GHL Powerbar 6E are supposed to hold 15A per bar or per socket...or are they?
Recently had an 800w (9amp) Finnex titanium heater get really hot on one of my sockets on my powerbar so I junked the heater as I figured it was 8 months old so could of been on its way out and bought a new one that was the same brand and wattage; 800w (9amp) Finnex.
Decided to move the heater to a different outlet on the bar and a few days later wife noticed an electrical burning smell. Run downstairs and sure enough the smell is near my controller cabinet, which is completely away from any chance of water hitting it. I cut the power to the breaker for my tank outlets (dedicated 2 x 20amp circuits).
Needless to say the heater melted the entire socket and was probably really close to catching fire. I've heard rumors over the years to not run heaters on these types of things, but with a 15amp threshold you would think a 9amp heater wouldn't do anything. Apparently I was wrong. Sadly it's not something covered via any kind of warranty or something I can get repair parts for.
And just to be 100% the only other thing on the power bar was a small ATO pump that doesn't even register power draw when it's on, a small led light strip that pulls .05amps when it is turned on, which it wasn't at the time, and a small Tunze 6055 in my sump to move water which pulls .4-.5amp.
So those with large heaters on controller powerbar/outlets I would think twice before doing it. It was admitted to me that GHL knows they have had issues with Finnex heaters, BRS heaters, and Inkbirds on their powerbars.
I tried to post this on the FB group for GHL, but it is bad press so it got denied. Not shocked!
Rant over.
Recently had an 800w (9amp) Finnex titanium heater get really hot on one of my sockets on my powerbar so I junked the heater as I figured it was 8 months old so could of been on its way out and bought a new one that was the same brand and wattage; 800w (9amp) Finnex.
Decided to move the heater to a different outlet on the bar and a few days later wife noticed an electrical burning smell. Run downstairs and sure enough the smell is near my controller cabinet, which is completely away from any chance of water hitting it. I cut the power to the breaker for my tank outlets (dedicated 2 x 20amp circuits).
Needless to say the heater melted the entire socket and was probably really close to catching fire. I've heard rumors over the years to not run heaters on these types of things, but with a 15amp threshold you would think a 9amp heater wouldn't do anything. Apparently I was wrong. Sadly it's not something covered via any kind of warranty or something I can get repair parts for.
And just to be 100% the only other thing on the power bar was a small ATO pump that doesn't even register power draw when it's on, a small led light strip that pulls .05amps when it is turned on, which it wasn't at the time, and a small Tunze 6055 in my sump to move water which pulls .4-.5amp.
So those with large heaters on controller powerbar/outlets I would think twice before doing it. It was admitted to me that GHL knows they have had issues with Finnex heaters, BRS heaters, and Inkbirds on their powerbars.
I tried to post this on the FB group for GHL, but it is bad press so it got denied. Not shocked!
Rant over.