Blew the Fuse :(

[rottielover]

ARGH!

I had to finally buy a chiller today (1/4 horse) and thought "hey the reefkeeper has a fan/chiller setting"....

Well I already had 1 96 watt PC ballast plugged into port 1 running two 96 Watt PC lamps. In port 2 I have a double 250 watt Hamilton MH fixture, in port 3 I have a single Hamilton 240 watt fixture, port 4 was going to be the chiller, then in 5 and 6 I had two Tunze Stream 6000's (set to always on) and port 7 a power strip with two 300 watt heaters, and port 8 another power strip running a Mag 18 and a Minijet ph (set as sump pump).

So now not only do I need to find a fuse fast (St. Louis MO btw), but now I have to sit down and figure out how much what draw's and decide what stay's on the reefkeeper and what has to go...

I could really use some help with the latter (what stays on the reefkeeper and what goes).



All this for a 120 gal tank...

One Suggestion -
Another model ReefKeeper "Deluxe"/"Pro"/"Expanded"/"BIGGER" a reefkeeper with the same controller, but would instead have say 12 power ports and two mains plugs so that you can run 6 outlets off 1 circut and 6 off the other (or 4 and 8 etc. etc.)


Thanks in advance!

[rottielover]

typo all the MH's are 250 watts

[rottielover]

Still having problems locating a replacement fuse, I also sent you guys (Digital Aquatics) and email and still haven't heard back.

I'm going to hit some more stores in my area tonight, and then try online again.

[rottielover]

Well I've been to every hardware store in St. Louis, no one carries the fuse. I did learn that it's a GMA-15A fuse (that's the part number) and I found an electrical supply co. that carries them on thier website (they also have a brick&morter in STL). I'm going to call the store in town and find out if they have these fuses in stock, if not I'm going to have to overnight some.

Anyway, I saw that there has been a bunch of view's on this thread, and I wanted to get that part number posted in case any of you other Reefkeeper owners want to stock up on fuses just in case. I know I'll be ordering a bunch to have on hand!

[rottielover]

Just want to say THANK YOU for calling me, We had an email snaffu where the emails were not getting thru.

Thanks again for a great product and for calling me back.

(P.S. I would love to see a RK "pro" with two power cords, sep. circuits 12 or more power outlets etc... Just something to keep in mind ;)

[pecan2phat]

rottie,
Besides getting your fuse,
sounds like you are overloading your RK. A quick calculation of just your lights and heater brings you in the 1500 watts range at about 13 amps. Once you add your chiller on which is at least 6 amps, there goes your 15 amps/1875 watts max.

I'm in the same solution and received some advice from George (a RK user) and will build a relay this weekend that will go in-between the chiller and the RK. It will also be plugged into a separate dedicated 15 amp circuit. The parts from Radio Shack cost me $21 and two heavy duty 3 prong extension cords at a thrift store for about $5 to make the relay.

[rottielover]

Cool, anyway to post instructions on how to built the relay? Is it an easy thing to build?

[pecan2phat]

I suck at electronics, but I'm going over to a fellow reefer's house on Sunday so he can build it for me. I have all the links to the parts for Radio Shack. I'll post what I see on Sunday including the links for the parts.

[MPH]

I also built a relay box to add on to my Reefkeeper. I used 3 separate relays for MH lights, sump pump and heaters (3 – 250W). This not only takes the heavy loads off of the Reefkeeper, but helps out with the wiring since each relay powers multiple outlets. I also added a fourth 6V relay to power a level switch controlled make-up pump. Not very hard to build and works great. I bought all of the parts from Degikey and Electronics Goldmine. I love the Reefkeeper but a little higher current rating, a few more outlets and a more accessible fuse would have been nice.

[pecan2phat]

So on Sunday, a fellow reefer helped me build a relay to power my chiller on a separate circuit. We built a 10 amp relay with a fuse line and a LED indicator. I had picked up 8 amp buss fuses to put in-line so that the fuse blows before the relay arcs and also before the chiller's fuse blows.
The first 2 times, the relay worked beautifully as the Reef Keeper signaled the relay to power on, unfortunately the relay fuse blew 2 times afterwards upon startup of the chiller. I checked the amp draw of the chiller upon startup with a Kill-a-watt meter and it showed that the 1/4 hp chiller peaked at 11 amps for a second upon startup and that's what blew the 8 amp fuse. Normally the chiller only runs at 4.9 amps so I will replace the relay fuse with a slow blow 10 amp fuse and this should do the trick. I had to order the 10 amp slow blow fuses on-line since no one locally carries them but if anyone wanted to make a relay for your chiller or other high amperage draw equipment to run on your Reef Keeper, here's the parts that I bought with the exception of 2 HD 3-prong extention cords that I found at a close out store for $2 a piece. You need the 2 male and 1 female connectors off the extension cords.

DA should make and sell these relays as an accessory item. It would cost them less than half the price of what I bought the materials for and they can market it for $30.

Project box:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F012%5F000&product%5Fid=270%2D1803

10 amp relay:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F013%5F000&product%5Fid=275%2D217

Socket for relay so you can replace the relay:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F013%5F000&product%5Fid=275%2D220

Fuse holder:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F004%5F004%5F000&product%5Fid=270%2D367

You can try their regular 10 amp fuse or order the slow blow 10 amp fuse on line:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F004%5F003%5F000&product%5Fid=270%2D1015

120V LED:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=272-712

You will need to be able to solder the wires to the relay and it helps if you have a drill press to make all the holes needed on the plastic project box. You'll also need some wire connectors.

