old ACjr is out, new ACIII is in.

I am now monitoring 2 temp probes, tank PH, CAreactor PH, and tank ORP. and the best part of it all, I can monitor everything from my computer here or my iphone. how nice it will be to be sitting at work, get an email telling me my PH just dropped or the temp, or whatever else might be out of line. and if needed I can adjust it, turn lights and pumps on and off from across the city.

setup was suprisingly seamless. its all just "working". very impressed.

sweet!
how much did it set ya back?

I went for all kinds of stuff with it to get it all. so it was the acIII, needed another DC8, PX1000(for the extra PH, temp port), and some probes. somewhere in the 600$ ballpark I want to say. tim can tell you better than I could lol.

Only little hiccup... my lights are popping the fuse on the DC8. 1 DC8 for just my lighting. 15 amp fuse :O, plugged into a 20amp circuit, but the box itself cant handle it it seems... not sure what Im going to do about that,

You may have to build you a high amp relay circuit or something. Some industrial AB relays would be nice.

I bet you're firing the main lights at the same time? Try staggering them by a minute.

they are staggered by 15min actually. but at the rated wattage, its 1880w of light. itll run for about 10-15min, even when fired together oddly, then it shuts off.

That's too much for 15 amps. Either split the lighting amongst the 2 dC8's or go with Dereck's suggestion.

Hey Dereck, you want to make me some 110 to 220v relays?

Running them on a DC4HDs are better for big lighting as they support 12a per instead of 6a, but no matter you should not run more than 15a to any one DC IMO. I would probably pick up one DC4HD and move one of the lessor pulling lights over to the DC8. You are right at 16a right now so going down to around 1700w should do it. 1500w if you want some extra room.

yeah, I might move one of the 500w halide plugs over to a dedicated timer :( wanted to avoid that. eventually Ill have to grab another outlet box of some sort.

If the DC8 is rated for 15 amps, you shouldn't push more than an 80% load for an extended period. This means it should be no more than 12 amps.

This is the rule for all electrical stuff, power strips, breaker circuits, etc.

Just what I have been told by electricians.

Thanks,
Tim

electricians probably wouldnt want to walk into my fish room :p

electricians probably wouldnt want to walk into my fish room :p

i'll dress like an electrictian wait for you to turn your back and grab that little skimmer you run.:D

might electrocute yourself if you touch the wrong place though :p antitheft protection!

You are correct with the 80% load. Most circuitry I have designed has a 50% safety factor. I also have loaded circuits up to capacity and I know better.(retired electrical telecommunications engineer). On my tanks that are upstairs I'm not even using a GFI. Oh well!!!