daisy chain power strips?

newfly · Dec 1, 2020

I am very well aware this is not a good practice in general. However i have 4x (~5w each) powerheard, 3x100W heater, 5W skimmer, ATO pump, Hydros controller, 2 x50W LED lights & small water mixing pump (10w?) . 11 plugs with total power <500W. No way close to high load. I also bought 2 hydros wifi strips.

I'm planning to get 2 x4 outlet strip that plug on the wall. The wifi strips will take 2 slots, 2 for lights , 1 water mixing pump and 1 100W heater, & 1 for the controller. The other equipment will be on the wifi strips.

Is this crazy? is there a better way to wire up everything? I don;t see any alternative not to daisy chain. I am hoping the low total power draw is OK to daisy chain.

FactoryKTMmotocross46 · Dec 1, 2020

Lowes sells a 12 outlet power strip rated for 15 amps. You're looking at 4 amps. There are some power strip that are 20 outlets. It's all about your amp draw and if you want to risk that many components being fed from a single breaker. I split up my return pump and powerheads to be fed from different breakers so if one tripped, my tank would survive if I happened to be out of town or something. Like the time we were in Hawaii and I had never had a breaker trip. Never happened before and bam! My 3 large fish i had for 9 years.... dead! Lesson learned.

newfly · Dec 1, 2020

FactoryKTMmotocross46 said:
Lowes sells a 12 outlet power strip rated for 15 amps. You're looking at 4 amps. There are some power strip that are 20 outlets. It's all about your amp draw and if you want to risk that many components being fed from a single breaker. I split up my return pump and powerheads to be fed from different breakers so if one tripped, my tank would survive if I happened to be out of town or something. Like the time we were in Hawaii and I had never had a breaker trip. Never happened before and bam! My 3 large fish i had for 9 years.... dead! Lesson learned.

Yes, i know i can get many outlet strip. The problem i want to use the Hydros wifi strip, and each only have 4 outlet.

I the receptacle behind the tank is fed from a single breaker. I am not ready to rewire the house yet for the this tank!

Circuit tripping is a real concern. With Hydros Control, i believe i will get a notification on the phone. If i'm away i can call up a buddy to come over to reset the breaker.

FactoryKTMmotocross46 · Dec 1, 2020

newfly said:
Yes, i know i can get many outlet strip. The problem i want to use the Hydros wifi strip, and each only have 4 outlet.

I the receptacle behind the tank is fed from a single breaker. I am not ready to rewire the house yet for the this tank! Circuit tripping is a real concern. With Hydros Control, i believe i will get a notification on the phone. If i'm away i can call up a buddy to come over to reset the breaker.

Oh, ok. As long as your amp draw is below the breaker capacity you will be alright. Check it from your subpanel with an ammeter.

TankYou · Dec 1, 2020

U can buy a kill a watt plug in meter that will show you your power use if it concerns you.

FactoryKTMmotocross46 · Dec 1, 2020

TankYou said:
U can buy a kill a watt plug in meter that will show you your power use if it concerns you.

Yes, thats is a good idea, but most circuits have multiple plugs so you have to check them all on the circuit.

DaneGer21 · Dec 1, 2020

Go to your breaker box, find the circuit that controls those outlets. Turn off the breaker and see what other outlets/lighting that may be effected. If there are, you need to remember that, for example when using a vacuum cleaner.

Also take note of the breakers amp rating. I would try not to exceed 60% of that amp rating; but that’s just me.

NoobReeferMJ · Mar 15, 2021

@newfly what did you end up doing any issues? I have the same problem with hydros. I either only use one wifi outlet and sacrifice hydros full capability or run 2 wifi strips with one daisy chained so I can get 2 more items plugged in

newfly · Mar 15, 2021

NoobReeferMJ said:
@newfly what did you end up doing any issues? I have the same problem with hydros. I either only use one wifi outlet and sacrifice hydros full capability or run 2 wifi strips with one daisy chained so I can get 2 more items plugged in

This is what i did. I have 2 plug on the wall with the following plug in directly to the wall

1 regular heavy duty power strip & 1 Wifi strip daisy chain on this power strip
- I only plug low power device (flow pump, ATO, etc) on this wifi strip

1 Wifi Strip for high power device (heater, lights, etc)

No problem so far.

NoobReeferMJ · Mar 22, 2021

newfly said:
This is what i did. I have 2 plug on the wall with the following plug in directly to the wall

1 regular heavy duty power strip & 1 Wifi strip daisy chain on this power strip
- I only plug low power device (flow pump, ATO, etc) on this wifi strip

1 Wifi Strip for high power device (heater, lights, etc)

No problem so far.

Ya I did similar and nothing so far. Have one wifi strip with lower voltage items plugged into a trip lite with one extra item plugged into the triplite. So far so good but really hoping they come out with a wired power bar with more outlets. I will need to add dosing etc eventually and looks like this is going to be an issue.

piranhaman00 · Mar 22, 2021

There is no issue with daisy chaining powerstrips as long as you dont exceed the total amps they allow. Most are 13 or 15 amp.

Storm Trooper Reefer · Mar 22, 2021

50% power to heat loss at each connection for a 100 W circuit. ie 4x25W heaters to one plug, two power strips each with two heaters. 25W(33W (power strip)) + 25W(33W), +second strip 25W(50W) x 25W(50)W. So two power strips in one outlet with 4, 25W heaters is 166W. Not to mention what is on the other plug or rest of the circuit.

Storm Trooper Reefer · Mar 22, 2021

piranhaman00 said:
There is no issue with daisy chaining powerstrips as long as you dont exceed the total amps they allow. Most are 13 or 15 amp.

Im calling BS on this.

mdb_talon · Mar 22, 2021

Storm Trooper Reefer said:
50% power to heat loss at each connection for a 100 W circuit. ie 4x25W heaters to one plug, two power strips each with two heaters. 25W(33W (power strip)) + 25W(33W), +second strip 25W(50W) x 25W(50)W. So two power strips in one outlet with 4, 25W heaters is 166W. Not to mention what is on the other plug or rest of the circuit.

I have heard similar things in the past, but in my experience this is far from accurate. I tested it by plugging in a power strip to a kilowatt meter. The meter showed electric usage slightly above the combined watts of all devices plugged into power strip(within a couple percent)

Storm Trooper Reefer · Mar 22, 2021

mdb_talon said:
I have heard similar things in the past, but in my experience this is far from accurate. I tested it by plugging in a power strip to a kilowatt meter. The meter showed electric usage slightly above the combined watts of all devices plugged into power strip(within a couple percent)

Where all devices running at 100%?

mdb_talon · Mar 22, 2021

Storm Trooper Reefer said:
Where all devices running at 100%?

A couple were(2 heaters). A couple were not(lights). However i had plugged each one into the meter individually to get a baseline for each and that totsl is what i used for my comparison.

nudave · Mar 22, 2021

Not safe if you don't know electric. Say you have 12 amps on the second strip, and 5 amps on the first. The first power strip will melt/catch on fire if the built in fuse doesn't trip as the first strip is pulling 17 total amps. That being said, if you know EXACTLY how many amps you're drawing at full load and it's no where near the full amp rating of the strips then it'll work. In the end, you're better off running an extension cord from another wall receptacle and adding the power strip to that.

When planning out my current set up, I ran a new 20 amp dedicated line to a set of 2 receptacles (total of 4). Given the circuit is rated for 20 amps, and the power strips are 15 amps I can safely run 4 strips with a distribution of power across all 4 not exceeding 20 amps.