Theoretical Heater Question

[Torrean]

Not sure about this as I said I am not an electrician but don't surge protecters have circuit breakers in them that shut off the flow when too much power goes through them? Wouldn't that mean that no matter how much power surges the surge protector will protect your equipment? The surge protector might get fried though.

 

[handsomeboy]

i JUST broke my heater not 10 minutes ago, and now im using 2 smaller ones. in my opinion the smaller ones are better. you could even (theoretically) set up 2 trmprature zones, although that will probably be impossible.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

lightning boosts the electrical pressure by millions of volts and overpower almost any surge protector. best thing to do when there is lightning is to unplug your stuff. i dont think fish equipment needs a surge protector though

 

[Torrean]

I'll take your word on that dorkedeos (would you be offended if I called you dork ) THe two temp. zones idea seems like an interesting one but when you think about it one heater would run almost constantly and the other would almost never run therefore your high temp heater would probably wear out quickly.

 

[daddyfish]

I think it should be ok Just keep an eye on the temp and be careful with the glass and electrics!

This here is a GOOD reason Why you should always have your Equipment HOOKED to a Power Strip with a built in "Circuit BREAKER" or hooked to a GFCI "Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter".

If you have a Friend who Breaks the Heater as you/your friend did.

And you had fish in it. You wouldn't end up With an instant Fish Fry.

Instead the Breaker or GFCI would cut off the Flow of Electric, Saving your fish.
As well as You, if you Should be so inclined as to Reach into the Tank, Before Taking the Extra Safety Measure, and Unplugging or Shutting off the Electric First...

Mental NOTE: Never fill aquarium with Very Cold Water, then turning on the heater before water has had the Chance to Adjust to Room Tempeture First.

Mental Note: Just Fill Aquarium next time with room Temp Water.

Easy enough Mistake to make though, Don't feel Bad we all do things like this when We get in a Hurry.
At Least I do, And it ALWAYS cost me More Money...

 

[daddyfish]

lightning boosts the electrical pressure by millions of volts and overpower almost any surge protector. best thing to do when there is lightning is to unplug your stuff. i dont think fish equipment needs a surge protector though

No they really don't. "BUT" if you have any Expensive Equipment, that you can't readly AFFORD to replace.

It's Not a bad Extra Little Bit of Protection for your investment.

If the 20 to 30 dollar Surge Protector SAVES a 200 to 300 dollar piece of equipment.

I think it would be WORTH IT???

I've got Mine protected by them, And it also helps to prtect the equipment from those little Power Fluxes you have from time to time, under normal operation.

The equipment won't Slow down if it drops a little, or Speed up if you get a little Extra Voltage. Thus protecting against Over Heating.

One of these every now and again really isn't going to hurt, but if you live in an area where you have alot of these Power Fluxes: They'll wear out a piece of Equipment quite quickly.

One other thing, If you Notice your Surge Protection Light goes out.
Be sure to replace it ASAP it means the Surge Protection is SHOT once the Light goes out.

You May say but the Protection Bulb may just be burnt out?
This May Be but do you really want Too TAKE THAT CHANCE

i JUST broke my heater not 10 minutes ago, and now im using 2 smaller ones. in my opinion the smaller ones are better. you could even (theoretically) set up 2 trmprature zones, although that will probably be impossible.

No you won't setup two different Tempeture Zones.

As long as you have the Correct amount of Wattage for your tank.

And as Long as the two Heaters are of the Same wattage.

I've done this on A few tanks and it works GREAT...

But what do I know.

Not sure about this as I said I am not an electrician but don't surge protecters have circuit breakers in them that shut off the flow when too much power goes through them? Wouldn't that mean that no matter how much power surges the surge protector will protect your equipment? The surge protector might get fried though.

No your thinking of Circuit Breakers or the More Sensitive GFCI "Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters.

Surge Protectors only Protect from to much Voltage coming in through it, Not After it.

Right Idea=Wrong Piece of Equipment.

But it can get quite confusing.

 

[Jules H-T]

1. You would not end up with fried fish, the glass of the tank is a very very good insulator. Fried person is the extent of the danger.

2. You don't need heaters of the same power, what difference does it make? The main issue I've had with having 2 heaters, is setting the thermostats so that the two come in and switch off at the same temperature.

 

[dgwebster]

Im a little put off with the phrase electrical pressure. Circuit breakers tend to only work on a feedback loop, ie if something at your end shorts, it cuts the flow of juice.

Secondly, surge protectors operate by peak smoothing your leccy supply, a hard wired circuit that changes the circuit routing in the event of your supply peak voltage going above x amount - not the feedback like circuit breakers do.

Good quality surge protectors will also complete an immediate grounding short, by-passing the sockets in the event of say, a lighting strike. by circumventing the circuit to the sockets, the lighting surge gets earthed in a much more suitable path avoiding your equipment and saving it (works best in britain as we use the 3 pin approach, live neutral and earth. connection will hit straight to the earthing rod. in the USA etc where two pin approach is used, live and neutral, not as good.)

In most instances, the surge protectors will short the connection quick enough with minimal spike getting through to your equipment (roughly 10 volts), but it is never infallible, it can always be faulty and a truely gigantic spike may circuit jump and still bugger your equipment. circuit breakers are recommended for saving your life and your fishies life in the event of equipment shorting.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

didnt know how to explain it, so i used this http/computer.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector4.htm

 

[Torrean]

very informative, thanks dorkhedeos. Do heaters have any delicate electronics in them? Seems like they might. If they do then a basic surge protector could prevent the infamous boiled fish scenario, which could be caused by your refrigerator cutting on but if lighting hits your line, or something a little less extreme, your screwed. At the least a basic surge protector might extend the life of your equipment. Your link said that lightbulbs can be blown by surges so I assume they damage filters heaters and lights on tanks too. So in short IMO a surge protector is a good idea for fish tank equipment but it will not help in a thunderstorm.

 

[dgwebster]

in most thunderstormsd it wil still help, you'd need a large strike pretty much within a hundred or so metres of your equipment. it fails on the fact the voltage is so high, the lecct spike can still arc to the circumvented circuits (think of playing with the van-de-graf generator when you were at school and it arcing to your hand - that was around 10,000V per CM your hand was away from the dome)

*continues to slap forehead that those guys used "pressure"* although i can see their reasoning, it does build an effective mental image ofwhat was happening.

back in my uni days, i was experimenting with non earthed electrolyctic sparking to induce quick stored charges (efectively, a way for charging a system within a few seconds) which involved creating sparks with around 400,000 volts. i just enjoyed watching the blue sparking. they never let me play with the big machine though