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Lighting: wiring/setup


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Hi guy's I've just come back from Malaysia with some fishy things in tow (co2 regulator and light ballasts)

I have 20w and 40w ballasts and i want to set them up for my tank.

I know we have a 240volt electricity system,

My questions can I set up -

5 20w and 5 40w tubes with separate ballasts all wired to a single power point?

I'm not so good with electronics, so my aim is not to electrocute myself :unsure

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I'd be very careful about using lights purchased from out of Australia. We have Australian Standards to stop these cheap & dangerous imports being sold here.

Just be careful & if you asked a licenced electrician to install them I'm pretty sure they'd refuse... well at least that's what they're supposed to do ohmy.gif

Either way... make sure it's all done safe smile.gif

Go Fast

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If memory serves me correctly, you can put up to 2400 watts on any one household 'circuit', not just power outlet. You may have 6 power outlets in one room, however they could all be on the same circuit, therefore you could not put 2400 watts on each point.

Having said this, if you are going to consider putting copious amounts of elctricity draining devices in your house you will need to consider what other household applicances are running off that circuit (ie. fridge, tv, stove, hotwater, etc.).

In case you have serious concerns, I would suggest a clipsal safety switch be installed as well.

I repeat my first comment 'If memory serves me correctly', thus I could be wrong. Check with AGL or a similiar company.

Good luck Richard

Cheers

Sam.

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Hi fellas,

I'm not australian, but I've have lived in australia for a while and I know electricity...haha!!!...yes, you can load all that onto one electrical outlet. No...it will not affect the intensity of the lights.

One important point though...If you want to put a large load on one outlet, I'd advise you to install some kind of surge protection device. Every time you turn on or off a switch, there is a possibility of an electrical surge. The larger the current drawn from the outlet, the larger the spike...and these spikes can get very, very large. To avoid damage to equipment, I'd recommend a surge protection device.

I'm from Singapore. Back home, we can get multi-point plugs or multi-point extension strips that have surge protection circuits built into them. they don't cost very much in Singapore.

i used to load all my computer equipment onto one outlet. Once, when I turned the switch on, I noticed a little spark in the outlet. It did not trip my circuit breaker, but it wiped out all the data on my hard disk. Nothing was damaged though.

Cheers

smithy

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Hey Richard,

These diagrams might help. Remember you can even run compact fluoros off some of those ballasts... I have it still setup since that post and it is doing fine. Just take your time and think carefully before connecting the wires in to the ballasts as they are a pain to pull out of the ballast if you make a mistake.

http://pub79.ezboard.com/fperthcichlidsoci...opicID=15.topic

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With the idea of surge protectors in powerboards.... I use them on things like computers but a shy away from them in regard to aquarium filters.

The reason is that when you have a short power cut (10 seconds) there is a strong possibility that when the power comes back on the built in surge protector will detect some sort of surge and trip the surge protector on the powerboard. This will result in the filter remaining off until you notice that it's not running..... this can be a very expensive exercise.... a tank without its filter on for a day!!!

I would however recommend a entire house safety switch.... you're more likely to notice no power in your entire house than just no power for one of your filters wink.gif

All this talk of water & electricity has got me nervous huh.gif how about having 240 volts going straight into your tank with a heater unsure.gifunsure.gif now that scares me!!

Go Fast

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Sorry to go off the topic here Richard, but... Go Fast, on your comment 'having 240 volts going straight into your tank with a heater' I was once a little rough with one of my heaters and it broke in the tank, whilst my hand was in there, nothing happened (ie. no eltricity went surging through my body). I quickly pulled it out and cleaned out all of the broken glass, I have now bought a Stainless Steel Heater, tough as guts!!

Cheers

Sam.

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I made my own lighting hood ,3x3' fluorescents each one wired to a a 24 hour timer ,switched on aty 30 minute intervals,and switched off at 30 minute intervals,its working fine.

The actual construction was from Hoa Nguyens website,quite simple and easy,just added a couple of hinges to keep it up when feeding changing water etc. smile.gif

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You want to set up 5x20w + 5x40w = 300w of lights

power = current x voltage (P=IV)

300w = I X 240v

I = 300/240 (I=P/V)

I = 1.25Amps

You house hold outlet is rated to 10Amps.

So yes every thing is fine as long as you know how to connect them correctly.

In S.A. It is legal for anyone to wire anything that plugs in to a wall socket but you need a sparkey for anything else.

But remember 240v will kill you so if you are unsure get some one else to do it.

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