Power distribution panel

T

tesfeld

Premium Member
[I get tired of waiting for the search function of RC to work. Do any of you have links or info to those in-stand power distribution centers that some people have built? Have some of you built them? Any info would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm past tired of using power strips alone. I especially liked the setup in that pic on this months newsletter.

Thanks,]
 
[That was my tank! The brand is American DJ PC-100A. Internet special. I believe they were about $25 each. Feel free to ask me whatever you want to know about them.]
 
[On the newsletter, if you move your mouse over the various pictures, comments are included. FYI. :smart:]
 
[very cool idea...I have seen that done before but never thought about doing it myself. I might have to try that out with the 180 on the way.]
 
[Keith -

Where did you buy DJ PC-100A ? It looks handy to be able to switch off components individually. Also - do you have more photos on how you organized the wire? I am not sure how this device - besides acting as a master switch panel - organize the wires.

Thanks,
Peter]



Edited By peterlin on 1090240538
 
[Peter, I know Keith will answer the question of location, but you'll find them on Ebay sometimes. There are a series of outlets on the back. Each switch turns off the outlet.

What many are doing is creating a wooden outlet panel, with a whole buch of electrical sockets. Then they run a wire from that receptical to the back of the DJ station, and add a grounded 3-prong plug to the wiring. That is plugged into the back of the station. Now when you turn off the switch, that specific single / double / or more outlets will turn off.

The benefit is you can separate all your outlets easily for those giant plugs that we sometimes use, or with our timers. Turning off a labeled switch is so much nicer than trying to unplug stuff.

I believe each outlet can handle 20A, but Keith would know for sure.

Check out page one of this thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=273216]
 
[Now you guys got me wanting one or two myself! :O]
 
[They are great and I will not go without them. I'm thinking of putting one on my 20G I just set up!

They can handle 20A and I bought mine from musicfriend.com because at the time they were $19.99 with free shipping.

What Marc decribes is how I did mine. Wood panel with outlets to back of switch panel. Then I have a seperate panel with timers. You don't have to use a panel but if you want timers and/or multiple things on one switch. For me I have all my Calcium Reactor things on one switch. So the feed pump, the recirculating pump, and the CO2 tank solinoid are all on one. That way there is one switch to turn off whole calcium reactor setup.

Another example is the lights. I have my fans hooked up to come on when MHs turn on. The possibilities are endless! Of course you can do the same thing with powerstrips or cheap 3 to 1 adapters but it is not as clean or easy.

Anyway here is a link to page 4 of my thread which gives a better wiring detail, etc.

http://reefcentral.com/forums....umber=4

Pics are in my RC gallery also.

I am pretty good at this stuff (I better be I spent 5 years and thousands of $$ in college learning it (the design part that is. I'm an engineer not an electrician :D)) so if anyone needs help designing one just let me know.]



Edited By kwl1763 on 1090250013
 
[Did you buy bulk wire and add on the ends or did you buy cords and cut them? I have enough PC power cords laying around I should just chop them. I wish somebody could make a smaller digitial timer.]
 
[Agree 100% on the digital timer. They are not very complicated and should not take up that much space.

Yes I ended up just buying a 50ft roll of insulated wiring then bought a box each of the plugs, sockets, boxes, and faceplates. Total of everything including the DJ stations was about $150.

PC power cord should work perfectly fine. Get some wire cutters/strippers and go to town.]
 
[They do sell small digital times...my girlfriend's parents use them to control their porch lights. The time itself is about 2 inches tall and 1 inch wide.]
 
[If anyone is interested in one of the panels that Keith has on his tank (American DJ PC-100A) they can be found at Guitar Center on Hulen. He has 5 of them in stock at $29.99 - am on my way to pick up one. :)]
 
[Here's mine.

wired.jpg
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