electrical fires

dfoxslim · 01/25/2006, 06:37 PM

salt always builds up on my electrical plugs. i have a messy spider of electrical multipliers and power bars. i have had several close calls with fires and arcing. aquarium pumps, heaters and lights don't really come with enough length of cord to keep the mayhem on the other side of the room, away from a possible leak or saltspray. any genious ideas? i already lengthened some cords, only to find that the spliced areas are mores succeptable to creating a fire hazard.

Aadler · 01/25/2006, 06:42 PM

Are you willing to drill holes in a wall or floor?

you could seal everything by running one/two powercords from across the room under your stand, then run all the power cords into your stand and seal that compartment with shrink wrap/plastic/rubber insulate.

Fast Fred · 01/25/2006, 06:56 PM

Sounds like your questions are right up my ally.

Take a look at these pics.

The space under my tank that you see is actually waterproof from the top. It's a 3 sided painted plywood box that contains all of my electrical equipment. If I had a leak in the tank, the box acts like an umbrella, and the water would fall down around it. It also make a shield for salt spray. The bottom is open with enough space under it to allow all the cords to pass through. This also forces every cord to have a 'drip loop'. If water travels down the cord. it will drip off at the lowest point, which is below any electrical connections. With this set-up, I get almost no sign of salt corrosion on my connections.

Every cord that is near water should have a drip loop. This can be accomplished by mounting the power strips up high, but close enough to have excess cord hanging down, for everything that it feeds.

As for you other problem of the splices that you made to extend the cord length corroding, I suggest you use insulated solderless connectors (crimps) that are rated for the voltage (110v in most American cases) you're using them on. After crimping them well, use liquid electrical tape (Home Depot) to seal the ends of the crimps. If you add length to a cord, make sure both cords are the same wire guage (AWG). Also be sure that if the equipment has 3 wires from the factory, the added cord must also have 3 wires. Don't use 2 prong to 3 prong adapters for your aquarium. It has 3 wires for a reason.

All aquarium equipment should be plugged into a GFCI receptacle. No exceptions. It could save your life, or possibly prevent a fire.

Loose wire cause fires.

Aadler · 01/25/2006, 06:58 PM

Are you willing to drill holes in a wall or floor?

you could seal everything by running one/two powercords from across the room under your stand, then run all the power cords into your stand and seal that compartment with shrink wrap/plastic/rubber insulate.

01/25/2006, 06:37 PM	#1
dfoxslim Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: newfoundland Posts: 3	electrical fires salt always builds up on my electrical plugs. i have a messy spider of electrical multipliers and power bars. i have had several close calls with fires and arcing. aquarium pumps, heaters and lights don't really come with enough length of cord to keep the mayhem on the other side of the room, away from a possible leak or saltspray. any genious ideas? i already lengthened some cords, only to find that the spliced areas are mores succeptable to creating a fire hazard.

01/25/2006, 06:42 PM	#2
Aadler Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 1,336	Are you willing to drill holes in a wall or floor? you could seal everything by running one/two powercords from across the room under your stand, then run all the power cords into your stand and seal that compartment with shrink wrap/plastic/rubber insulate. __________________ MiniBow 7 - WooHoo

01/25/2006, 06:56 PM	#3
Fast Fred Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Northfield, NJ 08225 Posts: 1,170	Sounds like your questions are right up my ally. Take a look at these pics. The space under my tank that you see is actually waterproof from the top. It's a 3 sided painted plywood box that contains all of my electrical equipment. If I had a leak in the tank, the box acts like an umbrella, and the water would fall down around it. It also make a shield for salt spray. The bottom is open with enough space under it to allow all the cords to pass through. This also forces every cord to have a 'drip loop'. If water travels down the cord. it will drip off at the lowest point, which is below any electrical connections. With this set-up, I get almost no sign of salt corrosion on my connections. Every cord that is near water should have a drip loop. This can be accomplished by mounting the power strips up high, but close enough to have excess cord hanging down, for everything that it feeds. As for you other problem of the splices that you made to extend the cord length corroding, I suggest you use insulated solderless connectors (crimps) that are rated for the voltage (110v in most American cases) you're using them on. After crimping them well, use liquid electrical tape (Home Depot) to seal the ends of the crimps. If you add length to a cord, make sure both cords are the same wire guage (AWG). Also be sure that if the equipment has 3 wires from the factory, the added cord must also have 3 wires. Don't use 2 prong to 3 prong adapters for your aquarium. It has 3 wires for a reason. All aquarium equipment should be plugged into a GFCI receptacle. No exceptions. It could save your life, or possibly prevent a fire. Loose wire cause fires. __________________ Ya know, for a clown fish, you're not very funny! Member of the New Jersey Reefers Club Current Tank Info: 125g Reef Ready AGA /55g Top Fin Tank for a sump/refugium/ LifeReef Skimmer/ Changing over to SPS only

01/25/2006, 06:58 PM	#4
Aadler Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 1,336	Are you willing to drill holes in a wall or floor? you could seal everything by running one/two powercords from across the room under your stand, then run all the power cords into your stand and seal that compartment with shrink wrap/plastic/rubber insulate. __________________ MiniBow 7 - WooHoo