Hydor ATO and can you grind power plug?

[dragonfisher33]

i have purchased a Hydor ATO and a Tom's Aqualifter in the last two months through two separate occasions. to my dismay, the plug from the aqualifter won't fit on the outlet of the Hydor ATO because of the "bumps" on the plug for the aqualifter. maybe i'm naive or stupid or a combination of both but can i grind the bumps out so that it will fit into the Hydor outlet? any electrician out there?

i think what the aqualifter has is called the polarized plug and the Hydo ATO has un-polarized outlet. I was at Homedepot and just couldn't find anything that will fit the two together. Hydor needs to fix this issue and send out replacements to existing customers who have bought their ATO in good faith in my opinion.

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

 

[Reefing Madness]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was no such thing as using polarized ends. Yup, you can take the ends down.

 

[mike007]

I think they might have adapters that you could use.

 

[dragonfisher33]

I think they might have adapters that you could use.

i was at Home Depot the other day and couldn'tb find one. Do you know what it's called?

 

[Reefing Madness]

GE 3-Outlet Polarized Adapter Plug - White-58562 at The Home Depot

Not in the store, online only.

 

[shred5]

My aqualifter works fine in mine, just needed a little force. I think they are meant to be a tight fit so water dont get in, anyway I thought mine didn't fit at first either.
Hopefully it is meant to go in there anyway, Mine is working just fine. I guess I will find out when I need to replace pumps..

 

[dragonfisher33]

GE 3-Outlet Polarized Adapter Plug - White-58562 at The Home Depot

Not in the store, online only.

i will try to see if it works but i doubt it. if i understood it correctly, polarized plugs can have either 1)bumps on one of the prongs OR 2)one prong being wider than the other. the GE adapter belongs to category 2 where the top prong is narrower than the bottom prong.

 

[Coraloliseffect]

As been said many times before. File to fit paint to match.

Yes polarized outlets could be ground. Your Ac motor won't know the difference.
If device has a switch the polorised plug is to make sure the switch de energizes the hot line. Just makes a bit safer for switched items. May get corrosion from bare copper on filed portion quicker.

 

[Coraloliseffect]

Let us know how you like your hydor ato.

 

[trido]

The "Bumps" are on the neutral side of the plug so that you plug it in the right way. Some electronics can only have the current running in one direction in order to not blow out resistors etc. You can grind them off just make sure you keep them to the left of the outlet (when its right side up) when you plug it in.

 

[YodaHart]

I've been using an aqualifter on my hydor ato for the past 4 months. I just cut down the bigger polarized side. Everything works great and I love the ATO. I love that I can switch it off during a water change or when I'm floating new corals. I also love that it beeps when my ATO container is empty so I get a "friendly" reminder to fill it up!

 

[dragonfisher33]

I've been using an aqualifter on my hydor ato for the past 4 months. I just cut down the bigger polarized side. Everything works great and I love the ATO. I love that I can switch it off during a water change or when I'm floating new corals. I also love that it beeps when my ATO container is empty so I get a "friendly" reminder to fill it up!

how did you "cut down"? initially i was thinking about grinding the bumps using one of these
Nicholson 8 in. Blade Handy File-06601 at The Home Depot

 

[YodaHart]

I just used some wire cutters and a lot of squeezing

 

[Reefing Madness]

I just used some wire cutters and a lot of squeezing

this ive done also with a pair of wire cutters.