Electrical Panel

[mtrull1515]

Does anyone know of a thread about making an electrical panel in there stands or does anyone have any pictures of theirs?

[Jasen Hicks]

i have one in my gallery, its under my 20L prop tank.

Jasen

[Jasen Hicks]

Here it is...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/578/57147Stand_Panel_00a.jpg

Top row is outlets, second row is switches for the top outlets, third row is outlets unswitched.

Jasen

[schristi69]

Don't you enclose the back with anything? I would think that salt creep would eventually corrode or build up on the exposed contacts. I think you could have saved a lot of space by mounting in gang boxes.

[H20ENG]

You should definitely mount them in at minimum the $1 blue gang boxes. Especially if its mounted to a wood panel. Just my $0.02

[george81]

i see so many things wrong with that i dont know where to begin.......

[Jasen Hicks]

First thats just the panel that is tucked and sealed in the stand.

Second. No water comes any where near it. Its in a cabinet that water is no where near. Even if i did overflow the 20L that sits on top of it, the way that panel is mounted into the stand is such taht its directly in the middle, and the back is sealed. There isnt any pipes or anything with water that goes through it.

Third, each connection is a spade connection so its not coming off.

Fourth, im not an electrician so its not pretty.

Fifth, its perfectly safe. No loose wires, No open conenctions. The plywood that its mounted to completely covers the screw connections where the wires attach. Wood doesnt conduct electricity last time i checked with a fluke.

I was just showing how i mounted the plugs for reference. The front which isnt show has face plates on it and is nice and clean looking.

[fio1022]

GFCI?

[george81]

it can look like a priceless painting my friend but there is still all these things wrong with it that i see just from looking at the picture, you dont have to be an electrician....get it inspected so its done right and safely to protect YOU. i simply posted that in hopes that no one else would try to copy that.

1. the orange extenstion cord is a not allowed. get cab tire or even better american mustang.

2. you cannot strap flexible cord

3. each of those devices has to have a box to be terminated in. each box has to be securly mounted.
plywood is combustable... any arcs and you have a potential for a fire.

4. joints have to be put into a box and blank plated. dont leave you re joints exposed.

5. there are many shock hazards the way you have that setup....just look.

6. you re wires need protection.

all code violations. and if something happens such a fire (God forbid) and its ruled electrical you re insurance company is not going to cover you, you re on the hook for the money my friend....pm me for cases of this.

[schristi69]

Ah. I made the assumption that you also had a sump. I am in the process of doing the same thing, but putting all of the electrical in a separate stand. For one thing, the stand I have has no room whatsoever because of the sump and it will keep it out of a high moisture area. Never will I buy a premade stand again.

[george81]

i hope you dont consider that perfectly safe...............

[Jasen Hicks]

Truth be told, when i originally was building it I did think to get the boxes and mount them nice, with flex between them for the wires, etc. But i figured the wires would be protected from water being isolated from it.

Since i will be building one giant stand anyways for my 75 and 20 to fit on AND water will be closer to it in the new stand I will be re-doing it all anyways... WITH BOXES and FLEX. I really dont like it that way it is now simply because of astetics, i like clean looking things and ill agree as it stands now its not clean. I will give you the sparking and wood dont go well together. When i built it i didnt actually think of that. The cord though, is a replacement for a "Heavy Duty Load 20AMPS".

[Jasen Hicks]

P.S. The guy helping me build the new stand is an electrician, so it will definately be up to code.

I know the words are to help, and not meant to be an "YOU FREAKING IDIOT YOU ARE COMPLETELY DUMB" but it can be hard to tell when its typed. I apologize if i got offended and came across angrily.

[H20ENG]

With electrical stuff, its easy to rush it and forget about what can go wrong. The cord itself is probably fine, if its #12, and depending how much load you will put on it. You wont regret putting all those outlets in boxes. You'll sleep better.

Pretty soon you'll be building stuff like this :hammer: :D


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/14095surge_panel.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/14095System_control.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/14095System_control2.jpg

[ReefMeister2]

I'm certainly no electrician, engineer, or anything of that nature, but my DIY control panel and power center have performed flawlessly over the last two years (knock on wood). Nonetheless, I know there are flaws in the overall design, so I eagerly welcome feedback/critique/advice/etc. from the professionals here.
There is a metal four-gang box that those switches are mounted to insided the plastic spa cut-off box. The control panel (first photo) is linked to the satelite power center (second photo) via 5 feet of non-metalic flexible conduit. It is all powered via 2 seperate 20-amp circuits on GFI's and 12-gauge wire.
Thanks,
Kevin

(note: the photos were not taken on the same date, so there is minor differences)

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/586/63874Control-Panel-_web_.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/586/63874DSC00073a.jpg


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/585/63874sumpcloseup_web_.jpg

[mpcart]

ReefMeister2 - That's one of the cleanest setups I've seen. Good work.

-Mike

[schristi69]

Must be nice to have a whole room for all of the crap! :)

[ReefMeister2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7744149#post7744149 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by schristi69
Must be nice to have a whole room for all of the crap! :)

Its actually all out in the garage. I built a special water-proof shelf above the washer/dryer nook to mount the sump. Everything drains into the sink below, including water changes and any overflow/accidents, washdowns, etc.

"The 2-minute Water Change"
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=579223

In the other corner of the garage is the mixing system:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=575416

and under the sink is the 8-stage 150 GPD RO/DI unit (3 DI filters)
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=619925

My intention is to make the electrical panel system I created the subject for "Episode IV" of my series of DIY threads.
I just want someone with electrical expertise to crtitique it before I display the design to other hobbiests.
:)

And...now that I've bored you all to death with all the reading, and totally highjacked this thread...LOL...

here is a wider shot of the garage setup:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/585/63874DSC02857a_web_.jpg

[orlenz]

some nice setups, as you can see there are a ton of different ways to do it, the one thing I would like to warn against is putting a panel under the stand, I learned the hard way about that.
I had an overflow malfunction, my tank overflowed about 15 gallons of water into the panel I had made under my stand, it was an electrical disaster, under the stand is the LAST place I will ever put a panel again.

[Eric Boerner]

ReefMeister2 - If my laundry room looked like that, my wife would murder me in my sleep. Awesome set up to say the least though.