Near miss heart attack inspires changes

[Dangerwill]

I get a call from wifey today while im in Tucson that she has just got home from work and the tank is leaking, floor is soaked.

After a minute of panicked trouble shooting and order of operations power downs we identify that no seals have burst (thank God!) and instead the return locline has sprung a leak squirting water over the back of the tank.

Happily there is no damage and luckily we have a tile floor but now i need to make some changes to insure the safety of my system and the house that is wrapped around it.

1. Plastic Toolboxes and zipties for all wiring and power strips.
2. Some kind of cover over my return pipe that would roll any leak back into the display and at the same time prevent bumping damage.
3. ?

While im down there what else should i do to make my system a little more failsafe?

 

[dvu]

Damn! If there is anything I can do to help out just remember I'm down the street.

 

[bugs713]

I tried to plan for worst case scenario when I designed and built my 185 system and changed my plans several times during the process.

So, I would do just that; look at all the what if's. What if a plumbing joint sprang a leak and sprayed, where would it spray? What if the sump or DT over flow? Where will the water go and can it come into contact with electricity?!

Worst case scenario is salt water and electricity meeting up! Rather it happens under the tank, the wall socket next to the tank or the entertainment center down the hall. A 100+ gallons can wet all the floors of an entire 2000 SQ foot home!

For my design and piece of mind, I use water resistant plug covers, non-plastic plug strips, not overloading electrical outlets (I run 8 gauge extension cords around the room to distribute the load on the sockets and circuits) I have no plug connectors from the equipment or other appliances resting on the floor/carpet.

While I was gone on business last year, my external overflow container for my in sump skimmer overflowed and sprayed skim all over the wall behind the tank, also covering a weather proof protected plug socket. This could have easily been a fire, but a $6 cover prevented it.

You can never get 100% protection in the event of a catastrophic tank failure, such as the bottom blowing out or a seam rupture, but you can sure do a lot to better your chances of you, family and your property surviving it!

Try the "What If" checks and see what you come up with.

Good luck and glad it was something simple this time!

 

[Dangerwill]

Damn! If there is anything I can do to help out just remember I'm down the street.

Thanks Duke right back atcha

 

[Dangerwill]

Damn! If there is anything I can do to help out just remember I'm down the street.

Thanks Duke right back atcha

Thanks Bugs im going to take that advice and go mad scientist on this thing to see what kind of future accidents i can prevent!

 

[dotcommer]

some great advice. One thing a lot of us don't think about is reduncy on our chillers for failure. read what happened to the 1800 gallon tank in texas 2 weeks ago.