Amps on the Cirucuit Breaker?

[beth]

Ok, I'm an electrical dummy, but I am going reef and need to make sure the 2 electrical outlets I have can take care of my tanks without a problem.
Is there a way to read how much ampage is on a circuit? My electrical box trip-switches on each circuit has a number reading either 20, 30 or 60. Does this designate ampage? And will the least be enough? Cause I know 1 of my tank outlets [the gfi] is reading 20---if that is what the # on the switch means.

 

[toddius]

Yes the numbers on the breakers are the amperage ratings for that breaker. You will need to know which breaker the outlet you are using will be on. The best bet is to get a surge protecting outlet strip with a 15 or 20 amp breaker on it (I get mine at walmart).Unless you are going to be running large metal haildes you should be o.k. I am running 2 saltwater and 4 freshwater tanks on 1 20 amp breaker and there is no problem at all. Yes you can test the load on an individual circuit with an amperage meter but if you are using a surge protector then you wouldn't have to check the circuit amperage unless your surge protector failed and even so most aquarium equipment draws very little amperage (except high output lighting). Hope this helped. Sorry so long and by the way I am a liscenced electrician.

 

[beth]

No, I appreciated the detailed explaination. I am concerned about high amp lighting, which is why I am asking the question. Any info is helpful.
I have 2 separate wall outlets, each on separate breakers, howevr, only one is gfi.
I will be running 4 PH's, UV, skimmer [with pump--but this is a prizm so not much electrical action there], grounding probe, plus lighting--which is undecided at this time. Obviously, it would be be nice to have everything on a gfi, but only 1 outlet is---and the other cannot be, so I will have to decide which equiptment gets hooked up to which outlet.

 

[rlv695]

i wouldnt thin the lighting would have to be on a gfi... its not in contact with the wate like pumps.heater.power heads.. skimmer.... so i would put lights on the outlet not on gfi...and lets see if anyone else agrees....

 

[beth]

Yes, I thought of that, so I was hoping that I could do this. With the canopy that I'm having made, the lighting should really not have any contact with water, unlike a strip light that could accidently end up in the "drink".
I also want to resolve stray voltage issues, however, and I will have a grounding probe; lighting, I imagine would have the highest stray voltage and I don't know if, for that reason, that lighting should be grounded.

 

[jbirdy]

you should put everything near water on a GFI. The one receptacle can easily be changed to a GFI. If a light accidently contacts water without a GFI a human or fish can get shocked. (notice all receptacles in new bathrooms and kitchens are GFI protected)

 

[caymanlovers]

Beth - For each outlet box that is on a separate breaker you can add up the total watts and divide by the volts (110) and that will give you the total amps you are drawing on that circuit. For example, two 80 watt light bulbs is 160 watts/110 = 1.45 amps. As long as the total amps are less than the number on the circuit breaker you will not be overloading the circuit. (Electricians on the board please correct me if this is wrong - it's the way I learned it.)
I also encourage you to change outlets to GFI, it is really cheap protection. If you can't change one, use a breaker protected power strip.

 

[beth]

I already had my electrician at the house to change this outlet, which my tank was in front of, to gfi. He checked and said it cannot be...for whatever reason, I don't recall the explanation. He did change the adjacent outlet, separate circuit to gfi, and that was what I used for all my tank stuff. But now, I need to use the other outlet.
Why can't a regular outlet be converted to gfi? Perhaps the old house wiring, or something.

 

[badfishy]

well you know whats funny i posted a detailed post with the instructions for this.I am an electrician.... what you need to find out is how many watts you have in total... which is pretty easy read the labels... now the most important thing is to check what other electrical app's are connected to that same circut and how many other outlets as well. When you find that out add up the total compare the draw to the circut breakers load threshold.
Another thing ... if you put a gfci infront of the other circuts it protects everything behind it up to its load cappacity. All that is requiered for a gfci.. is a good ground... if the box is metallic its grounded if the box is plastic you should see the bare copper wire. well either way good luck.

 

[beth]

Hey, thanks for the info! I didn't see the post you're referencing, where is it?
Also, I was thinking that I could get a gfi outlet box and plug it into my non-gfi wall outlet and it would work to protect whatever I plugged into the outlet box...Looking at my computer outlet box now as I write, it actually has a lighted green light with a label on it that says "ground". So, I'm assuming this is what you are talking about? I've also have seen those outlet boxes sold for the hobby. So that is exactly what I'll do, get one of these boxes...geez, I've been asking that ??? for mos.
Is there an easy way to see how many outlets are on a particular circuit besides plugging a lamp into every outlet in the house and seeing which ones go off at the same time? LOL Frankly, I don't think I'll have any problems as long as I can use the 2 [separate circuit] outlets I have and can connect a gfi outlet strip to my reg. wall outlet. I think these 2 outlets are independent of anything else---and use very little wall outlets anyway. But, I wouldn't mind finding out if there is an easy way to do it.
Thanks again for the info....I think I got my electrical issues resolved with all you all's help!

 

[toddius]

You should have no problems with overloading the outlets you described. A GFI outlet only protects you from an electrical shock or short and not from overload. Your best bet is to use a power strip with a built in breaker (they are the easiest,best and cheapest).That way you will not have to worry about other things plugged into the same circuit on different outlets throughout the house because the power strip breaker will trip if overloaded. Enjoy your aquariums you should not have any electrical overload problems.

 

[caymanlovers]

If I had to guess, it would be that the box that cannot be changed to GFI was added by someone who did not include a ground wire to it. You should ask the electrician - I am surprised he didn't tell you why a GFI could not be installed.

 

[03]

hi liz:was it you a month ago that was complaining about no cash?did you win the lottery and you didn't tell all your friends here lol good luck with your project

 

[beth]

To heck with CASH! I want my fish tank. Bank of America will love me this summer!