How many watts? amps.. ahh

[Willow]

ok im trying to figure out the power consumption of my rig so i can have new lines pulled to the breaker for it all.

im looking at my chiller but it doesnt give a wattage. its a 1/4H custom sea life. it says on the top 120 volts 5 volts. does anyone have any idea how many watts that might pull?

thanks

[StirCrazy]

. it says on the top 120 volts 5 volts.

thanks

Is that suposed to be 120V and 5 amp?

If so it will pull 600 watts

Steve

[Willow]

yep my bad amps..

600 watts damn! thats a lot hey? just out curiosity how did you figure that out is there a formula i can follow to figure other stuff out?

so roughly adding up my list i have about 1200 watts.. is that a lot compaired to other systems? i think i better get two lines pulled for this hey :razz:

[Delphinus]

Yeah, that pretty much needs a breaker all to itself, I'd think!

[Tarolisol]

Amps*volts=watts or amps=watts/volts

[Canadian Man]

Or 1 amp is 120 watts

[StirCrazy]

Yeah, that pretty much needs a breaker all to itself, I'd think!

Naaa, you can do 1500 watts on a 15 amp breaker with no worries.

Steve

[Delphinus]

Sorry, you're right, I was somehow thinking 10A breakers.

I suppose even so I would think you could probably put a few other things on the circuit but not too much.

[MitchM]

Wouldn't a start up surge be required for running the chiller?
That may exceed the breakers capacity if there is much more running on it at the time.

Mitch

[Delphinus]

That's what I was thinking. I don't remember what the rule of thumb I heard was, but that you basically shouldn't exceed 60% or 70% {or something .. :question: :question: :question: } of the rated capacity of the breaker (to account for start up surges)? So with the 10A breaker I was thinking of, no more than 6 amps of normal load (so maybe room enough for some powerheads as well, but not much more than that), or with Steve's 15A breaker, 9 amps of normal load.

[Willow]

belive it or not but my chiller, t4 pc lights and everything else ran off of one shared circuit in my apartment for years without a problem. my house on the other hand trips breakers all the time so i doing some upgrades.

[Delphinus]

I'm guessing then you have 10A breakers now but had a 15A or 20A in the apartment. It sure sounds like there are surging issues pushing you close to the limit.

[Bob I]

I am an Electrician, and I have never heard of 10A breakers. So I will tell you how we wire houses. A 15A breaker is normally loaded to 80%, IOW we allow 12 outlets on a circuit. for a motor we allow 300% for starting surges, so a motor drawing 5 amps would have a 15A breaker. But connected loads are not always on at the same time. So to give an idea about circuit loading in my house I have the following equipment on one circuit.
2x175W Mh lights.
1x150W heater
1x75W heater
1x60W heater
2xAC 301 powerheads
1xSeio 620
1XFluval 304
1xFluval 204
My computer + my bathroom, + room light etc.

That should give you an idea. :eek:

[Delphinus]

Ok, sorry, I was just guessing. Regardless, it sounds as if he has a lower-rated breaker now, than he used to.

[Bob I]

Ok, sorry, I was just guessing. Regardless, it sounds as if he has a lower-rated breaker now, than he used to.

Actually 15A breakers are standard throughout Canada and the US. Housewiring is only rated for 15A, so 20A breakers are not permitted. Just to complicate matters you have to allow about 20% tolerance on a standard breaker. Some trip early, and some you could weld with, and they won't trip. I always had a dislike for Federal breakers for that reason.

[monza]

If your pulling extra wires- adding breakers and have the room, add more then needed so you have lots of extra. Most chillers should be on there own breakers. IMO more is better when it comes to power. I live in a 50 year old house and was always pushing the breakers to the max with no power to spare. My fish room now has a sub panel with tons of extra room for more breakers if needed.

Dave

[Willow]

hey bob would havng this much power on 1 breaker possibly be the cause for for my bulbs not lasting as long as they should?

[Delphinus]

Actually 15A breakers are standard throughout Canada and the US. Housewiring is only rated for 15A, so 20A breakers are not permitted.

Well, OK, I've learnt something new then, I didn't know that your choice was "any size breaker as long as it's 15A.". :lol:

I thought maybe because he said it was an apartment that maybe they had bigger breakers. But I wouldn't know, just guessing wildly.

cheers

[monza]

Bob_I wrote:

Actually 15A breakers are standard throughout Canada and the US. Housewiring is only rated for 15A, so 20A breakers are not permitted.


Sort of not true and sort of true. A 20 AMP breaker is allowed you just have to have the bigger gauge wire to allow for it. So switching a 15 to a 20 is not permitted because the wiring as Bob stated is "most likely" rated for 15 amps.

Dave

[Willow]

so if im pulling new line then i can run a larger guage and use a 20?

[monza]

Yes you can.
Regular house is normally 14guage for 15amps, 12guage for 20, 10 for 30.

Dave

PS. Here is my disclaimer/warning I know this is correct however I'm not a electrician.

[powerboy]

You are allowed 20 amp breakers, you would just need a 20 amp recepticle. You can tell a 20amp apart from a 15 amp by looking at it and noticing one of the slots is in the shape of a "-|"

[StirCrazy]

You are allowed 20 amp breakers, you would just need a 20 amp recepticle. You can tell a 20amp apart from a 15 amp by looking at it and noticing one of the slots is in the shape of a "-|"

Don't forget you have to have wire rated for 20amp between the breaker and the receptacle also.

If you are going to run a new circuit (ie new wire from the breaker box) run wire rated for 40 amp to a subpannel close to your tank. then install three 15 amp breakers in the subpannel and run each one to a couple of outlets.

A chiller doesn't need to be on its own breaker but if you got the room go for it. just make sure when you load up plugs you stay under 1500 watts on each 15 amp breaker ( I shoot for 1200 to 1300 on each breaker myself) or go by amps and put a max of 12 amps on each 15 amp breaker. this gives you room on the breakers.

you chiller is 5 amps so you could run it on the same circuit as a few pumps and such. Put the lights on another ect..

Steve

[Willow]

ok cool, thanks everyone.. glad my electrition is a fireman! :biggrin:

[Bob I]

You are allowed 20 amp breakers, you would just need a 20 amp recepticle. You can tell a 20amp apart from a 15 amp by looking at it and noticing one of the slots is in the shape of a "-|"

Yes of course, I neglected to mention that. If you want to use a 20Amp breaker you would need 12 gauge wire, and a 20Amp receptacle. Then if you want to plug your equipment into that receptacle you will also need to change the plugs to 20amp plugs. :biggrin: