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The 120 I said would never happen
- Thread starter Mark_C
- Start date
David@wegetkraken
Area Local Reef Club
You are correct, I just put in an order for the 306T. Upgraded the house for a generator last year so should never lose AC, but appreciate the fan suggestion.
Sorry about heater disaster ...
On the heater "horror" story topic:
Two weeks ago my 200W Aqueon Pro cracked on the bottom, and next morning I was trying to hand feed my Cleaner Shrimp I got very bad electric shock!
Man, TG we have 120AC in our homes, some places in the world people have 220AC, chances to get killed allot higher!
Aqueon apologized (vaguely) and send me another heater.
But this time I replaced 200W with two 100W Eheim
On the heater "horror" story topic:
Two weeks ago my 200W Aqueon Pro cracked on the bottom, and next morning I was trying to hand feed my Cleaner Shrimp I got very bad electric shock!
Man, TG we have 120AC in our homes, some places in the world people have 220AC, chances to get killed allot higher!
Aqueon apologized (vaguely) and send me another heater.
But this time I replaced 200W with two 100W Eheim
Aram,
Cheers, and I've heard that on the Aqueons. I'm using the Cobalts atm but using methods mentioned above to prevent further disaster.
Your post also leads me to an instructional, as I'm bored.
I used to be military aviation and avionics, and I may be a bit rusty. Others should correct my mistakes.
So, for general information to all...
Its not the voltage that kills, and why we're safe in the aquarium hobby (for the most part)
Common misconception amongst 999 of 1000 people (the other 1 person is electrically trained).
Its not the voltage that gets you. People survive 800 volt shocks and die from 50 volt shocks.
Its all in the Amps.
Picture volts as a bullet, the higher the voltage, the bigger the bullet.
The amps are the power that pushes them through.
A big bullet with no push cant hurt. But a small bullet with a big push can do tons of damage.
To figure it out...
Take the wattage draw of an item, say a fridge at 700 watts.
Then divide it by the power supply - we pull 120 volts from the socket.
Divide the wattage by the voltage to find amps. So, 700w/120v=5.8amps
And compare to a generic chart I made up from memory...
0.1 amps for 1 second will harm, for over 2 seconds may kill.
0.2 amps will almost instantly cause convulsions and stop the heart but you have a small revive window.
0.25 amps and above, end of game
So, if you're acting as a ground (standing in water or such), that 5.8amp fridge will kill you easily.
In this hobby, we work with, say 50w pumps that draw 120v. But there are electronics (transformers, step capacitors, etc) built into those big brick power supplies or large plastic plugs that take a smaller percentage of power for the pump, say 3 watts, and upscale it.
Where 50w/120v=0.42amps (death), a pump with a big plug or brick runs 3w/120v=0.025 (tingle fingers when in tank).
As a comparison, hair dryers run over 800 watts. They go straight in to the wall.
800w/120v = oddly enough 6.66amps, thats a definitive game ender.
Cheers, and I've heard that on the Aqueons. I'm using the Cobalts atm but using methods mentioned above to prevent further disaster.
Your post also leads me to an instructional, as I'm bored.
I used to be military aviation and avionics, and I may be a bit rusty. Others should correct my mistakes.
So, for general information to all...
Its not the voltage that kills, and why we're safe in the aquarium hobby (for the most part)
Common misconception amongst 999 of 1000 people (the other 1 person is electrically trained).
Its not the voltage that gets you. People survive 800 volt shocks and die from 50 volt shocks.
Its all in the Amps.
Picture volts as a bullet, the higher the voltage, the bigger the bullet.
The amps are the power that pushes them through.
A big bullet with no push cant hurt. But a small bullet with a big push can do tons of damage.
To figure it out...
Take the wattage draw of an item, say a fridge at 700 watts.
Then divide it by the power supply - we pull 120 volts from the socket.
Divide the wattage by the voltage to find amps. So, 700w/120v=5.8amps
And compare to a generic chart I made up from memory...
0.1 amps for 1 second will harm, for over 2 seconds may kill.
0.2 amps will almost instantly cause convulsions and stop the heart but you have a small revive window.
0.25 amps and above, end of game
So, if you're acting as a ground (standing in water or such), that 5.8amp fridge will kill you easily.
In this hobby, we work with, say 50w pumps that draw 120v. But there are electronics (transformers, step capacitors, etc) built into those big brick power supplies or large plastic plugs that take a smaller percentage of power for the pump, say 3 watts, and upscale it.
Where 50w/120v=0.42amps (death), a pump with a big plug or brick runs 3w/120v=0.025 (tingle fingers when in tank).
As a comparison, hair dryers run over 800 watts. They go straight in to the wall.
800w/120v = oddly enough 6.66amps, thats a definitive game ender.