Your Resident Electrician for all your electrical questions!

[Brew12]

@Brew12
Would you make all the outlets GFCI?

I would not. I might make some of them GFCI, but definitely not all of them. Especially if they end up in a hard area to get to. GFCI's fail and they don't last forever so being able to change them out is important.

This is how I set up my GFCI's.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-gfci-installation.342874/

 

[Brew12]

@Brew12

I have 2 x 15 AMP dedicated curcuits and I wanted to split it through 4 x Blank Face GFCIs, this way I get 8 outlets - each pair on a separate GFCI. Do you see anything wrong with my logic?

Nope, sounds like a good idea.

 

[Brew12]

Quick question. My house was built in 2013 and I'd like to place the outlet my tank is plugged into on its own circuit. Is there such a thing as too big of a circuit for a single outlet? Or would it be more beneficial to add another outlet to the room on its own circuit? The panel is located in my garage, which is also where the attic access is. I believe everything is run up and through the attic, as I can't find wiring in my basement associated with the room the tank sits in.

No, there is no minimum requirement for the number of outlets on a circuit so you are fine to do that. It might be easier to add a new outlet on a new circuit than to re-feed the existing one. It could be a challenge to find out which outlets are daisy chained through, especially if the one your tank is currently using isn't the last one in the chain.

 

[medicw131]

No, there is no minimum requirement for the number of outlets on a circuit so you are fine to do that. It might be easier to add a new outlet on a new circuit than to re-feed the existing one. It could be a challenge to find out which outlets are daisy chained through, especially if the one your tank is currently using isn't the last one in the chain.

Thanks! Sounds like a good idea to me. Do you think adding an outlet with 4 plugs would be difficult to do in an existing, finished room (painted and drywalled)? Also, what sized circuit would you recommend? I have 2 EB8 on an Apex with 3 Ecotech MP40 and 3 Gen 4 XR30 Radions, so I think I may have a little bit of a power demand lol.

 

[Brew12]

Thanks! Sounds like a good idea to me. Do you think adding an outlet with 4 plugs would be difficult to do in an existing, finished room (painted and drywalled)? Also, what sized circuit would you recommend? I have 2 EB8 on an Apex with 3 Ecotech MP40 and 3 Gen 4 XR30 Radions, so I think I may have a little bit of a power demand lol.

Are you planning on doing it yourself or having an electrician do it?
It's not hard at all if you know what you are doing and know the tricks of the trade and have the right tools. Well, also assuming it is a one story house.

 

[Smite]

@Brew12
Would you make all the outlets GFCI?

If they land behind the tank and aren't serviceable/accessible consider replacing you current breaker with a GFCI type breaker. Easy to reolace if it goes bad. If for some reason it trips it will be accessible.

 

[Brew12]

If they land behind the tank and aren't serviceable/accessible consider replacing you current breaker with a GFCI type breaker. Easy to reolace if it goes bad. If for some reason it trips it will be accessible.

It's not a bad suggestion, but I don't like the thought of losing all my tank loads due to a single faulted piece of equipment. That is why I like splitting my wet tank loads between multiple GFCI's.

 

[Smite]

It's not a bad suggestion, but I don't like the thought of losing all my tank loads due to a single faulted piece of equipment. That is why I like splitting my wet tank loads between multiple GFCI's.

Just read your linked DIY thread. Very cool way to make the GFCI reachable. I use apex to control everything so i figured once it's tripped everything's down anyway. But with your method the gfci could olug straight to apex.

Glad I found this as I'll probably be changing my current build plans.

 

[Brew12]

Just read your linked DIY thread. Very cool way to make the GFCI reachable. I use apex to control everything so i figured once it's tripped everything's down anyway. But with your method the gfci could olug straight to apex.

Glad I found this as I'll probably be changing my current build plans.

My first build had 4 Apex controlled GFCI outlets. Worked fantastic. Each heater was on its own.

 

[Smite]

Thanks! Sounds like a good idea to me. Do you think adding an outlet with 4 plugs would be difficult to do in an existing, finished room (painted and drywalled)? Also, what sized circuit would you recommend? I have 2 EB8 on an Apex with 3 Ecotech MP40 and 3 Gen 4 XR30 Radions, so I think I may have a little bit of a power demand lol.

It's a little time consuming but I'd suggest you figure out your max power draw for all equipment on the tank. Lights, pumps, return pump, heater and or chillers, controllers ect.

