A Drip Loop Is Important - Set-Up Tip 11
The Drip loop is vital.
Whenever electricity and water are somehow combined, there is a huge opportunity for disaster.
This entire series of set up tips covers a wide range of important topics.
Ultimately, this may be the most important of them all! Water always will try to find the lowest place it can access.
For the aquarist, water is contained in an aquarium.
There is inevitably some opportunity for water to spill or otherwise find its way outside the aquarium.
Splashes can also occur when the tank is being filled after regular water maintenance or in a wide variety of other possible scenarios.
It should be taken for granted that water will, occasionally, find its way outside the container.
When it does, it is not uncommon for it to drip into areas where electrical connections must be made.
Even when water is not somehow spilled or splashed, one of the easiest ways water can find a path to move down to the floor is by trickling on any hoses that enter the aquarium.
Filters often use hoses to transport water to and from the aquarium.
Always make sure that the hoses are positioned in such a way that they do not allow any water to move down the outside of the hose.
Position outputs for filters away from the hoses that supply them as much as possible.
Prevent strong currents from forcing water between the aquarium glass pane and the top frame.
Splashing inside the fish tank is a great way for water to find a way to escape from the container.
Besides the water intake, exhaust hoses and pipes used to transport water between filter and aquarium.
The other area that can cause serious problems are the wires that enter the aquarium to power various electrical items.
These aquarium accessories require power within aquarium itself.
They are required for the health and welfare of your fish.
These can be filters of various sorts as well as submersible heaters, etc.
Each electrical apparatus must be connected by a power cord between the electrical socket and unit housed within the fish tank.
The necessity of having wires in the aquarium and exiting from the top can be very dangerous.
Water can be splashed onto these wires and then easily travel down them directly into the socket - if there are no preventative measures taken.
Water in a socket is a strong fire hazard.
The solution to this danger is not very difficult to remedy.
The hazard is well known to many certification agencies.
They are often very careful to require that reference to a drip loop, often with a visual graphic, and its importance is stressed in every manual that accompanies any aquarium electrical appliance for sale.
Any electrical accessory sold for an aquarium in most countries requires that it be tested for specific criteria.
These ensure the unit will perform as it has been specified and that the appliance is not a fire hazard or electrical dare while operating.
All regulations regarding it must be fulfilled to be granted certification.
One of the more important aspects of this certification is the requirement that precautionary text be included in the instructions.
If there is even the remotest chance that the wire will come into contact with water, the safety instructions require the use of a drip loop as part of the operating and installation instructions.
A drip loop is a very simple thing to implement.
It requires no tools or added equipment, or even any modifications to the unit during installation.
The configuration must simply ensure that a part of the wire is located well below the electrical socket.
After that, it then must rise back up to the socket before it is plugged in.
This will force the water to drop off the wire, or at worst, remain on the wire at this lower point.
Water is unable to defy gravity to trickle up into the electrical socket.
The errant water cannot follow the wire right into the socket.
When you are doing any maintenance, always ensure that water cannot drip directly into the electrical socket.
Arrange all the hoses and wires so that they always have a loop below the socket that delivers the power to your aquarium.
You need the power to operate the electrical appliances in and around the aquarium.
However, you certainly want to do everything you can to prevent any possibly of water and power somehow mixing.
Whenever electricity and water are somehow combined, there is a huge opportunity for disaster.
This entire series of set up tips covers a wide range of important topics.
Ultimately, this may be the most important of them all! Water always will try to find the lowest place it can access.
For the aquarist, water is contained in an aquarium.
There is inevitably some opportunity for water to spill or otherwise find its way outside the aquarium.
Splashes can also occur when the tank is being filled after regular water maintenance or in a wide variety of other possible scenarios.
It should be taken for granted that water will, occasionally, find its way outside the container.
When it does, it is not uncommon for it to drip into areas where electrical connections must be made.
Even when water is not somehow spilled or splashed, one of the easiest ways water can find a path to move down to the floor is by trickling on any hoses that enter the aquarium.
Filters often use hoses to transport water to and from the aquarium.
Always make sure that the hoses are positioned in such a way that they do not allow any water to move down the outside of the hose.
Position outputs for filters away from the hoses that supply them as much as possible.
Prevent strong currents from forcing water between the aquarium glass pane and the top frame.
Splashing inside the fish tank is a great way for water to find a way to escape from the container.
Besides the water intake, exhaust hoses and pipes used to transport water between filter and aquarium.
The other area that can cause serious problems are the wires that enter the aquarium to power various electrical items.
These aquarium accessories require power within aquarium itself.
They are required for the health and welfare of your fish.
These can be filters of various sorts as well as submersible heaters, etc.
Each electrical apparatus must be connected by a power cord between the electrical socket and unit housed within the fish tank.
The necessity of having wires in the aquarium and exiting from the top can be very dangerous.
Water can be splashed onto these wires and then easily travel down them directly into the socket - if there are no preventative measures taken.
Water in a socket is a strong fire hazard.
The solution to this danger is not very difficult to remedy.
The hazard is well known to many certification agencies.
They are often very careful to require that reference to a drip loop, often with a visual graphic, and its importance is stressed in every manual that accompanies any aquarium electrical appliance for sale.
Any electrical accessory sold for an aquarium in most countries requires that it be tested for specific criteria.
These ensure the unit will perform as it has been specified and that the appliance is not a fire hazard or electrical dare while operating.
All regulations regarding it must be fulfilled to be granted certification.
One of the more important aspects of this certification is the requirement that precautionary text be included in the instructions.
If there is even the remotest chance that the wire will come into contact with water, the safety instructions require the use of a drip loop as part of the operating and installation instructions.
A drip loop is a very simple thing to implement.
It requires no tools or added equipment, or even any modifications to the unit during installation.
The configuration must simply ensure that a part of the wire is located well below the electrical socket.
After that, it then must rise back up to the socket before it is plugged in.
This will force the water to drop off the wire, or at worst, remain on the wire at this lower point.
Water is unable to defy gravity to trickle up into the electrical socket.
The errant water cannot follow the wire right into the socket.
When you are doing any maintenance, always ensure that water cannot drip directly into the electrical socket.
Arrange all the hoses and wires so that they always have a loop below the socket that delivers the power to your aquarium.
You need the power to operate the electrical appliances in and around the aquarium.
However, you certainly want to do everything you can to prevent any possibly of water and power somehow mixing.
Source...