Warning

[Aquattro]

Make sure you don't have anything that can leak directly over your powerbar. Just sayin'......

[NorthernCoral]

lol I could have used this warning about 4 months ago, before i woke up to fireworks in the livingroom at 5 am lol.... Common sense where are you?

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by NorthernCoral

lol I could have used this warning about 4 months ago, before i woke up to fireworks in the livingroom at 5 am lol.... Common sense where are you?

i had this warning a reality to me last year when my zoa tank caught fire.....i dont learn things for long apparently

[banditpowdercoat]

Or, when you have a powerhead plugged into wall. Make sure you can see the plug. I had one behind the side of my couch. Came home from camp, smelled electrical burnt. Water leaked inside cable and wicked all the way to the plug. ZZZAAAAAPPPPPPP

[justincgdick]

Betchya didn't know that distilled water is non conductive. Add a packet of salt and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap.

[Aquattro]

The house is mostly clear of smoke....the smell will probably linger a while.

[banditpowdercoat]

Oh yes, the smell. linger it will! When I change a burnt motor at work, just opening the connection box makes my clothes stink for the rest of the day!

[wickedfrags]

Agreed, and better still, don't use powerbars as they are not ideally suited to handle the amount of amperage we sent through them....always the weak link in your electrical circuit.

If you have to use them, consider mounting them to the underside of your tank.

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Make sure you don't have anything that can leak directly over your powerbar. Just sayin'......

[Doug]

Wholley crap Brad. Glad everything & everyone is ok.

[mike31154]

Wow, close call. Good thing no one is injured or too much damage to home. Good reminder to ensure all equipment with a cord that has anything to do with tank has a drip loop, on a GFCI & power bars are as far away as practical from the water. Never heard about water wicking right thru the cord to the plug though, so I learned something new reading this thread. Starting to feel a bit nervous about having my LED light power supply mounted in the center compartment under the stand. There's no sump or anything so it's dry down there, but if the tank itself ever develops a leak, who knows what could happen. But I suppose if the tank springs a large enough leak, there would be other issues. My hang on skimmer is mounted beside the tank on a little stand. Below it I've mounted my two main power bars, so not ideal either if the skimmer decides to leak. I have the power bars mounted upside down & diagonally though, so there's much less chance of water ingress in the event of a minor leak. If it's a major one, well, the wall plug itself isn't that far away, so bad things will happen in any case if the GFCI doesn't do its thing.