HELP!! before is shock myself

[_dan_]

this idea came to me last night... what would be potential haards of spliceing an old extention cord and adding on a dimmer switch.... this would then decrease my pump its too big for my tank, and turn down some of the bubbles.... both are too much for my tank and it is pushing all my lil ones around.... will this work... or am i gonna get electicuted???
there is no switch to turn down foce on ether one...

any suggestions??

 

[bound_for_obx]

How about getting a gang valve and use it to bleed some air?

 

[_dan_]

that would work for my air stone... but what about my filter... its way too powerful and pushes my lil fishies around too much

 

[austinsdad]

Don't know, but maybe your filter not receiving the full current from a dimmer switch may not work well or at all. Not sure, but I think it's a possibility.

If you do the work right, you won't eletrocute yourself. Oh yeah, be sure you unplug first.

I'd definitely recommend altering the wiring such that you can remove the dimmer switch, just in case what I said above comes true. Even better, sell the pump and buy another if possible

 

[hashbaz]

I would suggest against the dimmer switch. Your electrical equipment is designed to operate at a certain voltage. Putting in a dimmer may (or may not) significantly lower the operating life. As far as the filter, try physical modification before electrical. You might want to try half clogging the input. Or you might try using a sponge or cloth or something to either impede the filter inlet or outlet.

As far as electrocution goes, don't stand in a puddle and you should be fine with 120V.

 

[_dan_]

lol... i like the cloth idea... i think im gonna find an old crod to put the dimmer switch on so i can take it off easily.. i just wanna see if it works... lol... ill let you know how things work out

 

[pkremer]

Just thought I would mention that most electrical equipment is not designed to work with a dimmer switch. Lights that work like that are specifically designed to do that.

For instance, let's say you put a normal bulb in a lamp that is designed to work with with a 3-way bulb.

Click 1: Not enough current, the bulb won't light up at all.
Click 2: Now there is enought current, the light comes on.
Click 3: More current, but the bulb was not designed to light up more than one setting, so the amount of light doesn't change.

I guess my point is that reducing the amout of current flowing to a pump that was not designed to operate at dynamic levels of current would probably not work, and might even damage the equipment. Just like the light bulb, the pump would not operate at low levels of current, and as you turned up the dimmer switch, as soon as it had enough current, it would start operating at full power. I wouldn't reccommend this option at all.

Paul

 

[Guest]

I don't think anything would be ruined, but I don't think it will work.

 

[glasstapper]

just phoned a friend of mine who is an electrician,, he says nope it will cause the pump to fail prematurely, even tho he's a SW guy, he's ok