When safety measures are unsafe

[Aquarist007]

5.30 am I am wakened by three dogs that won't stop barking. I look over at the bed clock and its not working. The power is on for the rest of the house but I smell burned electrical smell.

I have one circuit of three k4 power heads hooked to a battery backup system. I also have two of the battery backup small air pumps ----one is on----the other :eek2:

Now this is really freaking me out---anyone have any input as to why this would happen?

 

[billdogg]

Dude - glad you and yours are ok!!! I have not got a clue what happened - obviously something shorted.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15297727#post15297727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by billdogg
Dude - glad you and yours are ok!!! I have not got a clue what happened - obviously something shorted.

thanks for the kind thoughts. What's really bothering me is that I have 5 of these air pumps hooked up around my system(well 4 now )

 

[aquaman67]

Wow....

I have those on all my tanks. Is that the only thing that burned?

That sucks but give the dogs a nice treat. Glad you caught it.

I wonder if the power went out, it kicked on and then burned or if it was the reason the power went out? I've had those things run for hours with no problems.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15297757#post15297757 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aquaman67
Wow....

I have those on all my tanks. Is that the only thing that burned?

That sucks but give the dogs a nice treat. Glad you caught it.

the dogs caught it luckily---I have a silver dollar size burn hole in the floor of the cabinet which was smoldering too when I lifted up the pump.

the pump was connected to the ups backup---the surge part of it-----I am just testing the unit out now to see if it was faulty.

The other air pump was doing fine but it was hooked directly to the outlet itself.

I have only the 3 k'4 and the battery backup unit hooked to that line because it is part of one of the house circuits.

All other units are hooked up to two dedicated lines in the basement which were fine.

 

[otrlynn]

Please keep us posted, I am running one of those on my tank too, hooked up directly to the house current. Yipes! You are soooo lucky to have those dogs. Throw them all an extra Milk-bone, actually maybe a T-bone under the circumstances!

 

[Whys]

Glad you and your home are still with us Capn. :eek1:

The extensive 'Jackson Pollock electrical' nature of this hobby worries me often. I have a fire alarm directly above my tank.

It may also be a good idea to replace any old surge protectors. They do wear out over time and could be related to your problem.

Time to hand out the Scooby snacks.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15298166#post15298166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
Glad you and your home are still with us Capn. :eek1:

The extensive 'Jackson Pollock electrical' nature of this hobby worries me often. I have a fire alarm directly above my tank.

It may also be a good idea to replace any old surge protectors. They do wear out over time and could be related to your problem.

Time to hand out the Scooby snacks.

thanks whys

You would be familar with the aps backup systems for a computer system. I have it running on the counter top right now. It does run warm---is that normal.
I had one of the k4's hooked up to the backup part of it and the air pump hooked up to the surge part of it.

 

[Whys]

You'd think, but no, not familiar. Tho I find just about anything electrical gets a little warm.

 

[SeaWeed89]

i would think it was the air unit itself that shorted out. looks like 2 wires sat on top of each other got hot melted the jacket on them and poof!. if they were my dogs they would be chewing on a half side of beef.
goodluck

 

[HotHotHot]

Yes ups's run warm, but you may be overloading the power bus depending on the normal current draw.

Add up the watts drawn per connected item and compare it to the specs for the ups.

BTW, ups's fail too, might be time for a new one (or replace the battery). I've gone though quite a few of the cheaper ones.

HTH

Ed

 

[luther1200]

I would be more concernd about why the breaker in the house didn't trip. You know that if a breaker ever trips on its own it should be replaced. They are only guarenteed to work once then should be replaced. Now thats not the same thing as if a person switches 1 off to do work on the circuit. Thats OK, but if it trips automatically it should be replaced.

The reason I am saying this is becsause I doubt it was the battery part that shorted. I think it was the 110 A/C part that tells it not to run when the power is on that shorted out. But if it was in fact the battery part then the breaker should not have tripped anyway.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15299350#post15299350 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by luther1200
I would be more concernd about why the breaker in the house didn't trip. You know that if a breaker ever trips on its own it should be replaced. They are only guarenteed to work once then should be replaced. Now thats not the same thing as if a person switches 1 off to do work on the circuit. Thats OK, but if it trips automatically it should be replaced.

The reason I am saying this is becsause I doubt it was the battery part that shorted. I think it was the 110 A/C part that tells it not to run when the power is on that shorted out. But if it was in fact the battery part then the breaker should not have tripped anyway.

Luther--the breaker did trip--I believe around 3.30am----the dogs woke me up at 5.30 am. The APC1300 was on and so was one of the k4's.

 

[Aquarist007]

I just emailed the company that makes these. I will keep you posted on the explanation they give me.

 

[maroun.c]

Glad you caught it on time Capn

 

[luther1200]

So the breaker tripped and some devices on that circuit were still on? I don't know what could cause that, if I'm understanding correctly. Maybe the wires in the outlet are crossed between 2 circuits somehow.

 

[Whys]

luther, I'm guessing the UPS kicked on.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15299896#post15299896 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Whys
luther, I'm guessing the UPS kicked on.

correct Ryan---one power head was connected to one of the backup outputs and the power head was connected to one of the surge protected receptacles. I did this because over the last two weeks the power has been flickering with these storms and the flickering was enough to set off the air pump.

I've now connected the remaining good pump directly to the receptacle instead of the APC.

 

[luther1200]

I missed that thanks.

 

[Jack01]

'made in china'