Use of a GHL Powerbar

[py84]

Hi,

I bought a Profilux 4 and Powerbar 2 years ago.

Unfortunatelay I don't use the powerbar because I don't want to plug essential equipements on it: I'm afraid of a powerbar failure which could lead to a tank crash.

I have a heater/cooler with a dedicated temperature controller, a skimmer 24/24, a return pump 24/24, a UV 24/24, an ATO.

What's your point of view on this ? How do you use yours ?

 

[reefwiser]

Well I have 4 power bars. I was a PLC tech in industry. The type of solid state relays used are really top notch. Allowing the ProfiLux to turn on and off outlets is what the whole system is about. I have the touch screen control so I can touch srreen to
Do a water change or clean a filter or stop a pump for feeding food to fish. You will have more problems running each device separately. You can for get to turn off a heater during a water change and cause it to fail or forget to turn it back on. The power bar is the a way of taking the human error out of the situation.

 

[vangvace]

I really like the powerbars tied to 3 different GFCIs and 2 circuit breakers. I have my return pump and chiller support on separate powerbars. The GHL Brains are on its own breaker with a pair of powerheads. I use maintenance modes to turn select pumps and flow related equipment on and off. My CO2 solenoid is controlled via the powerbar outlet as well. Finally I have things that are always on and fail to on.

I have accidentally poured RO water over them and they powered off for safety and once dry, they came back on and are running great.

 

[ingchr1]

I have two Powerbars. Each having redundant equipment. A heater, return pump and powerhead.

You can set the state of the outlets to be off or on upon loss of communication with the P4. I have all of my outlets fail on, except the primary heater and ATS light. This way the tank still runs if for some unlikely reason there is a failure of comms to/from the P4 or a failure with the P4 itself.

My backup heater is half sized and it's outlet fails on. The heater (an Eheim) will run off it's internal thermostat, providing some heat but probably not so much to cause a major overheat should it's thermostat fail on or be way out of calibration. The internal thermostats on my heaters are set just above the controlling point of the P4.

The only thing my P4 really controls are the heaters, cooling fan and ATS light. The other equipment is simply on/off for maintenance and feed modes.

My return pumps are AC, no control needed other than on/off.

The powerheads, skimmer and ATO are all controlled by their Tunze controllers.

My light, an LX7, is not plugged into either Powerbar and controls itself.

I think having the two Powerbars and equipment setup the way I do minimizes the chance of a major disaster should a Powerbar or the P4 itself fails.

Also, something you don't hear much about is failure of a Powerbar or the controller itself. Trouble setting up yes, but not much in the way of actual equipment failures.

 

[py84]

Hello

Thanks for your replies. You convinced me that I have more chance to forget to plug an essentiel equipement after a WC than a powerbar failure.

So I have plugged evertyhing on it and made differents maintenance functions. I also added an GSM power failure alert on the powerbar.