Where to mount the electrical components?

[jstlsn]

I am trying to think of a nice, neat way to mount all of the electrical components for my tank. (2 x ballasts, Wavemaker, 2 x Icecap Timers, GFCI, and surge protector) I don't think it is really safe to put this stuff in the stand because of all the water in the sump. Does anyone have any good ideas? Pictures would be great also.

Thanks
Brad

[johnrags1234]

I know some put there stuff in the stand. I have a fish closet, so everything makes its way in ther.

[theshad]

I have put all my electical in the stand. I do not have a sump.

as you can see from the pic I have most of what you want to mount.

I have a 45 tall Flatback Hex

this setup is running:

4 x 55w PC (2 per ballast to allow light stepping)
4 x Maxijet 600 PH
1 x Air pump for skimmer
2 x NO Actinic 03
1 x Heater

Hope this helps

[Frick-n-Frags]

So what happens if the tank leaks or a big "oopsie" overflows and rains on the electronics in the stand?

I like the wall mount, or high on a high-backed stand mount myself. in otherwords, electronics are as high or higher than the water.

[theshad]

Thought of that, and the what you don't see is the way this is mounted under the stand. It is not flush with the back of the stand allowing for any minor overflow to run down the electical cords to the floor rather than shorting everything.

All the cords have a drip loop on them. If the tank starts to leek then I have bigger issues to worry about then what happens to the electical.

This is also why I have independant GFI's if one item does short is only takes ot 1 or 2 items. I would rather loose 1 powerhead or 1 light due to a short than have my entire system shut down.

I also have 1 more GFI in the wall that this is all plugged into. just as a back up to shut the whole system down if say the glass breaks.

From a cost perspective there is only about $200.00 cdn so a minor expense if all goes bad.

[simonh]

I have all my ballasts and most of the stuff remotley situated in my garage. For the plug sockets in the stand I use the outdoor IP56? rated sockets with shut down covers etc. e.g. Here in the UK - http://www.diy.com/bq/product/product.jhtml?PRODID=15201&paintCatId=&CATID=171420

[theshad]

I looked at the outdoor sockets but realized that they only protect the socket from shorting if they are closed.

Since they have to be open in order to have something plugged into them they serve no purpose and are far more expensive then regular indoor GFI's

How are you able to have all the electical in the garage?
Do you have hundreds of feet of wire or are you running some sort of wireless setup?

[stereomandan]

I'm an accident waiting to happen. I have half mounted under the tank in the stand. This is o.k., but the other ones are behind the tank on the floor in a power strip. The worst place to have them. I will be redoing it very soon. My biggest problem is dealing with all the dang cords. Even zip tied nice and neat, they take up way too much room.

Dan

[theshad]

depending on how thick your cable bundle is you may want to look at a platic condate. this way you only have 1 nice and neat bundle.

Take a look under the hood f your can and you will see how the wireing harness is made to look tidy by placing everything in a plastic conduate.

[stereomandan]

I wish the bundle/plastic conduit technique would work for me, but the problem is that I have way too many cords coming from various places to fit in bundles. Plus,when cords are running to different areas or not the same length, the conduit doesn't work well. It's not really the look I'm worried about, but actually just fitting all cord in one area. I don't have a lot of room behind the tank, or under the stand, so just fitting in all those bundle cords(13 of them) is a pain in the butt. Oh, well, I'll find a way.

Dan

[simonh]

Originally posted by theshad
I looked at the outdoor sockets but realized that they only protect the socket from shorting if they are closed.

Since they have to be open in order to have something plugged into them they serve no purpose and are far more expensive then regular indoor GFI's

How are you able to have all the electical in the garage?
Do you have hundreds of feet of wire or are you running some sort of wireless setup?

On the type of outdoor sockets I use the lid closes down, seals around the cable and locks when devices are plugged into them. Also, my circuit for submerged tank equipment is GFCI protected at the house consumer unit. I also use a few other circuits so everything isn't on just one.

My garage is only located a couple of metres or so away from the tank. I used plastic conduit as used in offices for structured wiring to run the cables and some pipes to the garage.

[Heyoo]

I couldn't tell from the UK pictures - but there are outlet covers available at Home Depot (and others for sure) that have a large clear plastic "bubble" shape that closes OVER a plugged in cord. There's a slot in the bottom edge of the bubble allowing the cords to exit the closed cover.

Originally posted by theshad
I looked at the outdoor sockets but realized that they only protect the socket from shorting if they are closed.

Since they have to be open in order to have something plugged into them they serve no purpose and are far more expensive then regular indoor GFI's

How are you able to have all the electical in the garage?
Do you have hundreds of feet of wire or are you running some sort of wireless setup?