Multiple Light Fixture Cord Organizatioon

[redfishbluefish]

I just added a third light fixture to my canopy, for a total of three 120W fixtures. The issue is all the cords. Each fixture has two cords, one for blues and one for whites, while one fixture has a third wire for moon lights. In addition I have two old IceCap moonlight fixtures with two more cords/wall warts. The mess where all the wires meet is starting to look like that garage outlet on Christmas Vacation.




There's a total of nine cords! What can I do to organize this and make it look a little prettier? If you have pictures, that would be appreciated


For comparison, here's the outlet from Christmas Vacation :eek:

 

[DaveMorris]

Plastic zip ties help quite a lot. I would tie each chord together a little below the outlets. The best thing to do would be to cut them down to the length that reaches right, but if you don't do electrical it might be tricky.

 

[Spicemonkey]

Zip ties and sticky mailing labels at ends for easier identification

 

[afamousjohnson]

I hide my cords coming off to the light in vacuum hosing slit up the side. Just tuck um all in and run it right up to the light

 

[Zaffor]

Just take your time and tie them up as they come out of each source

Zip ties go a long way in cleaning up wiring.

 

[stevenbonano]

Following. I have the same problem

 

[pciscott]

I had the same problem with my light. 2 zones T5, 5 Kessil 360's, 2 Reefbrite strips, moonlights, and cooling fans. I ended up mounting a Apex EB8 in the fixture and I have one cord for power and 1 cord to controller. They make a 4 plug unit as well. I also added 2 VDM modules to help dim all the channels I have.

 

[Robert_ellis]

Just take your time and tie them up as they come out of each source

Zip ties go a long way in cleaning up wiring.

Clean set up

 

[Vanmo92]

DJ power strips are my solution. Ive got 2 of these things packed out! Still have a rats nest behind them but in my case thats totally hidden, and I can still control power to individual things. http://www.amazon.com/American-Pc-1...qid=1432621393&sr=8-1&keywords=Dj+power+strip

 

[hawaiifavo]

I cant recommend these enough: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094JEXOW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Combined with the slide-on tops they worked perfectly for me.

Before:

After:

 

[Downbeach]

I used a number of strategically placed garment hooks installed around the inside of the cabinets skirt as wire managers, and added a number of power strips with short cords around the skirt, and inside the posts between the doors.

 

[Zaffor]

I used zip tie blocks to keep the cable runs fixed (pretty inexpensive and no holes needed)

http://www.amazon.com/Startech-HC102-Adhesive-Cable-Mounts/dp/B00008VFBE

 

[Zaffor]

You can slightly trim the cable blocks if you really want to hide them behind the wires

 

[Lynn52]

For my lights heater and power heads (cords that come out of the tank) I installed a GFI outlet above my tank. To that I attached a 5' power strip with 8 outlets along the length. The power strip is attached to the wall just above the hood. It have zip ties for the excess cord. For components that have power supplies I put Velcro on the back of each power supply and on a piece of bracing in the hood to keep them from falling into the water. This keeps all the cords out of the stand except for the equipment in the stand. Inside the stand I have a single American DJ power strip for all the under tank equipment so I can individually switch off equipment I am not using.

 

[Zaffor]

Good point
The devices with transformers i also try to wrap the wiring neatly and secure it behind the cabinet away from view yet still organized

 

[certain_code]

Biggest issue for me is keeping wire nice. What does everyone do when they need to replace or clean a pump? Just cut and re-zip tie everything? If I do it and have to quickly everything just goes back to square one again.

 

[Zaffor]

Thats the drawback of having everything tight and tidy
I just recently replaced 2 mp40s to the newer model and i had to untie and re run some of the wiring

Its not often that I replace main equipment

My probes (or anything else you foresee replacing semi regularly) you leave until the end and tie those independently to the main runs. That way you just cut a few ties and replace without disturbing anything else.

You could always just run everything in loom or some sort of wire chase but I dont think it looks as clean

 

[hawaiifavo]

Being able to pull equipment when needed with minimum hassle is why I chose the method that I recommended. Having to cut and re tie zip ties is annoying. The solution that I use is made initially for Ethernet cables so it's easy to open and pull cables. Another good solution is Velcro straps I use those instead of zip ties as well

 

[Downbeach]

Biggest issue for me is keeping wire nice. What does everyone do when they need to replace or clean a pump? Just cut and re-zip tie everything? If I do it and have to quickly everything just goes back to square one again.

This is the main reason I opted for the hooks, with two return pumps, four reactor pumps, skimmer, dosers, etc. I needed to be able to remove them for cleaning. So, with the hooks I can just remove the cords, and lay the cords back in when the maintenance was done.

 

[scottbapilot]

I use the plastic clips that come on bread bags to make lables, Works great