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Re: Heating Cables
Erik Olson wrote...
> Rena does indeed make heating cables. I called them up a couple years
> back when I was setting up my system, and was told by the US rep that
> they just don't have the demand in the States for them [this is mid 1993],
> but they made them elsewhere. One thing about Rena cables is they are
> meant to plug directly in the wall at 120 or 240 volts, as Len
> mentioned. Much nastier in terms of safety.
and then Keith Brummett wrote...
> I *would not* put 120VAC heating cables into an aquarium, GFCI or not.
> Yeah, the current is the bullet that kills you, but it's the voltage
> that pulls the trigger. Example -- a car battery can dump a kiloamp
> with ease, but it doesn't have enough voltage to push that current
> through your body resistance, so you can safely pick up the charged
> battery by its bare terminals without lighting up your life.
Well, I did think about this before I bought them, but I figured these
cables would be no more dangerous than a standard aquarium heater which
also uses mains voltage. As long as I take appropriate precautions
(GFI, fuses, turning the appliances off before putting arms and legs in,
keeping oscars and other chew-happy fish out of the tank), I'm willing to
take the risk. But I'm also interested in hearing some more detailed
explanations on exactly how much more dangerous the 240V,0.3A option
is over the 12V,6.25A option.
Cheers,
Len.
--
Len Trigg ===================================================
Comp Sci Grad DoD#1334 trigg at cs_waikato.ac.nz
Waikato Uni GPX250 http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~trigg
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