Building a New Fish Tank Stand

[Nic]

Hello

I'm building a new fish tank stand. In the interest of keeping wires both neat AND dry, the stand (which is made of wood) will have outlets installed around the perimeter. These outlets will then be wired into a 10 position, 100 AMP breaker box mounted to the stand.

But now, to power the box, MUST I connect it to a breaker in the main panel?

I had this idea that I would connect the "utility" side of the panel to a heavy electrical chord which will be plugged into a wall outlet.

Why am I doing it this way? To keep wires, dry, neat and each component on it's own breaker. But most of all, because i'm bored! LOL

 

[(*steve*)]

100A? Are you sure?

Depending on where you are in assume 10A would be a more standard available current, and way more than you need.

If you plug it into a mains outlet it will go via a breaker in the main panel.

If you're doing more than hiding standard wiring and a pet board (i.e. if you're terminating your own cables) then you need to know what you're doing, and in many parts of the world you need to be qualified. In all parts of the world I would generally recommend someone qualified do the work.

 

[kellys_eye]

230V or 120V? Which country?

What distance is it from the main board to your sub? This will determine the c.s.a. of the main feed cable required. Is it all indoors or will it run outdoors? You may need armoured cable in unprotected or buried runs.

What is the TOTAL expected load on the sub board?

What arrangement are you using for the sub circuits? Ring or radial?

Do you have an RCD protected source? Will you be fitting one - it's water.... you need one!

Can you run it as an 'extension'? If local rules do not permit you to install a fixed circuit then arranging it to be on a 'plug' means it's just an extension and therefore not subject to 'rules' as such.

Lots of additional information needed.

 

[Kiwi]

I used to run all my tanks to a standard wall socket.

The largest setup I had was six 36"x18"x12" tanks in a custom built steel stand. Pump, filters, heaters/thermostats, and lights etc were wired to a junction panel and then just a single cable to the closest wall socket.
I got the local electrician to check it before filling the tanks with water. He offered me an apprenticeship when I finished school, but I was more interested in wiring cars and trucks than houses.

 

[kellys_eye]

A typical tank heater may be around 300W and lighting is 'irrelevant' as far as total power consumption is concerned so the total load would be well under the capacity of a single extension lead under most normal circumstances (i.e. 13A in the UK which equates to around 3kW).

 

[Minder]

Hello

I'm building a new fish tank stand. In the interest of keeping wires both neat will have outlets installed around the perimeter. These outlets will then be wired into a 10 position, 100 AMP breaker box mounted to the stand.

But now, to power the box, MUST I connect it to a breaker in the main panel?

I had this idea that I would connect the "utility" side of the panel to a heavy electrical chord which will be plugged into a wall outlet.

What kind of wall outlet do you have that will support a 100amp breaker sub panel??
M.

 

[kellys_eye]

I suspect the reference to the 100A breaker is really just mention of the main input isolator - many are rated at 100A but seldom have that kind of power levels passed through.

 

[Bluejets]

Any switched outlets should be double pole if running from an outlet via a plug. This ensures the active is switched for safety reasons. Problem then is that these cost apprpx 10 times that of a normal outlet. Get it wrong and the shock to follow will certainly wake you up from the boredom.

 

[davenn]

thread closed

to the OP .... @Nic
you seem to have some serious misunderstandings which have been addressed
you haven't come back to the thread
If you have anything else to add to clarify your position,
please PM me and I let me know and I can reopen the thread