Powerstrips...There is a difference!

[Squisher]

Ok, so.. I am indeed a newbie to this forum however I'd like to try and contribute the best I can assuming this topic wasn't previously covered.

To some people a powerstrip is a powerstrip. They have 1 power source coming out of the wall and 7 items to plug in. What do you do? You head to walmart and look at powerstips. You find the biggest, meatiest biggest "joule" <more on that later- rating thinking that this will not only protect your creatures but your home as well. Or will it......

"Joules" are just another way of measuring spikes in current. The more Joules the more protection from a bigger spike. The most common thought is lightning or a powersurge. However, this should be the least of your worries.

These powerstrips will work great.. if your sole purpose was to not only have an outlet for them, but to also protect them from said lightning strike. What is way more serious is protecting "leakage current" within your home. Thats what your breaker box is for. If there is a short or too much current is drawn they are designed to cut the circuit at a given value. They are not fool proof though especially when running such a requirement of current such as anything that produces heat. You also have to factor in is the wiring from that outlet to your panel going to handle the load your putting on it. Chances are for most the house/apt didn't have in mind you running 3-500 watts out of one outlet. Even if your spread your load to another outlet in the room predictably its still the same circuit.. not good.

(there is an end to this I promise)

What you should get is a powerstrip that also offers LEAKAGE protection. This will protect the load thats coming OUT.. in addition to the Transient Voltage or...lightning strike coming in. When you have a 2-wire appliance your not technically grounded to anything but the fuse panel. The 3rd prong is called a ground for a reason.. because that is wired to 6 foot spike into you guessed it.. the GROUND. Otherwise called an Earth Ground.

Leakage Current Protection willl break the circuit if you have a burned wire BEFORE it ever has a chance to hit the wall. Thats way better then having that "short" travel through the walls of your home possibly heating up anything along the way before it hits your box that will "hopefully"trip.

LCP strips come in various ratings and you ALWAYS want to overshoot what your total load is (ummm, yeah).. Total up the number of watts your running and find one rated higher than that. If you run a strip too close to your overall number you run the risk of unintentional faults and it may not let you plug in what you need to.

You can find these at the Depot or Lowes and no they are about the same price as conventional strips.

No I'm not an electrician.. but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once!

[Smilts]

Hey i actually find this interesting because I have a bunch of reptiles and only 2 outlets! thnx for the info..

[siz]

No I'm not an electrician.. but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once!

hehehe

Thanks for posting.

[ineedsoap16]

Electric is amazing. Most people know nothing about the ins and out of how to safely (what to plug in where) or how to tell if things are wired properly(to code hopefully). Like the post before I'm not an eletrician, but know when I am doing sothing unsafe electrically. I think there should be way more discussed along the lines of this subject on a herp keepers forum. I know many people that fall prey to the 7 outlets in one "feature". I know that many of us probably would list under the "unsafe by an electrician's standard" if our reptile areas were actually checked out.

PLease everyone be safe and informed when setting up enclosures in term of electricity. No one wants a fire and over loaded circuits can cause that very easily. Knowledge can only be beneficial.

[Squisher]

Originally Posted by Smilts

Hey i actually find this interesting because I have a bunch of reptiles and only 2 outlets! thnx for the info..

Glad I could help out

Originally Posted by siz

hehehe

Thanks for posting.

Ha.. no problemo!

Originally Posted by ineedsoap16

Electric is amazing. Most people know nothing about the ins and out of how to safely (what to plug in where) or how to tell if things are wired properly(to code hopefully). Like the post before I'm not an eletrician, but know when I am doing sothing unsafe electrically. I think there should be way more discussed along the lines of this subject on a herp keepers forum. I know many people that fall prey to the 7 outlets in one "feature". I know that many of us probably would list under the "unsafe by an electrician's standard" if our reptile areas were actually checked out.

PLease everyone be safe and informed when setting up enclosures in term of electricity. No one wants a fire and over loaded circuits can cause that very easily. Knowledge can only be beneficial.

It is.. and your right, this topic isn't usually addressed. I know there are way more qualified people on here to answer the most complicated herp questions so I thought this was a good way for me to contribute to the forum.

[ineedsoap16]

Not to tell anybody their business, but maybe after this thread contiues for a while or if there are any electricians here with proper info, can there be sticky made somewhere here about electrical safety concerning our herps?

[infernalis]

The term you want is "ground fault circuit interrupter" any leakage is referred to as a "ground fault"

These are the same circuits required by the electric code to be installed outside, near any sink or shower stall, the GFCI will cut off the power so fast you will hardly feel it.

I have one arboreal snake that wraps around his enclosure light all the time, so out of concern for his safety, I wired his cage for 12 volts and use L.E.D. (made for campers) floodlighting inside his cage.

12 volts, almost no heat and it produces lots of nice white light.

[infernalis]

Thank you, glad to be of help.

Happy holidays.