Smell an electrical fire? Vacation must be on the horizon.

[Che]

So yesterday I get a call from my wife as I am leaving work. "I think your aquarium is on fire!" I get home and I can smell it, can't tell where it is coming from, but everything is working just fine. The lights are on, all the pumps are on, chiller is working; everything looks fine, but it stinks to high heaven.

Did I mention that I am headed out of the country next week? Vacations are like a Murphy's Law magnet. Just think about a vacation and something will bleach or spike in your tank. It's like the exact opposite of all those scary movies where the house says in that ominous whisper, "Get Out!" My tank says, "F U, you ain't goin nowhere, beeotch!!" (Can I say that on here?)

Anyhow, I think that it is a t-5 ballast in one of my giesemann fixtures. Needless to say I am less than happy.

Anyone feel like poking me in the eye? I can take it!

Che

 

[Frizz]

sounds scary to me!
Frizz

 

[NJGirlinPhx]

oof, that sucks (can I say that?) Hope you get it figured out and have a great vacation!

 

[JMCAquarium]

Dam Che you having some major issues this year with tanks. Hope all turns out well and your vacation can be taken without worry

 

[fishesgonewild]

Re: Smell an electrical fire? Vacation must be on the horizon.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13236716#post13236716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Che
So yesterday I get a call from my wife as I am leaving work. "I think your aquarium is on fire!" I get home and I can smell it, can't tell where it is coming from, but everything is working just fine. The lights are on, all the pumps are on, chiller is working; everything looks fine, but it stinks to high heaven.


Anyhow, I think that it is a t-5 ballast in one of my giesemann fixtures. Needless to say I am less than happy.

Anyone feel like poking me in the eye? I can take it!

Che

What a bummer, ballasts can really stink when going bad is it leaking any tar like liquid from a seam, that generally is the death knell of a ballast...

No pokes in the eye, you are too neat a person to abuse

Bill n Jean

 

[vanmle]

Re: Smell an electrical fire? Vacation must be on the horizon.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13236716#post13236716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Che


Anyone feel like poking me in the eye? I can take it!

Che

Me Me Me. Can I do it? You have to promise me that DW won't sue me. After all, she is a lawyer.

 

[Pescado Racing]

that Murphy guy thinks he's funny.

 

[GustavoAZ]

My problems are always found after I get back like a naso that uses a large feather duster like a dog uses a bone, or a orange spot goby who thinks zoa frags make good decorations for it's cave walls. It's like daddy is gone time to get into trouble.

 

[DjScibbity]

I'll just go ahead and kick you in the other leg to make things even out... Im stressing too man...Im awaiting my mishap before leaving...

These pretzels are making me THIRSTY!

-JP

 

[Che's DW]

Re: Smell an electrical fire? Vacation must be on the horizon.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13236716#post13236716 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Che
So yesterday I get a call from my wife as I am leaving work. "I think your aquarium is on fire!"

That's not *exactly* what I said.

I came into the house through the garage and immediately smelled something burning and thought for sure the house was on fire somewhere. Not at all what we need two days before the in-laws arrive and one week before we're leaving the country. First check: all the furry and feathered animals are alive and well. Sigh of relief. As I get closer to the front of the house, the smell gets worse and now it smells electrical, and I'm sure I'm going to turn the corner into the office and see smoke coming out from behind his tank or something else really bad.

I freaked at first when I saw the temp on his chiller: 91.1°. :eek2: But the fish were all swimming around, the corals looked fine, and I stuck my finger into the tank and the temp felt fine. No smoke coming from anywhere but the room stinks to high heaven. That's when I called Che to tell him something in the vicinity of his aquarium smelled like it was burning. I'm pretty sure I would have actually noticed if his aquarium were ON FIRE.

 

[fishesgonewild]

Eva, we can understand how that could be totally frightening walking into the house and smelling smoke, we are so glad that it was not a worse situation, we have no doubt that we all would have reacted pretty much the same...

Fire in ones home is frightening, Jeans Brother lost his home to fire recently, started by a yard light on the back of the house, total loss... A bit off topic, but fire could affect any of us at any time...

Bill n Jean

 

[random_ryan]

Che This is the main reason I quit even attempting to go on vacation. LOL glad to hear I am not the only one with this kind of luck. Good Luck Man.

 

[Che]

I think that the plan is to pull the fixture apart and take out the t5 ballast so that it is not an issue. I will run the fixture without the t5's while on vacation and give my parents explicit instructions on how to shut down the fixture in case anything decides to go extra special nutty.

No worries, the world is a decent place to be again.

Hey, I have a question about this Karma stuff. I thought it was like, "what goes around comes around?" For me it just seems to keep on coming! When do I get to get going? I can't complain really, I live a pretty charmed life.

Thanks for listening to me rant. Have a good night everybody.

Che