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Scooterman · 12-11-2003, 05:44 PM

These question & problems are very common but sometimes pushed aside. I see these things coming up often & decided to dedicate some time on this subject matter, to help those of you who are planning to take on some wiring on your own.
Before I start, I'll post some background information. I started out in 1986 studying Industrial Electronics Technology; from there I eventually went into Surveillance systems working for a new company in New Hampshire. After about a year, I decided that was enough, so I moved to Daytona Beach for the summer before moving back home. From there I eventually started out working for a service company, which built, designed & installed control systems mainly for the oilfield. It was about that time technology was shifting in directions from a mechanical type system over to advanced electronic systems. I then took night classes in computer technology; I wanted to get a better understanding of the computer end of electronics. I've gotten into SCADA systems & high end electronic controls, usually programmable with some type of Industrial PLC (programmable logic controller using processors of the Intel type). Since then I've helped design electrically entire platforms/process plants all over the world. Right now we are developing lots of Compression, systems in Egypt, Iraq & Africa; it is all driven by Oil & Gas. This one job has a 14KV (14,000 Volts AC) electric motor producing around 1,600 h.P., it is pushing this huge natural gas compressor.
Ok enough of that; now back to wiring, safety proper connections etc. I want to get this started & hope we can add to it as needed. I have a few good links of the basics, some will have good photos. I'm lucky to work with some great Electrical & Mechanical engineers in the field, so if I can't help I have resources to get the proper information.
In most cases our products are UL (Underwriters Laboratory), which they test & set the standards of safety for consumers like us. I would like to cover Lighting, GFCI, Ground probes & Surge protectors. I went ahead & looked up some good links to several informational web pages.

The First is what is Electricity:

http://www.electricityforum.com/what-is-electricity.htm

My Oldie Favorite, the Ohms Law Pie:

http://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslaw.asp

This one will help you figure out just how much total start-up load your entire aquarium will draw at worst case. What I did from the very beginning was to find the CB (circuit breaker) for the outlets I was planning to use; boy do I wish I had two separate circuits. My house is fairly new but I took a look at all the wiring before even buying the house, most homes now are wired with 12 gauge solid wire, in the past homes used 14 gauge on 20A breakers, which these days with all the electrical stuff we use would trip breakers, burn open & even start fires. I also saw where homes used all aluminum wiring, this caused problems because of dissimilar metals would heat & contract causing loose connections, thus fires(http://www.homewiringandmore.com/aluminum/index.html).

Old homes, used a material type insulation, this wasn't the best but was good enough to separate the wires far enough to prevent them from touching or arcing & still practical for wiring homes & businesses etc. Caution should be use in older homes, making sure your wiring is updated & breakers are in good working condition. Usually a sign of a faulty breaker is tripping often & when you manually switch it, it doesn't feel crisp while it switches. They normally last a long time & a simple inspection is all necessary. In most homes, breakers of 10, 15 & 20 amps are used. If you use the calculator provided, you can judge your total current draw, I'd not max out a breaker. If you can go no more than 75% of the rated breaker, I know in some cases this may be a problem but in most cases it is ok because the Maxx rating of your system is at start-up not running. All UL devices will either have a wattage or current (AMP) ratting, use the calculator & your AC voltage; (US standard is 120 VAC) to figure it out (sorry for repeating so much)!

http://webhome.idirect.com/~jadams/e.../ohms_calc.htm

Ok this web page I posted for safety reasons, it is very practical information. I highly recommend you going through it, if even briefly.

http://www.electrical-online.com/how...HowToIntro.htm

I found this one on GFCI, this guy is good. I hope this one helps, even me sometimes.

http://www.codecheck.com/gfci_principal.htm

And
http://doityourself.com/electric/gfci.htm

One more, this one is so but worth posting anyway.

http://www.growinglifestyle.com/h/improve/gfci/

Ground probes, I have a few good reads going your way.

http://ozreef.org/diy/grounding_probe.html

http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/RCM/RCM...ingProbes.html

I liked this one on surge protection; I'm a strong believer in these because I know your utility supply isn't as smooth as we would like it to be, in a course of a day you may get several hundred spikes a day, although minor, I believe they help to extend the life of your equipment.

http://www.arstechnica.com/guide/ups/ups.html

This is a good starter; I hope to post more as questions arise. Please feel free to ask away, I found this information is already written up well rather than try to explain it all & just confuse you & me at the same time!
Hope this helps, your local Scooterman, OUT!!~~~~~~

