Wanted... Looking for someone to help clean up my wires and such

[wishntoboutside]

Hello All.

I have a rather unique aquarium it is a peninsula aquarium with some of it powered in the living room and most of it is powered in my fish room in the garage. To make it even more challenging I have 10 HYDROS controller modules monitoring and controlling everything. I have clean this up multiple times and still not satisfied with it. I am looking for maybe running those wire channels or something but also willing to pay someone for there time to give this project a fresh set of eyes. I am located in Riverside 92503, Could pay in corals or cash.
to show the tank this link may be best so one can see in the video of things that could be cleaned up. at about 9.30 in the video you can start to see why I want to clean this up.

feel free to post or pm.

Thanks
Richard.

 

[joseserrano]

Hit up Pablo.

 

[Jimbo327]

Sent you a PM.

 

[e34John]

I need a guy for this too haha. Can you post some before and after pics when done?

 

[wishntoboutside]

Jimbo. thanks for the pm and some great information

E34john. will do as I really want to clean this up.

 

[wishntoboutside]

Thank you Jose for the lead. I caught up with Pablo today and I think we have a plan.
Jimbo gave me some great insight and some links. I have a general idea on what I need and going to look at sights like wirecare.com and get something going soon.

 

[laverda]

There are several big issues with aquarium wiring besides how many cords we typicly have that need to be kept in mind.
1. Things need to be kept easy to remove for maintaince purposes. This often means removing the power cord.
2. Most hobbiest change equipment pretty frequently. Often to replace failed equipment, update items or just to try something different.
3. Cables are never the optimal length. Sometimes too short and often too long. Usually a combination of both!
It is pretty easy to get things nicly organized once, but keeping them that way long term is a real pain for the above reasons. So keeping thing easily changed is probably the most important and hardest to do while still keeping them organized. IE Do not use zipties to hold cables in place. Velcro is a better alternative if you have to bundle things together, but still a pain when changing things. Use open cable hangers or troughs if possible.
Mark Hardy and I have set up much more complicated wiring (1000+ cables, most with 8 wires each in them) neat and tidy. But it does not get changed nearly as often and mostly it is to add new wires. Once the IT department messes with it they typicly become a mess. This is work in progress. This work in progress includes, phone, computer, speeker & intercom system, cameras, door acces control wiring and more.

 

[five.five-six]

All valid points! Very well articulated as well.

There are several big issues with aquarium wiring besides how many cords we typicly have that need to be kept in mind.
1. Things need to be kept easy to remove for maintaince purposes. This often means removing the power cord.
2. Most hobbiest change equipment pretty frequently. Often to replace failed equipment, update items or just to try something different.
3. Cables are never the optimal length. Sometimes too short and often too long. Usually a combination of both!
It is pretty easy to get things nicly organized once, but keeping them that way long term is a real pain for the above reasons. So keeping thing easily changed is probably the most important and hardest to do while still keeping them organized. IE Do not use zipties to hold cables in place. Velcro is a better alternative if you have to bundle things together, but still a pain when changing things. Use open cable hangers or troughs if possible.
Mark Hardy and I have set up much more complicated wiring (1000+ cables, most with 8 wires each in them) neat and tidy. But it does not get changed nearly as often and mostly it is to add new wires. Once the IT department messes with it they typicly become a mess. This is work in progress. This work in progress includes, phone, computer, speeker & intercom system, cameras, door acces control wiring and more.
View attachment 115953

Did you happen to mention how much that rack cost though?

Of course, I’m a little troubled that Richard didn’t just call me…. Or you

 

[SanClementeEric]

Definitely great points. Another is most of the wiring we have isn’t low-power like your rack above but AC that is also near water. Brstv has a great talk about this with Tidal Gardens and their facility wiring. About 11 mins into this video.

I’ve worked in data centers for over 14 years and seen all manner of cabling. The best jobs I’ve seen are the ones done by guys who can tie with twine in a second flat. Not that I recommend that but those guys usually have clean runs for sure. Definitely recommend Velcro ties. And thinking ahead.

 

[five.five-six]

Steve actually did about 95%of that work. I worked with Steve on the layout and general requirements but execution was 100% Steve. Great work!

 

[five.five-six]

Definitely great points. Another is most of the wiring we have isn’t low-power like your rack above but AC that is also near water. Brstv has a great talk about this with Tidal Gardens and their facility wiring. About 11 mins into this video.

I’ve worked in data centers for over 14 years and seen all manner of cabling. The best jobs I’ve seen are the ones done by guys who can tie with twine in a second flat. Not that I recommend that but those guys usually have clean runs for sure. Definitely recommend Velcro ties. And thinking ahead.

Yes, 9 cord (Wax lace) is far superior to zip ties. In a lot of ways. For instance, even the T&B or tywrap brand still get brittle and break eventually, the garbage you get at Home Depot starts to degrade within just a few years. I’ve worked with wax lace that had been in service for 100 years (telegraph machines) and it is still in great shape. Also, the lace is easier on the cables and you don’t have to use flush cuts to avoid exposed sharp edges. The thing is that lace is done with stitches, it is for permanent installations. For jumpers or cables permanently connected to equipment you use cable management systems. I’m not a fan of finger groove but it’s cheep and easy to install but difficult to service cables already in place. I use a product called snake tray and velcro for my tank. Service is a breeze and cables remain organized.


We are actually C10 electrical but I have over 25 years experience with carrier data centers so both disciplines are applied to every job.

 

[laverda]

Definitely great points. Another is most of the wiring we have isn’t low-power like your rack above but AC that is also near water. Brstv has a great talk about this with Tidal Gardens and their facility wiring. About 11 mins into this video.

I’ve worked in data centers for over 14 years and seen all manner of cabling. The best jobs I’ve seen are the ones done by guys who can tie with twine in a second flat. Not that I recommend that but those guys usually have clean runs for sure. Definitely recommend Velcro ties. And thinking ahead.

True, but AC can be done neatly as well. Like I said the real chalange is being able to change thing easily. Trouble shooting is another issue.
What you can't see in my photo is that ever cable is labled and identified at the the other end and on a spread sheet and/or on both ends. This makes future trouble shooting much easier.

 

[laverda]

All valid points! Very well articulated as well.


Did you happen to mention how much that rack cost though?

Of course, I’m a little troubled that Richard didn’t just call me…. Or you

I don’t know how much the rack cost. But the point is things can be laid out very orderly and not like the typical mess found under most aquariums. It takes fore thought and planning.

 

[laverda]

Steve actually did about 95%of that work. I worked with Steve on the layout and general requirements but execution was 100% Steve. Great work!

Thanks, Mark. You did the important fore thought and planning. I just executed it.

 

[laverda]

I used finger board on my system and it can be a pain when you need to replace a component. Of course it is always the one behind everything else. I cut my 6' finger board cover in half making it easier to deal with.