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[Brew12]

All,

Purchased a Hydor Seltz 1600.. they say it is AC instead of DC.. i have a basic idea but not sure why i am having this issue. Plugged it all over the house and it keeps popping the breaker.

AC 115V /50-60hz

I’m at a loss. Please help!!

Thank you

Sounds like the motor has an internal short. I would return/exchange it.

 

[Jenuvio]

Sounds like a bad pump.
Try this, just plug the controller in, then plug the pump into the controller. Does the impeller spin?
Regardless, you cannot trust that unit on your tank, call service or return. You may have received a returned/faulty unit.

Will try that. Thanks!

 

[Jasper05]

I am planning a small fish room (more of a fish hallway) in the basement. And I wanted to run a new, dedicated circuit for the equipment. The powerheads and lights will be running on a separate, existing circuit.

Besides the possibility of a gfi outlet tripping, between installing a gfi breaker or a gfi outlet, is one better than the other?

 

[Fizbang]

Not sure if this is the correct spot to ask, but Imma try anyway...lol. I'm in the U.S. and bought a skimmer from overseas. The pump in the skimmer is DC 24v 1 amp 13watts and has a barrel connector to go to a power brick. The power brick coming with the skimmer is supposedly 220v 50hz input. Now I know I can just buy a 110 60hz or switching type brick here. However, I was wondering if the brick coming could be used anyway, or possibly altered a bit to work on 110? It hasn't arrived yet so I don't have pics Just trying to plan ahead a bit.

 

[siggy]

I am planning a small fish room (more of a fish hallway) in the basement. And I wanted to run a new, dedicated circuit for the equipment. The powerheads and lights will be running on a separate, existing circuit.

Besides the possibility of a gfi outlet tripping, between installing a gfi breaker or a gfi outlet, is one better than the other?

Not sure of what's Better, but your local code might require the breaker. Btw if you're going to run one circuit why not run two?

 

[siggy]

Not sure if this is the correct spot to ask, but Imma try anyway...lol. I'm in the U.S. and bought a skimmer from overseas. The pump in the skimmer is DC 24v 1 amp 13watts and has a barrel connector to go to a power brick. The power brick coming with the skimmer is supposedly 220v 50hz input. Now I know I can just buy a 110 60hz or switching type brick here. However, I was wondering if the brick coming could be used anyway, or possibly altered a bit to work on 110? It hasn't arrived yet so I don't have pics Just trying to plan ahead a bit.

get a 500va or larger

 

[Jasper05]

Not sure of what's Better, but your local code might require the breaker. Btw if you're going to run one circuit why not run two?

I'm running a pretty small setup. 40 g with 40 g sump. Since the lights and powerheads are going to be on a separate circuit already I thought (1) 20 A circuit would be enough?

Out of curiosity, what would be the thought process of this instance requiring a gfi breaker, if infact there is such a local code here?

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

After 25 years experiance on the field and 15 years at the office, as an electrican I think I can answer most of your questions.

Thanks to my fellow electricians for helping answering your question's.
And the team is:

Myself and
anemonekeeper



:wink:

everybody talks about a flux capacitor in the refrigerator , what's that about

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

My great, great, uncle left me this, I have a dynometer , like in picture, I want to power my aquarium with that. Is it doable

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

here's my mechanical room, wish I would have labeled everything when I was setting up. Bummer

 

[Brew12]

I'm running a pretty small setup. 40 g with 40 g sump. Since the lights and powerheads are going to be on a separate circuit already I thought (1) 20 A circuit would be enough?

Out of curiosity, what would be the thought process of this instance requiring a gfi breaker, if infact there is such a local code here?

To the best of my knowledge, only a permanently installed aquarium is covered by electrical code. If you do an in-wall aquarium or if the stand is built into the structure (like built in bookshelves) than a GFCI is likely required.

That said, I prefer to run my system off of 2 GFCI's so that one tripping will not cause my entire tank to lose power.

I run my 187g system off of a single 20A circuit, so you won't have any problems with that.

 

[siggy]

Out of curiosity, what would be the thought process of this instance requiring a gfi breaker, if infact there is such a local code here?

