High Tide Aquatics

power strip discussion

I use the same DJ 8 port power strip for 10-12 years. I switched on\off 1-3 times each week and on various outlets. No problem so far. Maybe I'm just lucky.

I connect skimmer, light, ato, heater, return pumps, power heads.
 
I ran the DJ power strip for 3 years. One switch died about 2 years in but I replaced it with parts from Amazon. Downside is it does not have surge protection so you'll want that separately. Main reason I use this is because I house all my power bricks in a server rack and the DJ strip bolts directly on it.
 
Kasa power strips. Robust scheduling options and electrical monitoring per plug. I’ve got 3 and they’ve worked well minus a couple instances of the timer glitching and turning my lights in the middle of the night. They never turned anyone off but I had my pumps on a GHL strip for insurance.
 
I should add, when I want something off, I don't want to look for my phone. It's convenient knowing the switch never moves.

Read good reviews about Kasa. I bought 2 Kasa but returned them without opening. Same reason as above. need to get phone to switch on\off. maybe I'm just old school
 
CaseyP said:
I ran the DJ power strip for 3 years. One switch died about 2 years in but I replaced it with parts from Amazon. Downside is it does not have surge protection so you'll want that separately. Main reason I use this is because I house all my power bricks in a server rack and the DJ strip bolts directly on it.
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Thank you for pointing out the power surge protection. That's useful. Changed my wall outlet to GFCI.
 
popper said:
Thank you for pointing out the power surge protection. That's useful. Changed my wall outlet to GFCI.
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GFCI and surge protection are two separate things. GFCI prevents you from being a ground and allowing electricity to flow through you. A surge protector helps with excessive voltage in the power line.
 
popper said:
I should add, when I want something off, I don't want to look for my phone. It's convenient knowing the switch never moves.

Read good reviews about Kasa. I bought 2 Kasa but returned them without opening. Same reason as above. need to get phone to switch on\off. maybe I'm just old school
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The Kasa power strips have physical buttons you can use to turn on/off, in addition to the app-based programming. But if you never want to program them at all they probably aren’t for you.

 
JVU said:
The Kasa power strips have physical buttons you can use to turn on/off, in addition to the app-based programming. But if you never want to program them at all they probably aren’t for you.

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Wow. Didn't realized they have physical individual power button. Is it those round button next to the status light?

Very helpful.

I literally returned them last week.
Screenshot_20230404_131059_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
Do strips with a GFCI built in do anything if the plug they're going into is a standard three prong outlet?
 
Kasa strips. As noted they have physical buttons. Yes it's the circular button next to the power switch.

Only real downside to them is the size IMO. I wish they had a smaller option, for instance cutting out the usb ports.

Also I don't know if it's mentioned yet, but the kasa's don't need internet connectivity to let your phone control them. They're controlled on the local network if you want to do things to them.

Additionally, all the scheduling is stored/managed on the power strip itself. So even if your entire house internet dies, the schedules will run.

Finally, they have built-in power meters, letting you see at an individual outlet level how much power you're using. From that you can look and then feel bad about how much money you're wasting on heating your tank...

In the future though I think Matter+Thread versions of these will be superior, but those don't exist yet. For now I think the Kasa's are the best solution.
 
Someone mentioned an interesting idea a week or so ago in a different topic. kasa strips can tell if a device is lying...or if you've forgotten to turn a pump back on...even one you can't see or hear because kasa reports power consumption per recepticle.

So writing some code that checks to make sure a pump is running...or off for no more than 30 minutes, is achievable and more interesting than just on/off control.

Just a thought....
 
Prestondeeply said:
Someone mentioned an interesting idea a week or so ago in a different topic. kasa strips can tell if a device is lying...or if you've forgotten to turn a pump back on...even one you can't see or hear because kasa reports power consumption per recepticle.

So writing some code that checks to make sure a pump is running...or off for no more than 30 minutes, is achievable and more interesting than just on/off control.

Just a thought....
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not to thread-hijack, but I think almost certainly the future of aquarium controllers should be standardized smart devices with some control software orchestrating them. There's little reason these ridiculous $300 EB832 should exist. It's a $60 kasa smart outlet + some DC outlets. It's insane. All the monitoring and controls can be done with Home Assistant, same as any other thing in a smart house.

And yes, this is going to be my next side project, proving that out :).
 
richiev said:
not to thread-hijack, but I think almost certainly the future of aquarium controllers should be standardized smart devices with some control software orchestrating them. There's little reason these ridiculous $300 EB832 should exist. It's a $60 kasa smart outlet + some DC outlets. It's insane. All the monitoring and controls can be done with Home Assistant, same as any other thing in a smart house.

And yes, this is going to be my next side project, proving that out :).
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I’m glad you’re doing this and hope you can share your approach. I think everyone’s tired of replacing their EB832 every 2 years.
 
richiev said:
There's little reason these ridiculous...
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"Aquarium tax" or "there's a picture of a fish on it so of course it costs more", has been around way back when I got into the hobby and I'm sure even well beyond that as well. Honestly other than the "box of water with pretty" that was one part of the hobby that I enjoyed the most, not the fact things are more expensive but I felt a rush in finding cheaper ways to do things either via "off brand" or DIY solutions. Although as I got older in the hobby I grew more and more tired of doing so, could explain why I am where I am now.
 
sfsuphysics said:
"Aquarium tax" or "there's a picture of a fish on it so of course it costs more", has been around way back when I got into the hobby and I'm sure even well beyond that as well. Honestly other than the "box of water with pretty" that was one part of the hobby that I enjoyed the most, not the fact things are more expensive but I felt a rush in finding cheaper ways to do things either via "off brand" or DIY solutions. Although as I got older in the hobby I grew more and more tired of doing so, could explain why I am where I am now.
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I created a thread to avoid hijacking this one: Standardized smart home powered tank setups
 
I'm a user of the Kasa power strips and have only good things to say about them! Easy scheduling, smart home integration, on/off timer feature so you can turn something manually on/off and have it automatically turn off/on in a specified time (great for turning skimmer and UV back on in 4 hrs after dosing bac in a bottle, ab+, phyto etc). Does great in a power outage when power comes back on (I believe all outlets toggle power on) and will continue it's programmed scheduling at each next event without user intervention.

I've only had one fail due to spilling water on it (which would kill any power strip anyway)
 
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