AvianAquatics Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 (edited) I'm moving my tanks to the basement and as I do them I'm having questions on safety issues regarding extension cords, surge protectors and such: I'm using two extension cords to connect my tanks and the shorter 1.8m one say not to connect one extension cord to another, so is it ok to first have a 10m cord, connect a power surge to it, connect the 1.8m to the power surge and then connect another power surge with all the other aquarium plugs to the 1.8m one or would it not be safe? I have only 2 electric plugs in the basement and they are both far from the tanks. Is it safe to have 2 extension cords (the ones mentioned above) plugged on 24/7? One of the cords say it is know to contain things like lead that can cause cancer in the state of California... can you and how would you get cancer from it? Sorry for the long questions and thanks in advance! Edited August 21, 2010 by AvianAquatics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayba Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 Every time you have a connection or splice in an electrical conductor. Be it a cord, power bar or wire you have the possibility to loose some of the connection. This creates more resistance in the circuit. The more resistance you have in the circuit, the lower the voltage at the other end of that wire. The device (pump, heater or whatever) at the other end of the cord doesn't care what the voltage is coming in, it just has a job to do, and gets to it. The problem is now that the voltage is lower it now requires more current (Amperage) to do it. V=I*R . Volts=Amps*Resistance This equation always balances. You take from one thing, it makes it up somewhere else. The device more than likely cannot handle the extra current it needs to do it's work in the long run, current creates heat, and it wasn't made to run at the higher current rating, but it will try until it fails. So the fewer number of connections (power bars, other extension cords etc ) the better. This heat can also cause the cord itself to fail by heating up the plastics themselves that are used as insulation to isolate the voltages, and cause a failure. The reason they say don't plug one into another is kind of a blanket statement to cover their behinds. Longer extension cords should have thicker wires, (12 GA)with less resistance and have less voltage drop along the way, but are more costly of course.....cheaper cords use 16 GA wires that is thinner than 12 or 14 GA and has more resistance throughout the wire. So a good quality 10 m cord, then the power bar, then another 1.8 meter cord should be fine. Leaving them plugged in 24/7. It all depends on your personal comfort level right......I do it, and I sleep fine. The cancer causing stuff.....electricity causes cancer, and the materials that they use in the cords more than likely do too. Don't eat them and you should be OK. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphine Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 I don't know anything really about power cords, but I use them plugged in 25/8 ---- Also if you don't already know some study somewhere states that everything causes cancer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince0 Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 the number one cause of death is birth.... i use extension cords and powers bars as well, i just try to keep it to one extesion/powerbar per socket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 ditto i use em and couldnt survive without them. California has weird laws, almost every product that is not innert can cause cancer to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppygirl Posted August 21, 2010 Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 You may want to think about putting another electrical plug or two into the basement. One closer to your tanks. I am guessing you are living in a fairly new house. I know I few people in new houses that only have two plugs in the basement. I can't really comment on the use of extension cords in the house, as I don't use any for my tanks, only to connect my tree at xmas. Thou I do have one on all winter to keep my dog's water ice free. But is an outdoor one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvianAquatics Posted August 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2010 For three little 10Gal tanks, I have 10 plugs to feed electricity to! Right now after what everyone said I think I might just go ahead with the cord - surge - cord - surge formation. But I am planning on getting 2 more 10Gals so when the time comes I'm switching to another 14m extension cord. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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