tanktop74 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Got home from work about 45 min ago, to bad electrical smell.(puke) After much inspection both with my nose and fingers I found this very hot to the touch...(flame) I am feeling very luck that we didn't have a huge fire! This is the plug to my icecap ballast for my VHO's. And this is what it did to my DC8! Get this... my lights were still on! So 2 questions... Who wants to help get this re-wired.... and Do you think this will be covered under my 1 year warrenty to get my DC8 replaced, or is the plug still operable? It looks to only be the outside plastic that was melted from the plug fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Beth, shoot a message to Dave, Barelycuda, an see what he suggests, he's an electrician and should be able to help ya out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Glad to see that this was all the damaged it caused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendaroo Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Oh wow- glad you caught this when you did! We had a similar scene in our 24G cabinet a few weeks ago when we were having all of those storms. Power went out, came on with a huge surge, and Bang!, the power strip under the tank was melted and smoking! Luckily, that was the only thing in the house that was damaged. it tripped our breaker, though. I'm surprised that your power was all still on! Isn't that what the breakers are for? Glad you and the tanks are all ok! Gillian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefcam Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I would send the pic to Neptune Sys. There might be an underlying problem that you are not seeing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Yah shoot an email to them. Worst case scenario is you can get a new plug and just wire it in. These are very easy to wire up, i've taken my DC8 apart and its easy to replace those female plugs. They snap right in. Just wire it up where the old came out. BTW lucky!!!! Glad thats all that happened. Surprised the breaker in it didn't trip. I'd also take that up with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I would send the pic to Neptune Sys. There might be an underlying problem that you are not seeing. Yah shoot an email to them. Worst case scenario is you can get a new plug and just wire it in. These are very easy to wire up, i've taken my DC8 apart and its easy to replace those female plugs. They snap right in. Just wire it up where the old came out. BTW lucky!!!! Glad thats all that happened. Surprised the breaker in it didn't trip. I'd also take that up with them. She sent a picture to the neptune guy and she's at the home depot right now getting a replacement plug. I agree. I was not upset about this because I know how lucky we really were. It must have just started because we smelled an electrical burn smell and the lights were still working.(nutty) Could have been much worse. Don't even want to think about it!(scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Unless either the device shorts out or too much current is drawn a breaker will not trip (of which neither occurred.) Was the DC8 plugged into a GFCI? If it wasn't it should be. It appears that one of a couple of problems happened. 1) The connection inside the cord cap came loose and started overheating(that is where my guess is) 2) the contact inside the DC8 is faulty and the connection is loose causing it to overheat. There may be other possiblilities but that is probably the 2 most likely to me. If the ballast shorted out the breaker should have tripped but since you said the lights were still on tells me that did not happen. Most likely is was a loose connection. If you can get a replacement socket for your DC8 I would replace that and then just replace the cord cap going to the ballast. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 Unless either the device shorts out or too much current is drawn a breaker will not trip (of which neither occurred.) Was the DC8 plugged into a GFCI? If it wasn't it should be. It appears that one of a couple of problems happened. 1) The connection inside the cord cap came loose and started overheating(that is where my guess is) 2) the contact inside the DC8 is faulty and the connection is loose causing it to overheat. There may be other possiblilities but that is probably the 2 most likely to me. If the ballast shorted out the breaker should have tripped but since you said the lights were still on tells me that did not happen. Most likely is was a loose connection. If you can get a replacement socket for your DC8 I would replace that and then just replace the cord cap going to the ballast. Dave Ok just got home with the replacement cord cap... gunna start working on that. My guess is the same as yours Dave, I think it was wire inside the cap. You should see that thing after I took it apart! Thanks Isaac for walkin me through the steps, I will let you know when I get the whole thing back together! SO... I can get just a replacement female socket for the DC8?? Those just come out and can be replaced? That's cool. They neptune dude on reef central said I need to call tomorrow. Thanks all for the advice and help! Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 OK guys... which should i use? the left is a waterproof plug... right is just like the one I had on there before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I've used the one on the right for many cords. Since it wont be near water it should be fine, and maybe half the cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I'd go waterproof just to be safe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I've used the one on the right for many cords. Since it wont be near water it should be fine' date=' and maybe half the cost?[/quote'] I told her to go with the cheaper one and it was 1/4 the cost of the other one. Gotta love home depot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I agree with barelycuda, loose connection was the culprit, either in the male cord cap or the spring clip in the recept. The cheaper cord cap will be fine, just make sure all connections are good and tight. The other would only be water tight with the right cord, outlet, etc. I am an electrician also, have seen lots of stuff burned up from loose parts. Good luck with the rewire. Gabe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I have been using replacement Appliance cords (heavy Duty) to wire my ballast. Then you have a sealed factory plug, I use the inline wire connectors to make the connection. I have never liked those cord ends, to many times they have shorted out using them on extension cords. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 Thanks all, I have finished re-wiring it, all connections VERY tight. Lights working fine, but they were before... so who knows. Now I have to just get the male outlet of my DC8 replaced. Now I am exhausted!!! Off to bed! Thanks again everyone! Thanks Isaac for walking me through it all! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Thanks everyone for your advice. It is greatly appreciated! Beth got it all fixed and working! My contribution... positive rep points to everyone in this post and positive thoughts to all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 So, because the current was not shorted the current continued to run? A GFCI would not protect since the current was not impeded too much? The fuse/breaker in the DC8 was not tripped/ blown because it is such high amp rated? This is scary. I am sure many of us have the same set-up. I have a DC8, a GFCI, and a fused power strip. What I hear is that, in spite of these precautions, a fire may still happen because of a loose plug or receptacle. Unless either the device shorts out or too much current is drawn a breaker will not trip (of which neither occurred.) Was the DC8 plugged into a GFCI? If it wasn't it should be. It appears that one of a couple of problems happened. 1) The connection inside the cord cap came loose and started overheating(that is where my guess is) 2) the contact inside the DC8 is faulty and the connection is loose causing it to overheat. There may be other possiblilities but that is probably the 2 most likely to me. If the ballast shorted out the breaker should have tripped but since you said the lights were still on tells me that did not happen. Most likely is was a loose connection. If you can get a replacement socket for your DC8 I would replace that and then just replace the cord cap going to the ballast. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 So, because the current was not shorted the current continued to run? A GFCI would not protect since the current was not impeded too much? The fuse/breaker in the DC8 was not tripped/ blown because it is such high amp rated? This is scary. I am sure many of us have the same set-up. I have a DC8, a GFCI, and a fused power strip. What I hear is that, in spite of these precautions, a fire may still happen because of a loose plug or receptacle. This is correct. I have talked with Neptune. They want me to send in my DC8, but first I have to figure out how to run all these things with out it before I can send it in! All my extra timers and such have since been used on the previous FOWLR tank. The more I think about it the scaryier it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I have a DC8 you can borrow until you get yours back. Shoot me a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 That's just scary. Glad it turned out ok. I had something similier happen with a window A/C cord melted the whole cord and the outlet. Lucky I caught it in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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