Reef Pi Build

[Diamond1]

Here's the new wiring layout for the relays and sockets. All of the sockets are now hooked up to the relays through the positive side of the power supply and the neutral wires are in the right place.

Big thanks to @Erica-Renee for noticing and helping to sort this out.

I checked all the sockets with a multi meter and they all work as they are supposed to.

 

[Erica-Renee]

I know this is being picky But can you PLEASE Use Back wire for Hot and white wire for neutral . I would prefer to see Black for Hot Source and Red for hot from relay to outlet.. But .
Did you use different Outlets? You broke the tabs off the neutral side ..... Your wire colors are confusing I NEVER EVER Use a white wire for hot Unless its feeding a Switch for a light that is hot at the fixture.

 

[Diamond1]

I know this is being picky But can you PLEASE Use Back wire for Hot and white wire for neutral . I would prefer to see Black for Hot Source and Red for hot from relay to outlet.. But .
Did you use different Outlets? You broke the tabs off the neutral side ..... Your wire colors are confusing I NEVER EVER Use a white wire for hot Unless its feeding a Switch for a light that is hot at the fixture.

I did use the same outlets and the tabs were all broken on the hot side of the outlet (the side with the gold screws).
Sorry about the confusing wires, I just used some 14/2 wiring and the colors in those cables is black and white.

 

[Brew12]

Curious with the Relay Wiring.

Mine are not wired that way Nor do i ever wire i switch like that.
From my POWER I Wired all the naturals together and to each of the outlets.
Cut the tab on the Hot side of each plug . Wired each plug to one side of the relay.
Wired the main power to the other side of each of the relay. I also have the Neutral connected to neutral on my pi .

My Question is where did you get the Wiring Guide ?
Mine is wired according to the Relay Manufacture which is different then yours but the relays look to the same or very similar. The reason i am asking is because maybe mine is incorrect but its been working fine for a VERY Long time..

Thanks in Advance Erica @Brew12 can you give your advice please ..

Thanks for the invite! Sorry about the delay, I've been hosting a reef club party. Let me read through this and figure out what is going on.

 

[Diamond1]

Thanks for the invite! Sorry about the delay, I've been hosting a reef club party. Let me read through this and figure out what is going on.

Thanks for having a look.

 

[Brew12]

Thanks for having a look.

Can't argue with anything @Erica-Renee pointed out. She is all over this. In my opinion switching should never be done with a neutral. This can cause all sorts of issues. One of the biggest is that if a load has a fault to ground it may not turn off just because the neutral is open. There is also a safety aspect. If you switch via the neutral the outlet will have 120V on it all of the time. Much safer to deenergize the load you want off by switching the hot than just blocking current flow by blocking the neutral.

I also like her suggestion for wire colors. On a 120V circuit the black should be hot, the neutral white and the ground green (or orange). On a DC circuit I prefer the positive to be red and the negative to be white if it is grounded or black if it is ungrounded. If in doubt, white on the negative.

The color codes may not mean much for a hobby project like this but if you standardize it to these norms it will make it easier for others to help if you have issues and may help you if you forgot how it was wired.

 

[Erica-Renee]

Can't argue with anything @Erica-Renee pointed out. She is all over this. In my opinion switching should never be done with a neutral. This can cause all sorts of issues. One of the biggest is that if a load has a fault to ground it may not turn off just because the neutral is open. There is also a safety aspect. If you switch via the neutral the outlet will have 120V on it all of the time. Much safer to deenergize the load you want off by switching the hot than just blocking current flow by blocking the neutral.

I also like her suggestion for wire colors. On a 120V circuit the black should be hot, the neutral white and the ground green (or orange). On a DC circuit I prefer the positive to be red and the negative to be white if it is grounded or black if it is ungrounded. If in doubt, white on the negative.

The color codes may not mean much for a hobby project like this but if you standardize it to these norms it will make it easier for others to help if you have issues and may help you if you forgot how it was wired.

Thanks Just want him to be SAFE and Correct and a second opinion in case i was missing something. You explain it much better then I .

 

[Diamond1]

Can't argue with anything @Erica-Renee pointed out. She is all over this. In my opinion switching should never be done with a neutral. This can cause all sorts of issues. One of the biggest is that if a load has a fault to ground it may not turn off just because the neutral is open. There is also a safety aspect. If you switch via the neutral the outlet will have 120V on it all of the time. Much safer to deenergize the load you want off by switching the hot than just blocking current flow by blocking the neutral.

