Was lying in bed and I heard my tank making a funny noise, went down stairs and the returns are blowing air. Went into the basement and found smoke and the remains of the Coralife 1270 pumps plug melted and burned. Not sure what happened, all I know is the breaker went and that probably saved the house. Now I have no pump and it's 1230AM. Hope my fish don't die before I can get a replacement in the morning. Wife is sleeping, and will be freaking out tomorrow! And I'm not sure I will sleep tonight. I have a 90 gallon display tank and another 90 in the (wet) basement. Not a good night.
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Holy Crap!! The Pump, the pump, the pump is on FIRE!!
- Thread starter dangerbird
- Start date
Whoah. Glad to hear that all (except that pump) is well. Have you done any searches on that pump? I'm wondering if this is a common occurrance or a freak thing. Did you take pictures before you touched anything? The manufacturer should know how close they came to burning your whole house down.
salt creep almost took my mom's house awhile back. luckily my sister couldn't fall asleep or my fam would have been screwed. this was at early morning 2-3am.
i personally set a tShirt for now. i'm going to get a food container big enough to house my surge protector and cut holes on the side high enough just incase of a flood.
i personally set a tShirt for now. i'm going to get a food container big enough to house my surge protector and cut holes on the side high enough just incase of a flood.
bmoney said:
bmoney called it. I cleaned the pump and put a new power cord on it. The Pump is fine, so its not a Coralife failure. The plug had gotten salt creep and was fried. I have a GFI plugs above my sea level, but this one was on the wall and was an existing plug. The coralife has a short cord, so I used this one, bad move. Anyway, now I have an 8' cord and can use it in my GFIs. I am just going to completely remove the toated socket and cover the hole with a wall plate. Oh yeah, and my titanium heater seems to have taken a dump, it just makes rattling noises and all lights are on. Gees this is a pesky hobby
.Thanks for the advice all!
One additional thought. As much as I like GFI, especially on equipment around a reef system, they do tend to be a bit flakey and trip when they encounter various forms of electrical noise.
Assuming this is your main pump, and that your system depends upon it, you may want to run that from a non-GFI outlet that is out of salt creep range, if no one can check up on the system. i.e. vacation.
I was away for a week, and even had the circulation pumps on a different GFI circuit from the main return pump. Something occurred that tripped both breakers. Since I was away, I lost the entire reef.
Needless to say, the main return pump is no longer on a GFI circuit.
Assuming this is your main pump, and that your system depends upon it, you may want to run that from a non-GFI outlet that is out of salt creep range, if no one can check up on the system. i.e. vacation.
I was away for a week, and even had the circulation pumps on a different GFI circuit from the main return pump. Something occurred that tripped both breakers. Since I was away, I lost the entire reef.
Needless to say, the main return pump is no longer on a GFI circuit.
DaveK said:
Good Avise, Thanks
ds4x4 said:
I consider you extremely lucky in that you have never had a GFI breaker trip on you.
I usually have a few incidents a year where one will trip on me. Usually, it's during an electrical storm or other serious event.
More to the point, consider what would happen to your reef if the GFI tripped and you were away for a few days. You might want to consider some changes.
I can relate to you on the pump ordeal,I had that happen to use a few yrs back,we heard sparking noises,flickering,and that destinguishing smell of rubber/plastic turns out-pump bad wire,half awake I stuck my hand in the sump got shocked,finally the breaker tripped,lost uv sterilizer,heater,powder blue,naso,purple,and yellow tangs.Most had fins and skin burns.The corals were unaffected and believe it or not the mandarin made it! this and water leaks always seem to happen to everyone in the middle of the night.I still dont have a GFI,as stated earlier what if the breaker trips and yr away.I will in my next upgrade definetly gfi the lighting.
turns out-pump bad wire,half awake I stuck my hand in the sump got shocked,finally the breaker tripped,lost uv sterilizer,heater,powder blue,naso,purple,and yellow tangs.Most had fins and skin burns.The corals were unaffected and believe it or not the mandarin made it! this and water leaks always seem to happen to everyone in the middle of the night.I still dont have a GFI,as stated earlier what if the breaker trips and yr away.I will in my next upgrade definetly gfi the lighting.