Electricians

[marinerock]

Hey All....
The lights that I have on my new reef tank has a
3-pronged plug coming off the ballast....
Question....is it safe to buy a reducer to make it a
2-prong plug as the timer that I bought for it will
only accept a 2-prong plug....?
Any suggestions on another way that it can be done,
as I want to put these lights on a timer ?
Thanks in advance....
Regards....
Marinerock

 

[kpogue]

That 3rd prong is the ground. If you use a 2 prong "cheater" plug (as it is called) you defeat the purpose of the ground in the ballast. I would purchase a timer that accepts a 3 prong plug as well as itself plugs into a grounded outlet.

 

[marinerock]

Hey K...
Where can I get a 3-prong timer? and what brand
do you recommend ? I havent been able to find one,
that is why I thought they only come in 2-prong....
Regards...
Marinerock

 

[scotts]

Homedepot.com SKU #151146. I am not saying this is the only one, but this just goes to show that they are out there. You could probably find a cheaper on there, just look around a little bit.
Yes you do want one with a grounding plug, especially around water.
Scott

 

[kpogue]

Mine are pretty old, I got them at Sears - they have "heavy duty" stamped on them. If I were to replace them I'd go to Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[reefnut]

You can also jumper the ground from the cheater plug to the power strip or receptacle. If you are comfortable with that, if not I got a 3- prong timer from wal-mart.

 

[marinerock]

Hey All....
Thanks for the responses....
Im going to go back to HD and see if they have
them...The one I bought was from Walmart and that
was the only ones they had, 2-prong...
Now you got me thinking...on my 125 FOWLS, I have only the
regular Perfecto strip light . It has a 2-prong plug that
is plugged into a 2-prong timer. Is this safe or should
I change something on that one...the timer is 2-prong that
only accepts 2-prong and the strip light is 2-prong...
Does this one have to be grounded also?
Sorry to bother you guys....
Thanks much....
Regards...
Marinerock

 

[eeldarb21]

i bought a whole power strip with a timer built into it. half of the strip is on a timer and the other half is normal power ouputs. kinda neat i thought. i bought it at walmart for i think around 12 dollars..

 

[wickedwes]

HD definitely has them. i think they are labeled as an appliance timer. should be about 7-8 dollars.

 

[jumpfrog]

ROCK:
Your perfecto is fine. The grounding helps but UL doesn't require it for NO powered lights.
PS: Still can't get used to you with lower caps

 

[marinerock]

Hey Jump...
Thanks for the info....I dont know anything about
electrical matters and I dont want to mess with it either...
The new tank is my sons and in his room, so I bought
a timer for the light, and it only fits a 2-prong plug...
gonna check HD and see if they have any 3-prong timers...
The 125 has a strip light and wanted to make sure
that the 2-prong plug and timer is good to use...thanks
I know the lower case....I cant get used to it myself....lol
Hope all is well....
Regards...
Marinerock