Basements sometimes require gfci breakers. Good luck on the project

 

[Futuretotm]

I have a 15amp circuit, am I overloading it? 140gallon total

Planning to run the following
240watts Reefbreeders LED
105watts Main pump (Jebao)
110watts Powerheads (Jebao)
27 watts Skimmer (aquamaxx)
100 watts Neptune Apex/DOS and goodies (assumption)??????
20watts refugium light
15watts UV sterlizer
60watts under cabinet lights

Total: 677watts without heater = 6 to 7 amps ish

Florida home (ambient temp is 76 degrees) ATO sits in the garage at 90 degrees - so hopefully heaters don't kick on.
300watts finnex

 

[Brew12]

I have a 15amp circuit, am I overloading it? 140gallon total

Planning to run the following
240watts Reefbreeders LED
105watts Main pump (Jebao)
110watts Powerheads (Jebao)
27 watts Skimmer (aquamaxx)
100 watts Neptune Apex/DOS and goodies (assumption)??????
20watts refugium light
15watts UV sterlizer
60watts under cabinet lights

Total: 677watts without heater = 6 to 7 amps ish

Florida home (ambient temp is 76 degrees) ATO sits in the garage at 90 degrees - so hopefully heaters don't kick on.
300watts finnex

No, you have plenty of available room. Keep in mind that your lights won't actually pull that much power, and if you use DC pumps, they will not either. It is typically considered safe to run around 12A on your 15A circuit. Even then, the concern is to prevent tripping the breaker on overload, not safety.

 

[Futuretotm]

No, you have plenty of available room. Keep in mind that your lights won't actually pull that much power, and if you use DC pumps, they will not either. It is typically considered safe to run around 12A on your 15A circuit. Even then, the concern is to prevent tripping the breaker on overload, not safety.

Thank you for taking the time and sharing your knowledge for free.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

To the best of my knowledge, only a permanently installed aquarium is covered by electrical code. If you do an in-wall aquarium or if the stand is built into the structure (like built in bookshelves) than a GFCI is likely required.

That said, I prefer to run my system off of 2 GFCI's so that one tripping will not cause my entire tank to lose power.

I run my 187g system off of a single 20A circuit, so you won't have any problems with that.

So I saw this idea somewhere on here, basically my plan is to build 4 or 5 sets of GFCI outlets, wired into a surge protector, so that if something trips a GFCI, it doesn't bring anything else down with it. Im not sure who's build I saw it on, but the person I got this idea from was doing this after his apex power bar so that it all kept running if one thing shorted out.

 

[Brew12]

So I saw this idea somewhere on here, basically my plan is to build 4 or 5 sets of GFCI outlets, wired into a surge protector, so that if something trips a GFCI, it doesn't bring anything else down with it. Im not sure who's build I saw it on, but the person I got this idea from was doing this after his apex power bar so that it all kept running if one thing shorted out.

You probably saw that from me. I setup my old Apex system that way. Put together a DIY post on how to make them. I love it, it works incredibly well and is very safe for your system.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

You probably saw that from me. I setup my old Apex system that way. Put together a DIY post on how to make them. I love it, it works incredibly well and is very safe for your system.

Do you have a link to that thread? I would love to bookmark it for later use!

 

[Brew12]

Do you have a link to that thread? I would love to bookmark it for later use!

Here ya go!

DIY GFCI installation

I have a reputation for having a passion for safety, especially electrical safety. I want to share how I will be implementing GFCI on my new system. First, I made a big box store run and picked up a 2 gang, new construction style electrical box. I also picked up 2 heavy duty cords, 2 gfci...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[SharkBait72]

I scrolled thru just the first page now I'm a little embarrassed to even ask this question. I installed a new circuit last weekend GFCI 20 amp all the way into circuit panel. Didn't even tap off the circuit on the other side of the wall. Last night i was organizing and doing some wire management. So my power bar was on the outside of my cabinet for a short period of time. Murphys law struck and of course I spilled a small amount of water. Went to grab the power bar to wipe it down. Got shocked, okay not shocked but it was definitely a "tingle". Shouldn't my GFCI have tripped? Also the small LED light on the GFCI doesn't light up and doesn't even light up when i use the test button. probably trivial but thanks in advance. I have double checked the ground and wires aren't reversed.