12-11-2003, 05:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Scooterman Elegance coral Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Lafayette, Louisiana Posts: 1,184 View Gallery Karma Komment	Electricity, some basics for all! These question & problems are very common but sometimes pushed aside. I see these things coming up often & decided to dedicate some time on this subject matter, to help those of you who are planning to take on some wiring on your own. Before I start, I'll post some background information. I started out in 1986 studying Industrial Electronics Technology; from there I eventually went into Surveillance systems working for a new company in New Hampshire. After about a year, I decided that was enough, so I moved to Daytona Beach for the summer before moving back home. From there I eventually started out working for a service company, which built, designed & installed control systems mainly for the oilfield. It was about that time technology was shifting in directions from a mechanical type system over to advanced electronic systems. I then took night classes in computer technology; I wanted to get a better understanding of the computer end of electronics. I've gotten into SCADA systems & high end electronic controls, usually programmable with some type of Industrial PLC (programmable logic controller using processors of the Intel type). Since then I've helped design electrically entire platforms/process plants all over the world. Right now we are developing lots of Compression, systems in Egypt, Iraq & Africa; it is all driven by Oil & Gas. This one job has a 14KV (14,000 Volts AC) electric motor producing around 1,600 h.P., it is pushing this huge natural gas compressor. Ok enough of that; now back to wiring, safety proper connections etc. I want to get this started & hope we can add to it as needed. I have a few good links of the basics, some will have good photos. I'm lucky to work with some great Electrical & Mechanical engineers in the field, so if I can't help I have resources to get the proper information. In most cases our products are UL (Underwriters Laboratory), which they test & set the standards of safety for consumers like us. I would like to cover Lighting, GFCI, Ground probes & Surge protectors. I went ahead & looked up some good links to several informational web pages. The First is what is Electricity: http://www.electricityforum.com/what-is-electricity.htm My Oldie Favorite, the Ohms Law Pie: http://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslaw.asp This one will help you figure out just how much total start-up load your entire aquarium will draw at worst case. What I did from the very beginning was to find the CB (circuit breaker) for the outlets I was planning to use; boy do I wish I had two separate circuits. My house is fairly new but I took a look at all the wiring before even buying the house, most homes now are wired with 12 gauge solid wire, in the past homes used 14 gauge on 20A breakers, which these days with all the electrical stuff we use would trip breakers, burn open & even start fires. I also saw where homes used all aluminum wiring, this caused problems because of dissimilar metals would heat & contract causing loose connections, thus fires(http://www.homewiringandmore.com/aluminum/index.html). Old homes, used a material type insulation, this wasn't the best but was good enough to separate the wires far enough to prevent them from touching or arcing & still practical for wiring homes & businesses etc. Caution should be use in older homes, making sure your wiring is updated & breakers are in good working condition. Usually a sign of a faulty breaker is tripping often & when you manually switch it, it doesn't feel crisp while it switches. They normally last a long time & a simple inspection is all necessary. In most homes, breakers of 10, 15 & 20 amps are used. If you use the calculator provided, you can judge your total current draw, I'd not max out a breaker. If you can go no more than 75% of the rated breaker, I know in some cases this may be a problem but in most cases it is ok because the Maxx rating of your system is at start-up not running. All UL devices will either have a wattage or current (AMP) ratting, use the calculator & your AC voltage; (US standard is 120 VAC) to figure it out (sorry for repeating so much)! http://webhome.idirect.com/~jadams/e.../ohms_calc.htm Ok this web page I posted for safety reasons, it is very practical information. I highly recommend you going through it, if even briefly. http://www.electrical-online.com/how...HowToIntro.htm I found this one on GFCI, this guy is good. I hope this one helps, even me sometimes. http://www.codecheck.com/gfci_principal.htm And http://doityourself.com/electric/gfci.htm One more, this one is so but worth posting anyway. http://www.growinglifestyle.com/h/improve/gfci/ Ground probes, I have a few good reads going your way. http://ozreef.org/diy/grounding_probe.html http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/RCM/RCM...ingProbes.html I liked this one on surge protection; I'm a strong believer in these because I know your utility supply isn't as smooth as we would like it to be, in a course of a day you may get several hundred spikes a day, although minor, I believe they help to extend the life of your equipment. http://www.arstechnica.com/guide/ups/ups.html This is a good starter; I hope to post more as questions arise. Please feel free to ask away, I found this information is already written up well rather than try to explain it all & just confuse you & me at the same time! Hope this helps, your local Scooterman, OUT!!~~~~~~ __________________ Scott Ardoin (Ard-Dwan) Last edited by Scooterman : 12-16-2003 at 02:53 PM.