs of work really well and has spares fuses incase i add to my system

 

[Curtswearing]

Well, folks you're in luck.

Scotty (Scooterman) knows this stuff backwards and forwards. I'm going to PM him.

 

[MC Lighting]

as stated several times above its not about the quantity of outlets its about the current being pulled through them. one of the things I have seen people do is use a 15a outlet on a 20a circuit and load it to the hilt. The other big thing as stated is poor planning and having water easily access the power strips or outlet that will definitely be a bad thing. My tank runs on 4 - 20a circuits all of which are dedicated for the tanks and all but the main circulation pump are GFI.

 

[warforged]

So simply put... one outlet with a power strip can support the ballasts and some power heads...but try not to load it with all your power hungry equipment.. split them up between the two outlets with the two different power strips right?

Basically taking half of your power hungry things and divide them evenly across the two plugs is what im getting at. So not one is taking the brunt of it.

 

[MC Lighting]

So simply put... one outlet with a power strip can support the ballasts and some power heads...but try not to load it with all your power hungry equipment.. split them up between the two outlets with the two different power strips right?

Basically taking half of your power hungry things and divide them evenly across the two plugs is what im getting at. So not one is taking the brunt of it.

That is the best method is to split your loads up as evenly as possible but in the end if you have more current draw than the outlet can safely support you need to add a circuit or find a nearby one that is on a different breaker... With our bigger tanks it is easy to get past eh 20a draw very quickly....

 

[SRV]

So simply put... one outlet with a power strip can support the ballasts and some power heads...but try not to load it with all your power hungry equipment.. split them up between the two outlets with the two different power strips right?

Basically taking half of your power hungry things and divide them evenly across the two plugs is what im getting at. So not one is taking the brunt of it.

Be sure you understand the difference between an outlet/plug and a circuit. Dividing your equipment up between two outlets or plugs does not mean you are on more than one circuit. 15A is 15A regardless of how many plugs you use. You should also avoid using power strips for "power hungry equipment" such as pumps and MH lights. This type of equipment should plug directly into a wall outlet with no power strips or extension chords. According to the Fire Department, power strips are one of the leading causes of fire especially if they are "daisey chained". Meaning one plugged into the end of another one.

 

[windwaterwaves]

Watts / Volts = Amps, the US is 120v, so a 1500 Watt Hair Dryer / 120v = 15 Amps... Thats why bathrooms have to have a dedicated 20 amp circuit.. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything on metal halide wattage as the transformer changes the voltage etc, but...

Here is a measurement solution (don't forget startup load versus sustained)
http://www.cgets.com/item--Kill-A-Watt--kill-a-watt
and a nice power strip..(we use em in the colo business) http://www.a-neutronics.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=36

 

[warforged]

Be sure you understand the difference between an outlet/plug and a circuit. Dividing your equipment up between two outlets or plugs does not mean you are on more than one circuit. 15A is 15A regardless of how many plugs you use. You should also avoid using power strips for "power hungry equipment" such as pumps and MH lights. This type of equipment should plug directly into a wall outlet with no power strips or extension chords. According to the Fire Department, power strips are one of the leading causes of fire especially if they are "daisey chained". Meaning one plugged into the end of another one.

Gotcha... The power strip I got for the Ballasts was something I bought for Power TOol actually. Its rating is unknown due to me being at work at the moment and memory being foggy from age.

But i can say its power strip used in shops that use Sawzalls and such ...so I imagine it can support two 250w MH ballasts. The reasoning for me putting those ballast on such a thing is what if I shock myself...the fuse will pop and maybe I wont be dead...just burned and hopefully no seriously nasty exit wound from the electricity. yes im paranoid lol... I was on my way to becoming a Paramedic years ago..and seeing electrical wounds made me shiver.

 

[roscoe]

Is it safe to plug multiple power strips to your DJ Power strip which has 15amp fuse in it and has independant on of switch for each plug?

 

[Scooterman]

Is it safe to plug multiple power strips to your DJ Power strip which has 15amp fuse in it and has independant on of switch for each plug?

That you shouldn't do, nope not recommended normally. That said, If your using them to run these large transformer plugs which everyone hates, These usually consume little power & within reason you could do this as mentioned. In theory you could do it over & over but that is never recommended.
Fact of the matter is that at some point you need to consider everything you have that requires power for your tank. Then you need to discover your individual circuits & include everything you have on them or add to them at times such as a vacuum cleaner etc. as mentioned in CRASHFIREJOE post. Then with that information you can determine your electrical needs. As mentioned having more circuits allows for splitting it up safely. If you don't consider what equipment you have for power & try to run everything on one circuit, then at some point your chances of tripping a breaker or possible fire could happen. Another thing I recommend is the use of the GFCI's & GP together as protection from a shock. Most all codes require GFCI with anything dealing with water & they are getting stricter by the day, also there are code limits on outlets each circuit can have, I want to say the common one is something like 8 maybe 12 outlets per circuit. Use the DJ or HD type strips, you may have to look a little harder for them but stay away from the cheaper buss bar type power strips, the outlets are usually more & closer together, also the common power strip with built in timers for fish tanks, these burn up all of the time, I don't like them. Last, you should clean & inspect your PH,'s Pumps etc regularly, keep the bodies clean so you can see any cracking or damage & anything that goes in water you must put it on a GFCI, very important.

 

[BobinCovington]

I have mentioned before that our company does x-ray inspection and we have a customer that brings in items that have caused house fires to verify what happened. I would have to say that power strips are the most common item they bring in. And then battery chargers, laptops and others. The cheaper outlet strips don't seem to have a very good track record. If it was up to me, I would use a better quality outlet strip like a stereo grade...more expensive but design for more power. Also the salt spray is a big issue...try and locate them somewhere to avoid the drips. I have seen acrylic shields to prevent splash that looked promising.

 

[roscoe]

That you shouldn't do, nope not recommended normally. That said, If your using them to run these large transformer plugs which everyone hates, These usually consume little power & within reason you could do this as mentioned. In theory you could do it over & over but that is never recommended.
Fact of the matter is that at some point you need to consider everything you have that requires power for your tank. Then you need to discover your individual circuits & include everything you have on them or add to them at times such as a vacuum cleaner etc. as mentioned in CRASHFIREJOE post. Then with that information you can determine your electrical needs. As mentioned having more circuits allows for splitting it up safely. If you don't consider what equipment you have for power & try to run everything on one circuit, then at some point your chances of tripping a breaker or possible fire could happen. Another thing I recommend is the use of the GFCI's & GP together as protection from a shock. Most all codes require GFCI with anything dealing with water & they are getting stricter by the day, also there are code limits on outlets each circuit can have, I want to say the common one is something like 8 maybe 12 outlets per circuit. Use the DJ or HD type strips, you may have to look a little harder for them but stay away from the cheaper buss bar type power strips, the outlets are usually more & closer together, also the common power strip with built in timers for fish tanks, these burn up all of the time, I don't like them. Last, you should clean & inspect your PH,'s Pumps etc regularly, keep the bodies clean so you can see any cracking or damage & anything that goes in water you must put it on a GFCI, very important.

Sorry for the dumb question. So Scooty You reccomend the DJ power srtips but don't plug any other types of power strip to it correct? This electrical stuff cunfusses me since I know very little about it.