Photos of my house fire...aquarium put it out.

[bcapien]

sorry about what happened...i wish i would have read this a couple days ago...i just bought a the same timer for my lights..what do you guys or ladies recommened as a good timer and or strip to buy to run lights on...

 

[raskal311]

man now im all freaked out, I guess I'll spend this weekend looking over my setup and making sure this dosn't happen to me.


Post like this is what makes rc a great place.

 

[melev]

I had a powerstrip in my 55 catch on fire once. Thankfully I had a couple of spare bags of salt right next to the strip. The fire melted the salt bags and the salt poured out putting the fire out. I was definetly lucky on that one, I have since redone my whole system to have drip loops and to not overload powerstrips.

Better watch out, I see a future trend in the making:

<b>Fire Safety - Salt Bag Smothering Device</b>

<i>Hang bags of salt over your sumps, mounted directly beneath the tank. If a fire breaks out, the bags will quickly melt away, releasing pounds and pounds of salt to quickly smother the flames and save your system. </i>

Slight drawback would be the massive increase of salinity. Can anyone say "Salt Soup" with me?

 

[mjstech]

after reading all this, I have now hung my power strips on the wall with a nice 'drip loop' on each cord. What has your guys' insurance said about these claims?

 

[pws]

Hear anything yet?

 

[jeeptp75]

Drip loops are one of the best things you can do. Hang the power strip so that when the water runs down the cord it drips off before getting to the stip plug. It was also mentioned above about the fuse failure. THat is very very common, on two seperate occasions I spilled water into a strip plub and both times the fuses did not work. They strip plug began to spark and in one occasion burn. I cant believe they are even aloud to make products like that.

 

[AqCons]

I heard from ESU today and he said my photo wasn't very clear and didn't really show much. He wants a copy of the fire investigator's report, which I am working on getting. Since the insurance company paid for the fire investigator, I have to request it from them and the adjuster hasn't called me back yet. ESU hasn't really made any indication that they're going to do anything.

 

[melev]

I was at a new LFS today, and saw they had two of those on the wall for sale. I told them about this thread and your experience, as well as the comments by others. He's not going to keep selling them. Hopefully we can get the word out that these aren't passing the real-world test.

 

[thrlride]

Sorry to hear that!

 

[KingsX]

aqcons, let me see if i got this right,, he said the pic's weren't very clear???? if their the same pic's that ya posted on here, my guess would be he's stalling at the request of their legal dept.. I would definately take the time to talk to an attorney, if they say saltwater started the fire, simply explain that satwater extinguished the fire. after reading this thread and the other one on this powerstrip it sounds like quite a few people have had close calls with this unit.. I have one, it is currently cyclying two maxijets, (for about 1 more minute) I am gonna try and send mine back, since I bought it wholesale it may be more hassle to return it than it was worth... the main thing is no one was hurt and hopefully this thread will prevent any future accidents. good luck....

 

[ohioreef]

It was asked earlier, but I didn't see a reply.....

Was the powerstrip plugged into a GFCI outlet?

 

[jeeptp75]

Aqcons,

One thing to keep in mind is that this fire was extinguished by salt water, so of course that strip plug and timer is going to have salt all through it. I would find it hard to believe that they could prove there was salt water in it before the fire started since its already been established that salt water put the fire out. They will definalty be able to tell that the timer/plug was the orgin but to say its user error sounds fishy to me.

 

[shred5]

Man that really stinks... sorry man..

I have heard of other problems with these...

Coralife stinks.. I hate their products... Years ago they were a joke in the hobby... Looks like they were making a comback.. now you start hearing all this crap......

Are the timers/plustrips made in china?...

Dave

 

[Phyl]

I took my nearly new timer (January purchase) and I threw it in the garbage right after reading this post. I know they aren't the only reason for house fires w/saltwater aquaria, but I don't need any additional hazards in my home!

Sorry about your ordeal.

 

[josh_peter]

Sorry to hear about this. I too was wondering if the strip was plugged into a GFCI outlet. I have been putting off redoing my outlet and installing a GFCI, but if yours was not plugged into one I know what I will be doing tonight! I am also going to hang my power strips! Once again sorry...

 

[looser]

I'm not an electrician (perhaps one of you is) but I'm not sure a GFI would have helped? I believe the way they work is that they monitor the current going to ground and trip if there is an imbalance between the hot and ground side. If the strip was arcing, which caused the fire, I don't think there would necessarily be an imbalance that would trip the GFI. Any experts on this?

 

[looser]

BTW - Regardless of the answer the GFI question, I still very much belive that the product is to blame.

 

[josh_peter]

I agree about the product, but I am just curious as to how much of an inbalance there would be during the initial arching, and if it would be enough to flip the circuit. I am not sure how sensitive the GFCIs are. If it happen to trip during the first few archs maybe it would have prevented the actual fire. Just trying to get some answers myself.

 

[trmiv]

If it was water leaking onto the strip that caused the fire, a GFCI would have shut off power quickly. At least in my experience it has.

 

[AqCons]

No, it was not plugged into a GFCI outlet. When we got home and discovered there was a fire, we discovered it had tripped the breaker.

Still no word from ESU. But the insurance company is sending out the "Cause and Origin" report.

Thanks for all the replies.

Tammy