Marineland timers almost burned my house down - Page 2

NyReefNoob · 01/29/2011, 06:48 PM

gfi would pop the circuit at the wall and no power would go any further, ive had mine pop before, not fun cause all my tank stuff are on them but had a pump short out and if it wasnt for it i could have had a bad situation, most of my wall sockets have built in gfi's on them

Porcupinepuffer · 01/30/2011, 10:08 AM

A GFCI may, or may not have helped. Like I posted earlier, this picture reminded me of my neighbors outside GFCI plug that was burnt to a crisp. It was not wired badly or incorrectly. It never tripped the 15amp breaker inside either... His was caused by water following his BBQ rotisserie cord that went on a perfect downward slope directly in to the plug. I told him about drip loops for future reference. The gfci should have tripped tho.

Midnightsun · 01/30/2011, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonict72

And I hate to admit this in an open forum, but I am an electrical engineer by training.

Then explain to me how you melt the prongs without blowing the main 15 amp breaker? I am no engineer like you but I think we both can agree that it takes a few amps to melt those. Don't really know how many amps but I assume it would be more than 15?

GROSSR · 02/14/2011, 09:31 PM

First and foremost I am glad no one was injured.

I put my multimeter probes to test an outlet in the kitchen and the tip of the probe popped and the electrical outlet got a burn mark. I didn't tell anyone and no one see's the slight burn mark. All I was doing was putting in the probes. I had it on DC settings rather than AC. The multimeter is just fine and the circuit never tripped. The top 1/4 inch of the probe is now missing.

With something plugged in and a problem occurring there was no one to pull the timer out as I did the probes. I can assure you there was no water involved. somehow the current got screw up, like the current from one side passing directly to the other side causing the popping and the burn of the outlet.

While I don't know the cause of the timer melting, it is very possible there was no water involved.

rich

hanley0019 · 02/14/2011, 10:27 PM

Wow glad im not using those

Bones06 · 02/14/2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonict72

And I hate to admit this in an open forum, but I am an electrical engineer by training.

Hey man try not to be so hard on yourself. I am a computer engineer and I have made some pretty stupid and careless mistakes with this hobby. The good news is we learn from these mistakes and promise the misses that it will never happen again

Glad to see that everything is OK!

01/29/2011, 06:48 PM	#26
NyReefNoob skimmer freak Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: peekskill, ny Posts: 1,209	gfi would pop the circuit at the wall and no power would go any further, ive had mine pop before, not fun cause all my tank stuff are on them but had a pump short out and if it wasnt for it i could have had a bad situation, most of my wall sockets have built in gfi's on them __________________ custom 45g cube all in one, ai hydra 26, 2 mp10w, ac jr. ,bubble magnus triple doser, bm nac5 hob skimmer My dad always said the only stupid questions are the ones not asked Current Tank Info: custom 45g cube AIO

01/30/2011, 10:08 AM	#27
Porcupinepuffer Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 299	A GFCI may, or may not have helped. Like I posted earlier, this picture reminded me of my neighbors outside GFCI plug that was burnt to a crisp. It was not wired badly or incorrectly. It never tripped the 15amp breaker inside either... His was caused by water following his BBQ rotisserie cord that went on a perfect downward slope directly in to the plug. I told him about drip loops for future reference. The gfci should have tripped tho. __________________ 120g AGA~145lbs Haitian LR~DA RK2 Controler~2x 14k 250 DE MH's~2x Ovrflows~96W Actnics~Mag 12 Rturn~Modified BKing 180 Skimer~Phsban Ractr~GEO Kalk Ractr~Powerheads:MP40w/Seio 820/modified Psweep 270 Current Tank Info: 120 AGA

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02/14/2011, 09:31 PM	#29
GROSSR Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Aberdeen NJ Posts: 1,853	First and foremost I am glad no one was injured. I put my multimeter probes to test an outlet in the kitchen and the tip of the probe popped and the electrical outlet got a burn mark. I didn't tell anyone and no one see's the slight burn mark. All I was doing was putting in the probes. I had it on DC settings rather than AC. The multimeter is just fine and the circuit never tripped. The top 1/4 inch of the probe is now missing. With something plugged in and a problem occurring there was no one to pull the timer out as I did the probes. I can assure you there was no water involved. somehow the current got screw up, like the current from one side passing directly to the other side causing the popping and the burn of the outlet. While I don't know the cause of the timer melting, it is very possible there was no water involved. rich

02/14/2011, 10:27 PM	#30
hanley0019 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 60	Wow glad im not using those