Extension cord for apex 2016?

[Bacon505]

Long story short, my apex energy bar doesnt reach my wall outlet. I call apex and they told me i need a 10 guage extension cord. 10 guage is huge. Any alternative solution?
#reefsquad

 

[TheEngineer]

Really!? 10 gauge is for 30 amps. 12 gauge will get you 20 amps and 14 gauge is 15 amps. I’m assuming you have either a 15 or 20 amp breaker on that line. Go with a 12 gauge and you’re more than fine.

 

[Bacon505]

My wall outlet has a 20amp circut breaker. I wasnt planning on running everything on the eb8 just a few pumps

 

[TheEngineer]

Go with 12 gauge and you’re set.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Call me paranoid, having melted plug ends, but I'd go with their recommendation of 10 gauge. Now I've got to believe you're missing by feet. The shortest 10 gauge I know of is 25 foot. So what I'd do is to custom make my own cord by purchasing the length of cord I need and putting industrial ends on it so that it fits perfectly.

 

[Diesel]

APEX had on one point custom made 10gauge extension cords.
I needed two of 7' and they shipped for free.
A friend used a 12gauge HD cord and it damage it's APEX.

 

[Bacon505]

APEX had on one point custom made 10gauge extension cords.
I needed two of 7' and they shipped for free.
A friend used a 12gauge HD cord and it damage it's APEX.

Do you call them or from their site? How i to on geting that 7’

 

[Diesel]

I did emailed them.
I still think I should have that email although it was in 2012

 

[redfishbluefish]

I did find a 10 footer HERE.

 

[ca1ore]

Call me paranoid, having melted plug ends, but I'd go with their recommendation of 10 gauge. Now I've got to believe you're missing by feet. The shortest 10 gauge I know of is 25 foot. So what I'd do is to custom make my own cord by purchasing the length of cord I need and putting industrial ends on it so that it fits perfectly.

Agreed, I've made plenty of 10 gauge cords with hubbell ends for my stereo amps.

 

[WWIII]

That's kinda wild. Did they explain why 10 gauge wire is needed? What do they say about plugging it into a 15amp 14 guage circuit? I would follow their instructions, but fail to see the major difference between the home wiring and an added extension cord?

 

[Bacon505]

They said the bar is 15 amp i think and the want the bar to be able to pull max load. They also said 15-20amp. Cord not neccessary 10 guage. However mostly 10 guage carry 15-20amp

 

[Bacon505]

I did find a 10 footer HERE.

Thanks i went a bought that one

 

[TheEngineer]

A friend used a 12gauge HD cord and it damage it's APEX.

In what way? Using a smaller gauge wire only means it’s current carrying capacity is lower. It doesn’t change the electrons flowing through it. If such a thing occurred we would all be screwed. Lamps use cheap wire and I’ve not seen one of them have an issue with “mismatched” wire gauges.

 

[Muttley000]

My guess is they are worried about voltage drop. The thicker gage will experience less voltage drop if you approach the 15 amps it "could" pull. Again, just a guess.

 

[TheEngineer]

My guess is they are worried about voltage drop. The thicker gage will experience less voltage drop if you approach the 15 amps it "could" pull. Again, just a guess.

At a length of 10 feet, at 120V pulling 20 amps using 12 gauge wire the drop is like 0.5% or 0.6V.

 

[Diesel]

It been a while but it has to do with power surges.
The EB was working as a regular outlet but didn't react on the commands from the main unit.

My oldtimer Apex is running like a charm.
With the two 7' cords plugged into one of the two 20amp outlets that my electrician had installed just for the tank.
When I ordered this APEX I basically purchased a whole second one as backup as you never know when, just a piece of mind to me.
In 2011 many didn't know much about the APEX as it wasn't as wide spread as now.

 

[TheEngineer]

Hmm... That's an interesting puzzle. If there was a power surge it is unlikely to blow a typical breaker since they are "slow blow" devices. Do the older Apex's not have fuses on them? (Honestly I don't know if the current ones do either )

A surge down the house wiring into the extension cord and then into the Apex caused the Apex relays to stop functioning. Is that right? There isn't anything obvious to me about that which would speak to the extension cord being the culprit. I can see a surge welding a contactor shut, but that would be a heck of a surge. A smaller gauge wire before that would limit the current to some extent.... I'll have to think about this more...

 

[Diesel]

Also a large % of homes have cross wire issues due to contractors cutting corners and unskilled or lazy labors.
After my research as a custom pool and home builder and talking to @Tony Vargas as he did a lecture on this on a few Reef shows he was speaking on it can be a issue to controllers using the wrong wiring or now big into the hobby the DC equipment that is making a storm.
Ever wondered why the DC equipment breaks down a lot faster than the trusted AC?
Main thing is the power supply unit that comes with the DC equipment.

 

[TheEngineer]

That’s a good point too. I always check my outlets but I’m sure most people don’t.