[rottielover]

awsome, thank you for the links!

[MSHUR]

looks lke everyone having problems to run chiller/heater with rc.
why dont u run it of different line..just simply dont use rc for chiller to avoid any problems.
i am looking at rc,but i think with all this problems i will use it only to run my light. i think thats all this unit is good for just my 2 cence:))

mike

[pecan2phat]

Mike,
The problem is that the RK can only handle 15 amps/1875 watts in total and can only be plugged into 1 wall circuit. Usually with your MH lights, heater etc., and you try to plug in a chiller, well most users will overload the maximum amps/wattage of the RK and possibly the circuit breaker in your house. An example is my PCI CL-650 1/4 Hp chiller, it only runs at 4.9 amps but during the initial startup, it peaks at 11 amps for a second. This with the MH & VHOs would max out the RK, let alone a 15 amp wall circuit if they all came on at the same time.

What the "relay" accomplishes is that you can have the RK control the chiller but it is fed electricity from a separate or different wall circuit that you should have, to dedicate to a chiller or high wattage heater. So the relay has 2 male & 1 female plug. You plug one male into a RK channel, one male into a separate wall outlet on a dedicated circuit and the chiller into the female plug.

I looked at it this way:
If I couldn't use the RK as a controller to replace my 4 light timers and a dual stage temp controller, then it would have only been one hell of an expensive digital timer. I also utilize the temp probe to regulate one canopy fan, sump fan, chiller & heater.

This is how I set up my channels if your interested:
C1 - left 250w IC MH light ~ on @ 2:00pm, off @ 10:00pm
C2 - right 250w IC MH light ~ on @ 1:45pm, off @ 9:45pm
C3 - IC 660w VHO actinics ~ on @ 12:00pm, off @ 12:00am
C4 - LED moonlight ~ on @ 12:00pm, off @ 10:00am
C5 - 350w heater ~ cutoff temp @ 78.5 degrees
C6 - 10amp relay for CL-650 chiller ~ on @ 81*, off @ 79*
C7 - left IC canopy fan & sump fan ~ on @ 79.5*, off @ 78.7* (temp controlled)
C8 - right IC canopy fan ~ on @ 12:00pm, off @ 12:00am (time controlled to cool bulbs down when on)

The 10 amp relay when triggered by the RK, will turn on the chiller which is plugged into a dedicated 15 amp GFI circuit. The RK is plugged into a single tank dedicated 20 amp GFI circuit. The main pump, closed loop pump, OM 4-Way & SeaSwirls are on the same 20 amp circuit but pugged in via a DJ controller switch.

I probably should move either my Ampmaster return or Dart closed loop to a third circuit for redundancy.
Right now I have my pumps off of the RK for 1) timer & temp features were more important to me and 2) if the RK fails, my pumps will still be on.

HTH........, Did you ever pick up that chiller from Tony?

[MSHUR]

looks like u on the right track:)))
but,i still wanna be on the safe side:)))
i am looking on aq j....trying to deside beetwen rc and aqj:)))

no i didnt ..i am still waiting for my tank..i hope it should be here in this week...

[pecan2phat]

Good luck with the new tank Mike.

I also looked into the AC jr and it had a few nice features that I would not end up using such as multiple on & off times for lights, dimmable moonlight feature & lunar cycles.
It was a difficult decision due to the the AC jr having the ability to monitor and control PH for my Ca reactor but the price difference was huge. I didn't factor in the price of a PH controller because I already have one but just looking at "out of pocket" cost would have been double.

The best price that I researched the AC jr with backlight option and two HD4DC were $462 and $41 for the PH probe.

[bkelley02]

Can you post some directions on how to create the relay? My 1/4 chiller just died and I ordered the next size up which draws 7.2 amps. This would be a HUGE help to me as well!

Thanks

[pecan2phat]

I bought all the parts while my buddy cali_reef assembled the relay. Partly because I suck at electronics and partly cause I had a soda in one hand and a smoke in the other.....

I'll PM him this thread and hopefully he'll jump on this thread to explain the assembly.

[cali_reef]

You will need to know how to read the connection diagram on the relay and solder the connections. Not too bad of a project at all.

[bkelley02]

The connection diagram that would come with the Reef Keeper or is this something you have available? Sorry if the questions are real basic and I'm just not understanding. I currently don't own a Rk but this little 'Fix' will definately allow me to get one.

Thanks,

[pecan2phat]

bkelly02,
I think cali_reef meant the connection diagram on the 10amp relay.

[bkelley02]

He did. Thanks for getting him to help me out! I'm all set now! Didn't even blow up the garage while I was testing it!:blown:

[pecan2phat]

Yeah,
My relay is working flawlessly now. I ordered the wrong voltage 10 amp slow blow fuses (32 volt) and never got around to getting the correct ones since a regular (fast blow) 10 amp fuse has been working fine.

Like I said before, DA should manufacture these relays and sell them as $29.99 options! It would probably cost them about $10 to make.

[SCUBA_JAMES]

Could some take some pics inside the relay box and/or a wireing
diagram to show me how to setup on of these relays