Help with reef aquarium electrical


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Old 02-27-16, 10:12 AM
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Help with reef aquarium electrical

Hi all, I have a large 220 gallon saltwater reef tank. I DIY'd all my electrical work years ago (thanks to this site!) and its worked fine. However I'm considering a design change and wanted to make sure I'm doing this right, and safe.

My first question is

Currently I'm using one of these devices (used by DJs) to power on and off equipment

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I simply plug my devices into the back

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Also I have a simple light switch receptacle that powers an outlet where a pump is plugged into. The switch powers the pump on and off when I need to refill the water.

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So my first question is, can I combine these into one? In other words can I re-wire the wires going into the light switch receptacle from the pump outlet to the back of the power outlet device? I thought I could take a piece of wire, attach a 3-prong plug on one end and wire the other end directly to the wires going to the pump outlet.

Crude drawing but something like this?

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Seems like it would work but also feel like it could be wrought with problems??
 
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Old 02-27-16, 11:47 AM
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First off a switch is not a receptacle. A receptacle is where you plug things in. Is the switch mounted to a box in the wall and is it hard wired to the electric?
 
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Old 02-27-16, 11:51 AM
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Let me see if I get this. You have an outlet in the wall that's controlled by a switch, also in the wall.

You want to keep the pump plugged into the same outlet, but you want it controlled by your switch box?

In any case, you can't do it exactly how you have it drawn; it would be unsafe to have that out in the open, but there are ways to do it I'm sure.

Please give us some more details of the pump wire...where the switch controlled outlet is now, etc.

My first thought is why not just use an extension cord from the pump to your switch box....but I'm assuming there's a reason you can't/don't want to do that....
 
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Old 02-27-16, 08:15 PM
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Let me see if I get this. You have an outlet in the wall that's controlled by a switch, also in the wall.

You want to keep the pump plugged into the same outlet, but you want it controlled by your switch box?

In any case, you can't do it exactly how you have it drawn; it would be unsafe to have that out in the open, but there are ways to do it I'm sure.

Please give us some more details of the pump wire...where the switch controlled outlet is now, etc.

My first thought is why not just use an extension cord from the pump to your switch box....but I'm assuming there's a reason you can't/don't want to do that....
yes, thats what I want to do. I didnt do a good job explaining it. So the pump is in another room about 25 feet away. the pump is plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a "switch" (sorry still a novice and mess up the terminology sometimes). Instead of using the switch I'd like to wire that outlet to a plug that I can then plug into the back of this power device shown above. So the red on/off toggle switch on the power device replaces the switch i'm using now. The power device accepts 3 prong plugs into the back of each toggle switch.

Ideally it would be nice to wire up a couple of other outlet "receptacles" to these switches if this idea works and is safe.

Oh the pump pulls 1.33 amps and 93 watts

http://www.dannermfg.com/Store/produ...PID-02710.aspx

I did all the original wiring of the switch to the outlet box previously.

Now to your other point, I guess i could run an extension cord but I've learned on here ext cords are not good to use permanently (altho I probably switch this pump on maybe once a week and for about a total of 60-120 seconds at most.). I heard the danger of ext cords is coiled wire overheating.
 
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Old 02-28-16, 06:45 AM
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You're right, extension cords are not intended for long term use.

I'm not familiar enough with code in this area, maybe one of the electrical pro's here will weigh in, but one thing you could do is install one of these:

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and wire it to the remote outlet. Then you would use a short cord between your switch panel and the power inlet shown above. It would certainly work, and it would be safe, but not sure if there are any code issues with such an arrangement. Let's see what others have to say....and if anyone has a better idea.
 
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Old 02-28-16, 09:26 AM
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Hi Paul, yes that looks like something that would work. again to your point not sure about code violations for something like that?
 
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Old 04-02-16, 09:02 AM
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Hi I'm getting ready to start planning this project so reviving the thread. Any of the pros on here have any feedback on the code safety of doing something like I'm showing above with the clarifications from Paul? Feel like it would work but not sure about the safety of the idea.
 
 

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