outlets

[Myteemouse]

Gonna start my outlets today!!
I was thinking of doing one NON GFCI dual plug then a double gang box with two GFCI 20 amps after the non GFCI out let for each 20 amp circuit?
This was so each (2) tanks have the heaters and return pumps in a non GFCI plug in case one "POPS" I wont loose all heat??
Would this be BAD???

 

[Scooterman]

How many circuits do you have? Are they dedicated?

Anything that goes In water you want on a GFCI.

Use a Ranco Controller for your heaters!

 

[MC Lighting]

on my tanks there are 4 20 amp dedicated circuits... Each of those has 2 quad boxes and those each have GFI's this way I am dividing all of my equipment across multiple GFI's in the even one trips not likly to cause a tank crash. The only circuit that is not this way is the return pump it has a single 20a receptical that way you CANNOt plug more than one thing into it and it is not a gfci as its an external motor with a grounded chasis I figure the that is plenty safe to not be a gfi and in all of the worst cases I would have to trip a 20a circuit to loose all including the return pump; not a likely situation... All lights heaters, skimmers etc are gfi.

 

[Myteemouse]

two 20 circuits

 

[Scooterman]

You can daisy chain GFCI & Non GFCI depending on how you wire the outlets.
So that said you can run the None GFCI before or after the GFCI's also you don't need GFCI's on every outlet, once you protect a circuit It will cover all of the outlets on that circuit. On devices with three prongs you won't find them on anything that goes in water as they are usually not double insulated but grounded separately.

 

[Myteemouse]

well if I put the NON GFCI BEFOR the GFCI's It wont be switched if the GFCI's trip!
That was just the return pumps and heater I will also have a ground probe on that plug!
I just don't want the lights to kill the heaters and return pumps !
Just a safety precaution!
I don't think the GFCI's will kill the outlet BEFORE them only after them RIGHT?

 

[Scooterman]

All depends on how you wire it, you can Put a GFCI first & bypass it on the next outlet. If the GFCI trips It won't cut the others out or you can put it the way you said originally & GFCI the rest, I was just pointing out that depending on Your needs & locations, you may need some sort of combination.
To make it simple I'd do one circuit GFCI & the other not, the only real Issue you would have is if you had a big chiller, which for a system your size I'd run that separate also, this way all you need is to buy one GFCI outlet.

 

[Myteemouse]

already have four
Can take some back!
I was gonna run heaters and return pumps on one outlet non GFCI and the lights and crap on the other circuit.
Does that sound right??
So one 20 amp, dedicated breaker from the main panel is NON GFCI, and one 20A breaker is Gfci, a better way to go????

 

[Scooterman]

I'd just take the second circuit & put the GFCI Outlet first & wire it so all of the other outlets are on that circuit, this way they are all protected. Your limit of 80% of the circuit anyway so you shouldn't have overload issues & you can plug in lots of stuff that doesn't use up much power. It requires some math to calculate how much you can put on each circuit safely!

 

[MC Lighting]

You can daisy chain GFCI & Non GFCI depending on how you wire the outlets.
So that said you can run the None GFCI before or after the GFCI's also you don't need GFCI's on every outlet, once you protect a circuit It will cover all of the outlets on that circuit. On devices with three prongs you won't find them on anything that goes in water as they are usually not double insulated but grounded separately.

This is true however that is exactly why I did not daisy chain the gfi's as I did not want one to protect the whole line the idea is that you have redundancy if one or two pieces of equipment shut down to a fault everything else remains running but yet still protected by their own GFI's Good example is I had a PC light fail and trip the gfi but because it was plugged into the lighting GFI only the PC/Actinics were affected the halides and all other equipment remained functional; if I loose a heater again the skimmers and lighting would not be impacted...

 

[Myteemouse]

this is why I bought four GFCI's I knew i did it for a reason! LOL
I will put one non GFCI on each 20 amp circuit.
I also will put two GFCI plugs after the non ,
Then add power bars and what not from there!!
Thanks for the help you guys!

 

[Scooterman]

Yup being you have them no harm with redundancy just make sure you wire the next GFCI outlets on the bypass of the first, so you do as MC mentioned, otherwise the redundancy is lost.

 

[Myteemouse]

yep gonna do a daisy chain type, off the bottom of each outlet so i don't shut them all off with one trip!

 

[Myteemouse]

I was thinking THREE outlets per 20 amp circuit??
Or should I do 4??
I counted I need a total of 24 plugs for both systems bare minimum!
Was gonna do a few power bars (high quality)

 

[MC Lighting]

me personally I have 3 outlets per circuit there is no problem with going up to say 10 outlets per circuit but as Scooterman suggested you need to make sure you are not going over the 80% mark on the entire circuit. I like the built in outlets for sake of having entire control and solid wiring for everything but the high end machinist power strips like HD sells (grey with black standard duplex outlets) work fine too... I divided mine up so that chiller/heaters and PC lighting are on one circuit, halide4s on another, return pump on the next and finally the skimmers and CL pump on the last again these are all divided amongst several GFI's though...

 

[Scooterman]

The transformer type devices are the ones that usually cause troubles because of the space they take up, use a few long power strips on those so you can free up the outlets for the bigger power consuming items.

 

[Myteemouse]

MC I only have 2 20 amps going to the display and other tank!

 

[Scooterman]

Do you have any other circuits in the room where you can use as some supplemental if necessary? You know most people use a circuit that is used but they just are careful to not add too much to it.
Your power needs can be met with two circuits, it all depends on what you have planned to put on it? Consider making a list of everything you plan on using electrically, write down the power used on each, all devices should have either amperage or watts used or even a data sheet. Then use that to determine how you will load share your equipment, splitting it up among circuits. Considering all of the things used, Lights, chillers, heaters & pumps consume the most power, so you need to know exactly where you stand on those for sure.

 

[MC Lighting]

MC I only have 2 20 amps going to the display and other tank!

Thats ok if you only have 2 circuits you just split them up on those two circuits and do the combination of GFI and NON-GFI outlets in parallel.

 

[Myteemouse]

fans 0.5 each x4
heaters 1.8 x3
ph meter 0.5
Pump 1.5
Pumps .74 x 2
sea swirls 1.4 x 2
Skimmers 1.5 and 1.2 x 2
Ballasts 2.2 x 4
ATO 1.5
I'm forgetting something??
I can't find the Amps for the sedra 12000a (still in shipping)
without the sedra I come up with 24
amps or so!!

Oh if I need a chiller (I prolly will)