A Serious No-No

[slumpysix]

First off, Happy New Year everyone....

Now here is some thing you don't want to happen. Last Feb. I set my 150 reef tank up and one thing I neglected to do, install a GFI outlet. I had one power strip plugged in and then another plugged into that one. 2 - 400W MH lights, skimmer, pump, 54W set of Actinic lamps and heater. I know, not too smart and beleive me, not something I usually do but was forgotten about and never acted on.
I am starting some much needed upgrading and decided first thing was to build an outlet board to tidey up the cords and keep things neat. Well good thing I did it on Monday as when I was unplugging the power strips, I noticed the bad plug. I freaked and so did my wife. The luck I had to find this now just overwelmed me. The culprit seemed to be a loose neutral wire causing and arc which melted the plug. I have installed a GFI in the wall to replace it and boy was that fun tring to reach behind the sump with my finger tips. Safe to say it is all back together and working properly.

One sign that should have alerted me was about a month ago I noticed my MH's flash. I thought it might be a bad bulb and not what was actually happening.

So All I can say to everyone setting up a tank, or have one up, PUT a GFI ON THE CIRCUIT before you begin, trust me on this.

sorry for the crappy pic but it gives you what happened .

ok...later..

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l229/lrac2006/outlet.jpg

[rodd1rj]

wow......scary and lucky

[FishWife1]

OOOOOH, you are LUCKY!!!! Or BLESSED, whichever you feel more comfortable with. There are lots of stories of people getting BAD shocks because the don't have GFCIs on their tanks. Just a small spill or a little loose current in the tank could fry you. I'm glad you're reworking things and including the proper safety equipment.

Laurie

[Drew Reed]

NICE!!!! or not so nice

[amike5]

Hehe, I've come across some of those!! Keep in mind though, a GFCI is to keep you from electricuting yourself, it purpose is not for protection of shortages in wiring. Make sure your circut breaker if functioning properly, it seems as though it should have tripped!!

[Sparkss]

yea, I am not so sure a GFCI would have tripped due to that, they are only designed to detect voltage going to ground, a condition that your situation didn't have.

[slumpysix]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8881583#post8881583 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by amike5
Hehe, I've come across some of those!! Keep in mind though, a GFCI is to keep you from electricuting yourself, it purpose is not for protection of shortages in wiring. Make sure your circut breaker if functioning properly, it seems as though it should have tripped!!
I'm surprised it didn't either. The breakers seem to be ok. I am checking all my outlets in the entire house just to make sure. I am the 3rd owner of this house and some things I have found electrically have sent shivers thru me literally. This just tops the cake.
Plus it was a case of the drywaller over cutting the box and the outlet was hanging by the screw and the cover was loose. But then again, I should have addressed this when I installed the tank.

[John Q Reefer]

Actually by looking at what I can see it looks like an over amprage problem not a short circut, see the bridge is still intact. What you looking at is 30 amps being pulled through a 20 amp recepticle see the wire has melted plastic on the hot side? I suggest checking into pulling half your load on another circut or having another wire pulled and another outlet installed close to your tank. Also on a side note check the amprage on the circut breaker on that plug, and make sure someone didnt toss in a 30 amp breaker on that 20 amp outlet.

[slumpysix]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8881701#post8881701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by John Q Reefer
Actually by looking at what I can see it looks like an over amprage problem not a short circut, see the bridge is still intact. What you looking at is 30 amps being pulled through a 20 amp recepticle see the wire has melted plastic on the hot side? I suggest checking into pulling half your load on another circut or having another wire pulled and another outlet installed close to your tank. Also on a side note check the amprage on the circut breaker on that plug, and make sure someone didnt toss in a 30 amp breaker on that 20 amp outlet.
Yes I see your point. It's a 15 amp on a 15 amp plug. I'm keeping a eye on it and looks that I have to re-evauate my situation immediately.

[dippin61]

yeh.. kinda went through this same thing over the holiday. had my fan over my sump (120v fan at that). the bracket broke on the fan, fan fell right into the sump. luckily the fan was plugged into a power strip with a GFI installed.

UN-fortunately it still killed half my tank. The oils, lubricants, and small amount of copper/rust from the fan did a number on my tank. (The fan sat for about an hour in the water).

Still doing water changes and running various filters, carbon, phostphate remover, ammonia detox etc etc. fun stuff.

[John Q Reefer]

Also I should have added that second wire looks like a piggy back meaning it also is feeding a light or another outlet or something so that plug is also feeding something else on top of what your plugging in.

[slumpysix]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8881775#post8881775 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by John Q Reefer
Also I should have added that second wire looks like a piggy back meaning it also is feeding a light or another outlet or something so that plug is also feeding something else on top of what your plugging in.

It is the end of the run and is in the living room. There were xmas lights and such from the tree on the circuit and a couple lamps. I gotta go thru my equipment and get the amp ratings on everything so I know what I'm dealing with. Some things you just don't think about and they come back and bite you...arggg..


dippin --- that's a bummer and hope you can get things back in order...

[marinelife]

I had a GFCI do the same thing, it would have burned all the way if I had not been home

[amike5]

Do you have a voltmeter? You can usually tell the amperage draw with one. Usually inexpensive too. I would find it hard to believe that you are pulling more than 15amps unless you have a failure somewhere. But then again, you need to check the total draw on the entire circuit. I am lucky on mine as the plug is only one of two one the circuit, but some ciruits may have 6 or more plugs to it. There are testers to check that your breakers are tripping properly, maybe something to check out. Good luck, I hope that you can cure this problem..... maybe you need to run a designated line for your tank?

[drummereef]

Wow, you are one lucky dude. Glad it all turned out ok. I've seen pics of rooms burned up due to faulty circuitry. Scary to say the least.