Light Timers & Power Strips??

[Virginia Reef]

I am looking for power strips and timers for my reef tank. Some the products (especially timers) that I find at the local home improvement stores say not for aquarium use. I haven’t been able to find these items on the various web sites that I use for other equipment.

Do the items marked “not for aquarium use” provide good service? Can anyone direct me to a source for good quality electrical components that will last in the salty environment under our tanks?

Thanks for your input.

 

[suckair]

I purchased some digital timers from Wal-mart for 15 bucks. They have a grounded outlet, and are rated for 15A.

If you are careful and put in drip lines on your power cords you won't have a problem

PS don't forget the GFI!

 

[Virginia Reef]

Thanks. I have installed a GFI in the wall. Was planning to place power strips, and timers in the cabinet (with drip loops). I will have a sump in the cabinet also and was concerned about salt air corroding the timer and power strip.

 

[suckair]

My sumps are covered.. I don't have any spray from them.. My pumps and insides of my stands look as good and salt free as the day they were put into service "except for some dust

".

You could just use a cover on your sump.

PS in my next setup I won't run a sump will be all closed loop.

good luck..

 

[JohnD]

Virgina Reef,

I have had strip lights and timers for years right behind the tank stand. The certainly get dusty (and occasionaly wet), but I have never had a problem.

I could be wrong, but I believe the manufacturers you wrote about put that warning on their products to cover themselves in case of a lawsuit. Somebody somewhere is going to electrocute themselves setting a timer with wet hands.

Have drip lines and GFI-protected outlets are the real keys.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a fire in the cabinet under my reef. To the best of my knowledge, what happened was salt creep caused a short where a plug went into a power strip. The set-up was 3 years old- the sump was partially covered.

I didn't have a gfi (do now!) but some people tell me that you wouldn't necesssarily be protected from this kind of thing with a gfi since a fire may not cause improper leakage of current.

 

[esmithiii]

One of my clients manufactures Arc-fault breakers which would probably trip in that case. They cost under $5.00.

Ernie

 

[Anonymous]

We had a customer who's 54 corner reef was destroyed last month when a $10 light timer shorted and started a major fire. The 54 gal AGA tank failing from the heat and dumping water on the fire put the fire out. One dead reef, one saved house. Homeowner's insurance is picking up the tab for repairs and replacing the tank.

Personally I would be wary about where you mount your powerstrips, if you mount them on the inner walls of your cabinetry instead of laying them on the floor you shouldn't have any worries about salt creep and short circuits.

Like anything in life, a little preventative maintainence also goes a long way.

 

[LINK]

I have been using the "radioshack X-10 Timers and modules, and have been problem free for over a year. Price for controll unit = $30 each module = $15. HTH

 

[suckair]

Electrical fires are quite common it reef aquaria. These can all be avoided by taking a little extra time in the design and layout of power cords and outlets. I run GFI on everything "some times it can be a pain as GFI units can be tempermental" but my life was possibly saved by one during a power incident. I would never setup up a reef system with out GFI protection.

One earlier commet which was a good one was not to have power strips laying on the bottom of your stand. Mount them on the sides to prevent water seapage.

No matter how well we design a system we do have small water leaks from time to time and salt water and electricy do not play well together.

I also use X-10 systems and totaly love them. However you can spare no expense on these systems as well. I had to purchase a breaker box phase repeater bridge that cots me almost 200 bucks to fix intermittent x-10 operation on some of my systems. I build my own outlet banks under my stands and use x-10 15a outlets. I usualy put in a total of 8 x-10 modules in schedule 80 outdoor power boxes that are avi. at Home Depot .

So far "knock on wood" I have never had a salt water short on any of my systems. However I do like tinkering with electronics and wireing so it was fun for me to do.

We are on the horizon of the hobby and you can't just go to the LFS and purchase properly built power systems and equipment assembled and tested to be safe so we have to DIY it. We just need to be careful that we do a good job and don't cut corners to save money when it comes to the saftey of us or our animals.



Randall

 

[IBJJ]

I hung my powerstrips on the sides under the stand also. No problems so far.