OK to chain power strips???

moze229 · #1 04/20/2007, 11:51 PM

I had to add one extra strip to my setup because of one piece of equipment. So what I did was unplug one accessory from the original strip, plugged the new add-on strip into that plug, and plugged the removed accessory into the new strip. (A powerhead). I'll also be adding two additional powerheads. So at the end of the day, I have three powerheads running on the new strip. Is this OK, or have I breached the safe boundry???

Opinions would be appreciated.

I would guess it would be OK since we are talking about powerheads. I wouldn't try this with MH lights or anything. Thanks in advance.

Matt

moze229 · #2 04/21/2007, 09:37 AM

Come on - there must be someone who is either going to flame me for asking a stupid question or flame me for not knowing that it's bad

I've seen this in equipment pictures before, I just want to know if it's a good idea. If it were a bad idea that wouldn't mean that people wouldn't do it

Matt

kodyboy · #3 04/21/2007, 11:02 AM

I wouldn't if I were you. I had a fire from a powerstrip, connected to another one under my tank. Get another strip, and make damn sure to have drip loops, better yet, mount them up underneath the stand upside down.

makdoogle · #4 04/21/2007, 05:10 PM

I wouldn't recommend it, but as long as you don't exceed the load limit I think it would be ok.

cmaki · #5 04/21/2007, 05:17 PM

Absolutely do not chain power strips. The risk of fire jumps up very quickly.

OO7 · #6 04/21/2007, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cmaki
Absolutely do not chain power strips. The risk of fire jumps up very quickly.

Ditto . . . do NOT chain powerstrips.

flfirefighter13 · #7 04/21/2007, 09:24 PM

Yup, bad idea for sure and against fire code in many areas...... Might even be against National Elec Code but im not sure and dont have access to the book at my station. You may want to check with an electrician and havea spare circuit run or find a way to do the needed power distro without it. Also note extension cords are not designed fro permenant instalations either. One last note be sure that the strips you use or UL listed (will have the little UL symbol on them somewhere) I have seen insurance policies that would not pay out for fire caused due to a homeowner using a non UL listed electric cord or strip, it was one of those fine print things the owner had never read but nailed him nonetheless.

bhyde7 · #8 04/22/2007, 08:36 PM

I had a bad experience with power strips under the tank, and don't that idea either. The hose on my return pump came loose and my sparyed water everwhere. Fried all my electrical equip. Now all my cords run to a power strip that is 6 feet away from the tank.

petedoc · #9 04/22/2007, 10:27 PM

Get a larger power strip and more importantly add up the total wattage, don't come close to exceeding the ratings.

kaptken · #10 04/22/2007, 11:02 PM

I've cascaded 2 cheap power strips for the past 8 years. no problem. but the total load, in amps, can't exceed the 15 amp capacity of the very first strip that carries the entire load. to be safe i dont run more than 12 amps on my entire strip bank. each strip is rated 15 amps. they feed many small wattage load power heads and heaters and lights.

I plug a timer into one slot of the first power strip to feed the second strip for the lights. The most important important thing is to keep them all safe and dry. I mount them on a piece of plywood, which is mounted on a board above the tank, to the side, in the open air, away from any splashing , spray or humidity. If you place them under the tank in the stand with the sump, in higher humidity and the chance of a spill, or overflow you run a much greater risk of a short and fire.

safe Load and dry environment are the key safety considerations for me for my power supply panels.

Brad Rogers · #11 04/22/2007, 11:46 PM

Just as flfirefighter13 eluded to, an extra circut isn't a bad idea. If you don't want to spend the money on that, at least chase down the electrical outlets that feed off of that circuit breaker. It would be a bad thing to leave on vacation, and have an overloaded breaker trip because an outlet across the room was tied to the same circuit as your tank.

Also, even if you don't have but one outlet near your tank, you can run two circuits to that one outlet. After turning off the power, pull the electrical outlet from the wall and you will see a strip of metal that connects the two "outlets". You can cut this and run a seperate wire down the wall (connected to its own circuit breaker) and tie into this now seperate outlet. If it is on a wall with easy access in the attic and with a helper, shouldn't take more than 90 minutes.

Then, you can build your own electrical box (with GFI plugs to connect multiple outlets). This will allow you the freedom of mounting your box away from the water, while at the same time runing a switch(es) conveniently under the tank for switching off pumps for maintenence.

just food for thought!!

Brad

jobob · #12 04/23/2007, 01:51 AM

I do it, only because the damn timers are so big they take up half the strip. Make sure you have a drip loop.

SirSmapty · #13 04/23/2007, 02:11 PM

Well it is against fire code in most areas, but i doubt the Fire Marshall is going to come check it. Just don't use cheap strips.

