DC4 just melted down.

[REEF-DADDY]

I just came home from to find:

My tank at 84.5

heaters on

fans off

My DC4 smoking, and the bottom melted

I can't find any signs that it got wet. Any ideas why this may of happened?

I am running 3 heaters for a total of 1000 watts, 2 small DC fans, and a small household cooling fan. Could this be too much?

 

[clp]

Steve,
I just talked to you on the phone, and you DID say that it looked like water went down the cord into the sockets. I'll know definitively when we receive the unit back.
Salt water is conductive enough that it can heat up and melt/damage the internals of the DC4. Unfortunately, salt water may not be conductivity enough to blow the internal fuse at least right away. It is very important that all electrical equipment around your tank is mounted in such a way so that water has little chance of getting into the electronics. Here are some proactive steps I recommend that everyone do around their tank:

- Always have drip loops on cords of all electrical equipment.
- Install GFIC on all outlets.

I suspect that either of these would have prevented the problem you experienced.

Curt

 

[REEF-DADDY]

It seems the extension cord that I have the heater plugged into was wet. It looks like condensation built up. This explains why the heaters stayed on and one of the relays was melted badly. Time for a GFI!