Short equipment cables are annoying...

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Cable management is already a tough job, but with a lot of the cables in the industry being notoriously short, I find it nearly impossible to mount things in an organized fashion and still have enough cable to get to the outlet or to the power strip. How do you guys handle running the extra length? Do you just buy extension cables for everything?

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I'm following. I currently just have many extension cords/power strips and its a absolute pain to make anything look "clean"

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I'm following. I currently just have many extension cords/power strips and its a absolute pain to make anything look "clean"

Right!? Somebody needs to come up with a viable solution (or tell me about any solutions that already exist)

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Right!? Somebody needs to come up with a viable solution (or tell me about any solutions that already exist)

Honestly, 3' or 4' of extra cable during production wouldnt break the bank that much. I get every foot counts when you make hundreds of power heads, pumps, lights etc. But I'd rather pay tunze, reef octopus, hydros, Neptune, etc, an extra couple bucks and have as much cable as I need with zero extension cords. If I'm already spending north of $500 for a light, what's an extra $10-$20 for a "extended cord" option, especially if it's for a power supply where the the power cord and the brick are two separate items anyway.

I will say, some manufacturers are much better than others though in my experience.

 

[BryanM]

Cable management is already a tough job, but with a lot of the cables in the industry being notoriously short, I find it nearly impossible to mount things in an organized fashion and still have enough cable to get to the outlet or to the power strip. How do you guys handle running the extra length? Do you just buy extension cables for everything?

Previous lights and one wave maker I had to get extensions for.

But the new maxspect powerheads and meridian light came with very long cables.

 

[UncommonSense]

I just installed an Aquatop heater for someone…

— the permanent cord between heater and controller is ~3ft (1m) long…

— The controller’s mounting eye is buried behind cords at the top… (they do their best to hide that in their marketing photos)

— the controller mounting eye being buried is a known issue, because they also provide a (severely undersized) chromed steel hook to hang the controller off the rim of an aquarium… (putting your high voltage controller in the immediate splash zone with zero drip loop…)

 

[Pathsreef]

For my current upgrade build, i was planning getting some dual conductor 16ga cable, shrink tube and some solder sleeves and make the cords longer by splicing in the cable. I can also change out the plugs to 90's at the same time depending on if they are going into the apex or the ADJ power strips.

 

[UncommonSense]

For my current upgrade build, i was planning getting some dual conductor 16ga cable, shrink tube and some solder sleeves and make the cords longer by splicing in the cable. I can also change out the plugs to 90's at the same time depending on if they are going into the apex or the ADJ power strips.

I would NOT recommend open splices in high voltage wiring!

 

[Pathsreef]

I would NOT recommend open splices in high voltage wiring!

It would be covered with the shrink tube.

 

[CHSUB]

Long cables can be just as annoying…

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I would NOT recommend open splices in high voltage wiring!

They sell underground splice kits for UF cable that's essentially what he's talking about. That said, I've never seen one for any cable besides UF. Im curious in the reasoning behind that. Maybe because it's less likely to be fiddled with once it's buried? Those kits are kind of cool. The shrink tube they give you actually has a adhesive built into it, as you heat it up it glues itself to the cables jacket.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Long cables can be just as annoying…

I wouldn't really agree if your complaint is "I have a unsightly coil of wire that i neatly bundled up and cable tied out of the way" vs "I have multiple extension cords under my tank and I have to try and situate them so they arent in a splash zone and won't accidently come unplugged" one might be mildly annoying, the other could cause property damage if someone's not careful. If I had to choose one or the other, can't have both, a continuously sealed, watertight tight cable that's kinda long seems the better option.

 

[UncommonSense]

It would be covered with the shrink tube.

Normal hardware store heat shrink is intended for low-voltage applications, NOT splicing high voltage wires…. Much less soldering a high voltage splice….

I highly recommend you contact a qualified electrician before moving any further forward with this idea, for your own safety.

 

[Pathsreef]

Normal hardware store heat shrink is intended for low-voltage applications, NOT splicing high voltage wires…. Much less soldering a high voltage splice….

I highly recommend you contact a qualified electrician before moving any further forward with this idea, for your own safety.

I work for a company that makes custom wire harness for industrial machinery, i would be getting the needed parts from our suppliers.

 

[UncommonSense]

I work for a company that makes custom wire harness for industrial machinery, i would be getting the needed parts from our suppliers.

Does any of this machinery sit in close proximity to saltwater?

 

[X-37B]

I use these on 4 systems. It makes it easy to work on. All cables are behind the enclosures for easy access.
My 150

 

[MasterClassReefs]

Cable management is already a tough job, but with a lot of the cables in the industry being notoriously short, I find it nearly impossible to mount things in an organized fashion and still have enough cable to get to the outlet or to the power strip. How do you guys handle running the extra length? Do you just buy extension cables for everything?

I use a lot of reef octopus gear and hydros gear, they offer extensions for most of their products that helps with this. Going to have my work cut out for me on the new build.

 

[GoogleWasMyIdea]

I use Hydros Controllers and have a nice Collective so that power bricks are almost completely eliminated. Between the 12V connection on some controllers and the 24V connections with the Kraken, it has made it really nice. I still need some extension cables, so I use them, but most power bricks are eliminated, which makes things much easier to manage. (I still don't have it 100% "Clean looking", but looks much better than my other tank with bricks everywhere)

 

[MasterClassReefs]

I use Hydros Controllers and have a nice Collective so that power bricks are almost completely eliminated. Between the 12V connection on some controllers and the 24V connections with the Kraken, it has made it really nice. I still need some extension cables, so I use them, but most power bricks are eliminated, which makes things much easier to manage. (I still don't have it 100% "Clean looking", but looks much better than my other tank with bricks everywhere)

Are you using battery backup with the kraken? I got one as well for the same reason, plus the battery backup being an option though I wasnt excited about a lead acid battery so went with a lifepo4 100ah instead and got a victron charger for it.

 

[Marc G-L]

There are flat sided extension plugs on Amazon of various lengths for sale. Starting at 1 foot. As far as sorting out the cable mess, I label inexpensive, color coded velcro ties and label them with a sharpie. That leaves no confusion what power box, cable or device is going or coming from where. See attached photo.