Brad Rogers · #14 04/23/2007, 02:25 PM

jobob, that's the nice thing about building your own "power strips", you can space them out as wide as needed. Just remember to put the first outlet in as a GFI, could pay dividends later if you have a leak. Oh, and make sure everything is grounded as needed.

makdoogle · #15 04/23/2007, 07:11 PM

I was thinking about this after I first posted and everyone was so against it. Whats the difference in chaining powerstrips and using the expanding modules in the Reefkeeper controller? The Reefkeeper states that you can plug an expansion module into all 8 outlets on the main powerstrip as long as you don't exceed the total power for the strip or each individual outlet. For the record, in the 12 years I've been a firefighter I have seen at least a couple fires that appeared to have started at a single power strip. I have never seen a fire that started where two strips were chained. I must admit though, this is not as common place as using one powerstrip.

hilde123 · #16 04/23/2007, 08:42 PM

I would not see any trouble daisy chaning the power strips, jsut ensure you have the drip loops and are not exceeding the circuit amperage. Also recommend keeping the strips away from where water could get in the event of a leak, this is from lessons learned.

Brad Rogers · #17 04/24/2007, 12:01 AM

NO, NO, NO. You're all are asking for trouble.

If you take a single powerstrip and "load it up", your probably fine as long as your not "exceeding" the circuit amperage, just like everyone keeps talking about. But how many of us actually set down and calculate the amps, or better yet even measure it? If we have lets say a couple lights, a couple of power heads, 1 heater, and 1 pump. Pluge them in individually they start coming on slowly. No big deal.

Ok, now add a second power strip to the already full powerstrip because we want to add a skimmer pump, second backup heater, a controller, chiller and more lights.

Ok, reading the instructions on the powerstip (see below), Maximum load 15 A individual and total receptacles. That means, as I know most understand, that all receptacles of both powerstrips combined can not exceed 15 A.

Ok, but for the real kicker...Most of the time, both strips (hopefully not three...) are probably not exceeding the 15 amp - but are probably close, but what if there is a power surge and everthing goes off for a second and then everything tries to come back on at the same time. Or worse, the power is out, such as in the winter, for a long time. The tank cools down. So when power is restored, all modules are kicking in at maximum Amps. This is when you will likely have problems.

If there is a power cycle of on/off, on/off, your poor little 14 gauge wire connecting all of your powered items starts to overheat, and WAM a short and a fire.

Also, if you look closely at the Reefkeeper, the power is "supplied to the Expansion Socket through a 15A cord (6’) that plugs into a wall outlet." The controller "controls" the expansion socket, but it doesn't provide its power.

So, do what you want, but remember its not only your life your risking, but your neighbors. If a lawyer wanted, they would dig into your lives so deep, they would find you were on this blog. Then, they would subpoena everything for record, see you were going against common sense advice and daisy chaining your powerstrips. Then your on the 6 o'clock news!!

not fun,

ok,..., I jumped off my soap box

Brad

aclos3 · #18 04/24/2007, 02:05 AM

Ok, but actually... a lot of us in this hobby DO calculate our amperage when we plan circuits and how much we can safely put on a power strip. Unless there is some reason that no on has mentioned yet, I really fail to see how chained power strips that are loaded (with everything turned on) far below their ratings can cause a problem.

Maybe I am missing something about the way power strips work, but this sounds like a lot of lawyer literature being rammed down our throats. Yes, you don't want your average joe chaining up 12 power strips, and running lots of high load appliances, but that isn't what most people are talking about here.

I would really love to see a Myth Busters episode on this topic. "Can we create a fire with power strips on a house circuit?" I would challenge that with a properly performing circuit breaker, and properly functioning power strips, a fire could not be created.

Brad Rogers · #19 04/24/2007, 10:02 AM

Nope, not a lawyer, but sounds like you stayed in a Holiday Inn last night

Ok, lets assume you calculate your amps, well you shouldn't trust the values, measure the amps if you have no choice but to run a daisy chain. But its still a risk.

look at this article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...11/ai_n8959523

This post could sway the "average joe" to be lazy and do something unsafe. Not very responible to "ram" unsafe practices down the throats of people who aren't as cautious as what you sound.

Also, what if the powerstrip is faulty? You have no way of knowing untill it is pushed to the limit. I have an uncle in which his house burned because of faulty equipment.

see this link for old recalls of faulty power strips (too small of wire and faulty connections)

http://www.des.umd.edu/os/rest/electric.html

Like I stated before, I still recommend, after learning a little about wiring and grounding, making your own powerstrip with at least one GFI (connected first). You can run it with 12 Gauge (instead of 14 like most powerstrips) and connect to a 20 amp circuit, such as this commercial power strip http://cableorganizer.com/power-strip/ This will allow you to have approx 10 receptacles and have more "wiggle" room when there are power surges and brownouts.