Most reef equipment power consumption will be listed in watts. To convert your total watts to amps divide watts by voltage. If it plugs into your wall with a normal plug end, it's single phase 120v.

Example:
All your equipment adds up to 1500 watts. Divide by you 120v power
1500 ÷ 120 = 12.5 amps
12.5 amps would require a 15 amp circuit breaker with 14 AWG (14/2 romex)
Here's why
To code you can load a circuit to 80% of its rating.
So a 15 amp 120v circuit max load is 13.8 amps or 1656 watts
14 AWG wire needed

20 amp circuit max load
18.4 amps/2208 watts
12 AWG wire needed

 

[BZOFIQ]

If they land behind the tank and aren't serviceable/accessible consider replacing you current breaker with a GFCI type breaker. Easy to reolace if it goes bad. If for some reason it trips it will be accessible.

Or use regular (WR preferred) outlets behind the tank fed by multiple blank-face GFCI located in an easy to access area - like I'm doing.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Nope, sounds like a good idea.

I thought so but figured I'd ask. I wouldn't want to go through with it only to find out later that there is something else I wasn't aware of.

Appreciate your approval.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Just read your linked DIY thread. Very cool way to make the GFCI reachable.

Is there a DIY thread linked somewhere or are we talking about Brew's build threads in his sig?

 

[Brew12]

Is there a DIY thread linked somewhere or are we talking about Brew's build threads in his sig?

I linked it a few posts ago, but it may not work right if you use the mobile app.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-gfci-installation.342874/

 

[JMM744]

Yes, or you can get a big cardboard cut out of Nancy Pelosi to put in front of it.

I would have to tear my eyes out !! Ouch, just the thought......

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Can't you get breakers with gfci functionality? I have been thinking about putting in a dedicated circuit for my aquarium and wondered if there were any pros/cons to either setup? My thought was that it would be easier for me to reset a gfci in the breaker panel than reach behind the aquarium like I have to now.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

It's also easier to reset a GFCI circuit local to the equipment for troubleshooting purposes though. GFCI receptacles protect all receptacles downstream. So what you do to make the best of both worlds is this:

Put the GFCI receptacle in an accessible location, and make it the first receptacle in the circuit. All the other receptacles that you want protected, connect them downstream from the GFCI (to the "load" terminals, not the "line" terminals). Really just the first one needs to be connected to the Load side, then from that receptacle and on, all are protected by the GFCI.

You don't have to even plug anything into the GFCI. In fact you can get a device that fits in the place of a receptacle that is only a GFCI with no receptacles.

The downside to a GFCI breaker is that they are more expensive to replace (and you are supposed to periodically replace them), more difficult to use in troubleshooting scenarios, and if you want to have any non-GFCI protected receptacles in the area, you have to have a different circuit (whereas you can also tap off the "Line" side of the GFCI and have a non-protected circuit)

 

[jrlg]

I wired up 2 20 amp circuits with 12/3 and I read that they need to be connected at the service panel with a double bar breaker with the throws linked together, but if I label the two single bar breakers are sharing the same neutral would that be ok? I want the fail safe if one breaker trips the other one is still on, all outlets on the circuit are GFCI with no down stream outlets. I understand that if one breaker is tripped the shared neutral is still a live circuit, I am just thinking of the next person to come across it

 

[Brew12]

I wired up 2 20 amp circuits with 12/3 and I read that they need to be connected at the service panel with a double bar breaker with the throws linked together, but if I label the two single bar breakers are sharing the same neutral would that be ok? I want the fail safe if one breaker trips the other one is still on, all outlets on the circuit are GFCI with no down stream outlets. I understand that if one breaker is tripped the shared neutral is still a live circuit, I am just thinking of the next person to come across it

The only reason you should have 2 2oA circuits tied together is if you wanted to make a 24oV circuit. Since I don't believe that is the case, you should not tie the breakers together.

 

[fermentedhiker]

The only reason you should have 2 2oA circuits tied together is if you wanted to make a 24oV circuit. Since I don't believe that is the case, you should not tie the breakers together.

If you're sharing the neutral in one of these so called multi-wire circuits you have to tie the breakers together because the potential from one circuit would make the other one hot even if it's discreet breaker was tripped or shutoff.

I agree that it's a bad idea. I'm not sure why people think they are good or even useful. They will work at least if you have purely resistive loads like incandescent light bulbs. I'm not sure how having unbalanced inductive loads like return pumps and powerheads would behave though. I also seem to remember lighting ballasts do not do well at all in these type of arrangements.