Fuses On Lighting

[stegoodall]

hi
I have wired up a compact t5 set and for the power cable, i have bought two PC power cables. What fuse rating should they be for 36w. The ballast is a tridonic atco EC 36 A502K. On the ballast it has a little table, for 36w TC the current is 0.435A i think.

Which fuse is best to use? Currently the plugs have 5A fuses in them.

Cheers

 

[Rooster]

Fuses are only there to protect the wiring in the event of a fault.... general rule is use one thats as small as possible, but as you are using an electronic ballust which has a high startup current, I would stick with the 5A. (you could try smaller, but run the risk of it popping at startup, if you wish to try a smaller one, use an "anti-surge" fuse)

 

[stegoodall]

ok. thanks.
They were supposed to come with 13A fuses so i was just checking if i should ask for some 13A fuses instead but i wont bother now.
cheers

 

[Rooster]

If they are "happy" with the 5A then stay with them !

 

[sub.42]

Yep,

I agree with Rooster. Always use the lowest possible fuse rating for any item of electrical equipment you use. Adding to that, always use an RCD or similar, to make sure any earth faults are covered too. 30mA or lower as a trip level for fishy stuff will be safest.

sub.

 

[stegoodall]

Yep,

I agree with Rooster. Always use the lowest possible fuse rating for any item of electrical equipment you use. Adding to that, always use an RCD or similar, to make sure any earth faults are covered too. 30mA or lower as a trip level for fishy stuff will be safest.

sub.

can you use RCD's with plug banks?

 

[Rooster]

Yep,

I agree with Rooster. Always use the lowest possible fuse rating for any item of electrical equipment you use. Adding to that, always use an RCD or similar, to make sure any earth faults are covered too. 30mA or lower as a trip level for fishy stuff will be safest.

sub.

can you use RCD's with plug banks?

Presume you mean the 4-6 extension lead type of thing ?
Of course you can.... just plug it into the RCD (as sold for lawn mowers etc) Or neater still, get the PLUG version, and replace the plug on the end of the 4 way block (or whatever !)

 

[stegoodall]

I'll look into that then because i have to use a few plug banks plugged into each other. I've only got one socket in my room. I'll have a separate plug bank for fish stuff and plug that into an RCD probably.

 

[andyj]

You can even get an RCD unit that will replace the 'socket' on your wall. That way anything you plug into it will be covered.

How old is your house?

If it's modern, you'll probably find that there is an RCD unit installed as part of the Consumer Unit (Fuse box) anyway.....

Wickes is the cheapest place I've found to get the RCD sockets, about £10 I think. The RCD plugs are about the same price.

Andy

 

[stegoodall]

I've bought a Fast Trip 40ms Double Pole Safety Breaker RCD Adaptor. £5.95 from wilkos
Rated Trip Current 30mA
Maximum operating Current 13A.

Does this sound ok to run 2 36w t5 ballasts as mentioned earlier in the thread, fluval 403 external, Hagen Elite 200W heater (and possibly a solenoid for CO2 in the near future)?

Cheers for all the help andy, rooster and sub

 

[Rooster]

I've bought a Fast Trip 40ms Double Pole Safety Breaker RCD Adaptor. £5.95 from wilkos
Rated Trip Current 30mA
Maximum operating Current 13A.

Does this sound ok to run 2 36w t5 ballasts as mentioned earlier in the thread, fluval 403 external, Hagen Elite 200W heater (and possibly a solenoid for CO2 in the near future)?

Cheers for all the help andy, rooster and sub

These are meant for lawnmowers and such, so a aquarium will not bother it ! so, YES it will be fine.

 

[andyj]

Note to self: Go to Wilko's and buy an RCD Adaptor for £5.49 !!!

Cheers for the tip mate !!!

 

[adambrum]

if you have a look around the web there is a conversion for working out watts into amps just add a bit to this figrue and you should be ok. i do have it around if i find it i will post back.

 

[stegoodall]

andy: no probs
adam: that would be great if you could find it

 

[Rooster]

W=VI where W=Watts V=volts I= current in Amps

In the UK mains is said to be 240v - this varies from place to place, and is AC, but for our purposes its good enough to use 250 as an easy number to remember !
This give us 1000W = 4 Amps
3000W = 12 Amps etc

My tank has:
200W heater, 50W light, 5W filter = 255W at worst ! (only when heater is on !) so thats about 1A !
So, the RCD is hardly fussed !