Attention!!!! Wave Maker Caught Fire!!!

[mystikdragon7]

I just got home not too long ago and walked into a house full of black smoke. It was so bad I could not even see two feet in front of me. I rushed in as was (beleive it or not) able to blow the fire out before having to call the fire department. The Natural Wave Maker caught fire and all of the pumps that are plugged into it are all melted. The back of the stand is burned and the back of the wall is all black from being burned. Man my Landlord is not going to like this. I just got off of the phone with Dr Foster and Smith and they will be calling me back to tell me what they are going to do about this.

I am just very happy I got home when I did or I think my whole home would have been gone.

Just a word of caution to all that are using this type of wave timer.

 

[TippyToeX]

Oh wow :eek2: I'm so glad that the damage was limited (even for as bad as it is) and you/your family are safe. You are lucky the whole place didn't go up in flames.

 

[Anemonebuff]

What was the load on the the wavemaker. Could it have been overloaded?

 

[TJcop]

Looking at the number of cords on it, I doubt he overloaded it. I'm guessing that maybe some water got on it. Did you have drip loops? Any chance some water could have ran down a cord or splashed out from a tank?

A guy I work with had a similar thing happen to his power strip (different brand). It fried a pump and his lights, and the manufacturer replaced them. He thought he may have gotten it wet, but they still replaced the stuff.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

#1 reason for this is salt water getting into the power strip
I try to keep my electric as far away as possible from water
And you need to make sure there are drip loops

Glad you caught it in time

 

[mystikdragon7]

The only cords I had plugged into the wave timer were three power heads, the MJ 600. I think I may have had the moon lights plugged into that but they are only about 1watt each and there where two of them.

I'm not sure water splashed on it but I guess that could be possible. The cords did have drip loops. It just looks all messed up becuase I was frantically moving stuff behind the fish tank.

 

[curtisvill]

Wow, glad you caught the fire before any more damage could be done. You are very lucky.

John

 

[orlenz]

was it pluged into a GFCI protected outlet?

 

[bamann345]

I also think saltwater got into the powerstrip. It has happened to me a couple times.....but caught it MUCH before that!

Anyway, I am glad you caught it before any more damage was done!

William

 

[Dubbin1]

There is another brand of these wave makers out there that is known to catch fire. Someone help me remember the brand name of it.

 

[Timothy01]

just be glad you got home before anymore damage was caused. look into renters insurance it would cover all the damages, then you could get the wall and anything else the fire damaged repaired. How did your livestock take all of this?

 

[mystikdragon7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7049281#post7049281 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by orlenz
was it pluged into a GFCI protected outlet?

No, actually it wasn't. Looks like I need to look into getting one.

So far all of my live stock seems to be doing fine.

 

[Runner]

If you rent and can't put a GFCI in the wall, you can always get a cord-and-plug style or even a GFCI power strip. A GFCI would have stopped a problem like this cold.

Glad your home and tank are fine. This could have been bad.

 

[OnTheReef]

I own a few of these Tri-tap GFCI plugs and like them very much.

 

[Runner]

We require those at work on all extension cords that do not have GFCI protection.

 

[REEFKEEPA]

GFCI will not stop this.
That is an incorrect statement and I have experience.
I have my LR set up in my shed in a 54 Gallon rubbermaid.
I have a CPR Backpack hanging on the back and a couple of mj1200's for flow. Also on the same power strip was 2 150W
heaters.
One day I walk into the shed and smell a strong Chlorine oder!
When the lights came on I saw water all over the floor and of course the strip was on the floor!
The strip was plugged directly into a 25' 12gauge cord and into a dedicated circuit on a GFCI cuircuit breaker.
I grabbed a dry part of the cord and when I lifted it out of the "puddle" the breaker tripped.
I looked at the strip and it and the plugs were charred and melted.

 

[aquaman67]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7050271#post7050271 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dubbin1
There is another brand of these wave makers out there that is known to catch fire. Someone help me remember the brand name of it.

Was it the Coralife "Aqualife" power centers you are thinking of?

I've read on hear they like to catch fire too....

 

[Scuba_Dave]

The shed & water remond me of the last house I owned.
Crawl space - no cellar & we had a lot of rain, my mom called to see if I had checked on the "basement".
Don't care - crawlspace, "Yes but if it gets too high you'll lose your heat (hung froma joists).

So I go take a look - 12" of water maybe, go to HD & buy a submersible pump. Go down & plug it in....and I'm listening to music....which I shouldn't be......because the radio is plugged into an extension cord which is plugged into a light socket w/adapter.
And that radio was plugged into the extension cord on the ground , which is 12" underwater.
Look down, yup 6" from my feet is the live plug underwater carrying current
I moved up onto some concrete block until the water pumped out
Built a proper sump pump pit & Installed a permanent pumps

Salt water drops can build up over time, until eventually there is enough salt to allow a short. I had it happen to me, the surge started to smoke while I was working on the tank.

Your drip loops should prevent water from the cord. But I've never been able to keep anything near my tank without splashing it at some point

I think I'll redo some of my electric to make things even better/safer

 

[Runner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7055904#post7055904 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REEFKEEPA
GFCI will not stop this.
That is an incorrect statement and I have experience.
I have my LR set up in my shed in a 54 Gallon rubbermaid.
I have a CPR Backpack hanging on the back and a couple of mj1200's for flow. Also on the same power strip was 2 150W
heaters.
One day I walk into the shed and smell a strong Chlorine oder!
When the lights came on I saw water all over the floor and of course the strip was on the floor!
The strip was plugged directly into a 25' 12gauge cord and into a dedicated circuit on a GFCI cuircuit breaker.
I grabbed a dry part of the cord and when I lifted it out of the "puddle" the breaker tripped.
I looked at the strip and it and the plugs were charred and melted.

You just had to go and make me think...

My gut feeling at first was that your GFCI is bad. But if there is a salt bridge from the hot to the neutral and leaves the ground plug out of the loop, then something like this could happen without tripping a GFCI. I wonder if an arc-flash breaker (AFCI) would work in this case?

 

[fsn77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7053482#post7053482 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by OnTheReef
I own a few of these Tri-tap GFCI plugs and like them very much.

OnTheReef... those look like good products. Where did you get yours from? I did some searching on the net and couldn't find anyplace that sells them to the general public.

While we're on the topic (and not to steal this topic), would a product like the Shock Shield be effective on an old style 2 wire outlet? I see that they make one that can be plugged into a 2 wire outlet. Our house is 40 years old and hasn't been rewired to the 3 wire system. I've had no problems with my numerous fw tanks, but I'm afraid I might be getting by on luck and borrowed time in this regard.