Don't think a GFI outlet is necessary? Lemme tell you about my day...

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wantvws

AC Members
Jul 15, 2007
861
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Waynesboro, VA
So my wife calls me in a panic that there is water on the floor and flames and smoke billowing out from behind my tank. She cuts the power to everything (fortunately she was not so panicked that she tried to unplug anything) and I fly home (27 minute drive in 17 minutes) and find that my d@mn protein skimmer went nuts and overflowed into my surge protector, which apparently surged right out of it's plastic housing. I have been thinking about changing my outlets to GFIs but just haven't found the time. A GFI would have tripped immediately, whereas my breaker did not. Fortunately, she was home and stopped it immediately before any real damage could occur...but you can see from the pics what happened in just a few moments. Nothing electrical was damaged aside from the surge protector (although the temptation to load my skimmer full of holes with my .357 was very strong), and no damage was done to the house wiring. Smells a bit funny in here, but that's all. I moved my protector under the tank and now have my skimmer draining into a 5g bucket until I can put it in my soon to be sump. Thank God this didn't happen while we were gone or even worse while we were asleep. I also have two GFI outlets that will be installed this weekend.
Moral of the story is USE A GFI! We were VERY fortunate that this wasn't worse.
The black things on my tub in the pic are fire floaties, btw. And you can see the soot on the glass in two of the pics.
Robbie

fire1.jpg fire2.jpg fire3.jpg fire4.jpg new-strip.jpg bucket.jpg
 

Boltster

AC Members
Dec 4, 2007
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I'm an electrician by trade and just be careful with the GFI's. They can inadvertently trip during storms, brownouts, etc. The best thing would be to have them and have an alarm that is also on that line which goes off if power is interupted. It's why I don't even use surge strips. I have 4 duples outlet and 2 quads that I wired around and under the tank.
 

wantvws

AC Members
Jul 15, 2007
861
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Waynesboro, VA
Not a bad idea...maybe I should consider some wiring additions. I am starting on an unfinished room upstairs in a few weeks so maybe while the wiring part is happening I can get him to do some work behind my tank too...
Thanks!
Robbie
 

Umbra_Vipera

Professional Newbie
Aug 2, 2007
149
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0
Trenton, Missouri
Wow...!

I think my .40 would do a better job for you and your skimmer... :evil_lol:
I'm fortunate to have a GFI, but I've seen power strips melt down under normal use. They scare the h3!! out of me. I'm also fortunate that my stand has a solid top so I mounted mine up high so water couldn't get into them.
 

Boltster

AC Members
Dec 4, 2007
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The other thing you can do is keep the heater and important pump/filter on a non-GFI outlet. Everything else can be protected. If it does trip, you will still have filtration and heat, so you should be okay. Remember that any outlet wired AFTER the GFI will also lose power if it trips so keep the important one wired PRIOR to the GFI. If you hire someone to do it, just explain the situation and they'll understand.
 

wantvws

AC Members
Jul 15, 2007
861
0
0
Waynesboro, VA
omg how scary! what a relief that your wife was home!
No doubt!
The other thing you can do is keep the heater and important pump/filter on a non-GFI outlet. Everything else can be protected. If it does trip, you will still have filtration and heat, so you should be okay. Remember that any outlet wired AFTER the GFI will also lose power if it trips so keep the important one wired PRIOR to the GFI. If you hire someone to do it, just explain the situation and they'll understand.
Yeah...I need to investigate which direction the wiring goes as to what outlets will be affected. It's a good Saturday job. To make it more complicated, there are two breakers to the outlets in that room :nilly:The skimmer will go into my sump so an overflow will not be a problem then.
 

clown-lover

AC Members
May 26, 2007
2,448
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36
Fargo, ND
God Robbie I am glad that nothing worse came from this incident. And tell your wife kudos from me for having a head on her sholders. That was some quick thinking on her part and probably saved it from getting worse.

With that in mind.. I'll never have a tank with a HOB anthing anymore.. Wow.
 
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