I also like her suggestion for wire colors. On a 120V circuit the black should be hot, the neutral white and the ground green (or orange). On a DC circuit I prefer the positive to be red and the negative to be white if it is grounded or black if it is ungrounded. If in doubt, white on the negative.

The color codes may not mean much for a hobby project like this but if you standardize it to these norms it will make it easier for others to help if you have issues and may help you if you forgot how it was wired.

@Brew12
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I will rework the wiring to black being HOT and white being neutral if that will help you confirm that everything is safe and wired correctly.

 

[Brew12]

@Brew12
Thanks for the detailed explanation. I will rework the wiring to black being HOT and white being neutral if that will help you confirm that everything is safe and wired correctly.

I think that is wise. It may be out of an abundance of caution on a project like this but I feel it is worth it. Of course, I'm not the one doing the work. I can tell you that more than one electrician has been killed by people wiring neutrals through switches and improper colored wiring.

 

[Erica-Renee]

I think that is wise. It may be out of an abundance of caution on a project like this but I feel it is worth it. Of course, I'm not the one doing the work. I can tell you that more than one electrician has been killed by people wiring neutrals through switches and improper colored wiring.

Yeah . That is why i hate when power is run thru a Ceiling light box then ran down to a wall switch . And THEY DO NOT MAKE THE WHITE is HOT.. I always ASSUME Its hot .. I have seen also people use the Neutral for 3 way switch and the ground for the neutral..

 

[Diamond1]

@Brew12
Ok so here's the newly done wiring. Hopefully this eliminates some of the confusion.

I had to use white wires for the positive circuit going to the relays. All of these wires go to the left terminal of the relays and are daisy chained to the positive line from the power cable.

The neutral (white wire from the power cord) wire goes to the neutral terminals on all of the sockets.

The black wires come out of the center relay terminal and each wire goes to an isolated socket.

 

[Erica-Renee]

@Brew12
Ok so here's the newly done wiring. Hopefully this eliminates some of the confusion.

I had to use white wires for the positive circuit going to the relays. All of these wires go to the left terminal of the relays and are daisy chained to the positive line from the power cable.

The neutral (white wire from the power cord) wire goes to the neutral terminals on all of the sockets.

The black wires come out of the center relay terminal and each wire goes to an isolated socket.

I like all except using the WHITE Wire for hot.. USE A Sharpeee on them at least.. But i can clearly see the are hot .. as long as the hot Is connected to the HOT Post on the plugs the SHORT SLOT. Right slot with gnd slot down.. The Brass/COPPER Screw side ..

 

[Diamond1]

I like all except using the WHITE Wire for hot.. USE A Sharpeee on them at least.. But i can clearly see the are hot .. as long as the hot Is connected to the HOT Post on the plugs the SHORT SLOT. Right slot with gnd slot down.. The Brass/COPPER Screw side ..

Thanks that's exactly the way it is. I'll put some red electrical tape on the white wire hot lines.

 

[Erica-Renee]

Thanks that's exactly the way it is. I'll put some red electrical tape on the white wire hot lines.

You can use a Sharpie and Paint the Black or Red as well..

 

[Diamond1]

You can use a Sharpie and Paint the Black or Red as well..

I wrapped some red tape on some of the white wires for a visual reference. The important thing is that everything in the circuit has been corrected and now I feel much better about the overall safety.

 

[Brew12]

I wrapped some red tape on some of the white wires for a visual reference. The important thing is that everything in the circuit has been corrected and now I feel much better about the overall safety.

Looks much better!

 

[Diamond1]

Looks much better!

Thanks I appreciate you helping me get things sorted out.

 

[Ranjib]

There's many words of wisdom in this thread already. I am taking a few of those and put it in the power controller guide
- Color coding (Country specific color codings, details on US color codes)
- Always switch the hot wire
What a great way to start the day

 

[Erica-Renee]

There's many words of wisdom in this thread already. I am taking a few of those and put it in the power controller guide
- Color coding (Country specific color codings, details on US color codes)
- Always switch the hot wire
What a great way to start the day

Sometimes the little things Like this can be Over looked . In your Guide Please note that Just like in @Diamond1 built everything was Working , Never assume the Colors are Correct Verify before servicing .

 

[Diamond1]

Got a couple more things done today.

I got the power supply cable wired to the GFCI plug.

I used an old computer power cable cut the plug off and found that it had a blue, brown, and green/yellow wire inside...:mad:
So I broke out the multi meter to confirm that the blue was hot the brown was neutral and the green was ground. Hooked up some terminal forks to the ends and wired it up.

Between the GFCI plug and the fused power switch, I'll have 2 layers of circuit protection.