Hood Light Fire

Rbishop

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I get home, take out the dogs. The wife comes home, we exchange greetings. Sit down to relax and catch some news, click on the hood light on the 29 gallon tank behind me and all the others in the room.

About 8 minutes later the wife asks, "do you smell something burning?". I get up and turn around and watch as a hole opens in the center of the light/hood on the 29 and a stream of black smoke pouring out.

I pull the plug to the power strip, open windows and get the hood assembly lifted off the tank. After it cooled down and I disassembled it, it appears to have had a failure of the ballast casing, some arcing and eventually heating the palstic until it caught on fire.

In 30 years of fish keeping, I have never had this happen. I am so glad we do not keep these lights on when we are not at home.

Just for info, this is on a system that is only 9 months old. It was a gift last Christmas, an Eclipse System III, 29 gallon tall tank/hood/light/filter system.

I plan on sending info to the manufacturer and see what response I get. Nothing on this system has been modified in any way and is all original.

I posted here, though there may be people in the SW world that may have this system.

Just a warning from me to you.
 
You're very lucky! :eek: I have personally stayed away from the Eclipse systems even though they are cheaper around here than putting together a tank set-up of equal size and parts. I just don't trust that all-in-one hood.
 
I have also heard of flourescent lighting going bad so to speak, but usually I hear of it from the standard aquarium hoods. Its a good thing you were home to catch it.
 
oh, geez. I JUST ordered an Eclipse 3 for my 29... This is the first time I've heard anything like this happening, though. Most are pretty happy with their Eclipses. I'm going to wait for their response to your report/complaint and see what they say. I may end up stopping the order, depending on what kind of response you get, Bob. Thanks for the warning.
 
Sorry I did not get the chance to post the pic's yet..it is still on my to do list However...

After no response to e-mails within the 72 hours they note on their website, I put in a call to Marineland.

The first customer service rep I got seemed taken aback by mention of a fire when I explained my situation. She said she had no experience with fire related issues, and she would have to forward me to a supervisor. :thud:

I explained again to the supervisor what had happened and actually told her, that I really did not know what I was looking for from them, but was concerned with the bigger issue of, what if this is a big issue with other units.

She stated she did not have record of similar issues and it caused her great concern over my issue and wanted to know if the house sustained any damages.

Without any prompting she stated she would send me a complete new Eclipse 3 hood/light/filter assembly and wanted me to return the old unit in the box the new one came in. She stated that their engineering/quality control unit would definitely want to inspect it and determine a cause.

At least they were positive and wanted to stand behind their product, and I did not even have to ask for them to.
She also explained (and apologized for) that they were having issues with their e-mail provider.

Just thought I would give you folks an update and will let you know if I get any response back after they have looked at the old unit that caught on fire.
 
glad to hear everythings OK, a house fire caused by an aquarium is the last thing on anyones mind. are the fish fine?

also good to hear about Marineland's customer service and support, are they paying for the return shipping? those all-in-one hoods are pretty big.
 
rbishop said:
Without any prompting she stated she would send me a complete new Eclipse 3 hood/light/filter assembly and wanted me to return the old unit in the box the new one came in. She stated that their engineering/quality control unit would definitely want to inspect it and determine a cause.
Click to expand...

It's good to know they want the damaged unit back as well so they can check it out. A lot of companies probably would have just replaced the unit (with some urging) and not given a second thought to the problem of product failure. Kudos to Marineland!
 
icecubez189 said:
glad to hear everythings OK, a house fire caused by an aquarium is the last thing on anyones mind. are the fish fine?

also good to hear about Marineland's customer service and support, are they paying for the return shipping? those all-in-one hoods are pretty big.
Click to expand...

Yes, they will issue a UPS call tag for the boxed up old unit after I tell them I have received the new unit.
 
Wow

Thank goodness you were home. Kinda makes me think of turning off the tank lights when I go out now.....

I have a system 6 and never had a problem. Do you think that somehow water from the tank got into the ballast? I know my lid is very tight fitting, there's not alot of breathing room and I do get condensate up under it...

Again, glad everyone's OK.

Michele
 
rbishop said:
Yes, they will issue a UPS call tag for the boxed up old unit after I tell them I have received the new unit.
Click to expand...

.. and ensure that the evidence is gone in case you're a sue-happy person. ;) I've heard great things about Marineland's customer service.

Thank goodness you were home. Now I'm worried about my hoods. I'll have to turn mine off when I'm not home.
 
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