My power bar melt

[Wildechild_01]

I typed up an amazing reply here and then my computer froze so... now you get this haha.

Cheap power bars are exactly that and you get what you pay for. With that said plugging 3 MH into any power bar is going to be a bad idea. Yes the outlet on the wall is rated to carry a 15A or 1800W load and so is the wire in the wall connected to it. The wiring inside the power bar is going to be significantly smaller than the wiring in your wall likely only rated to carry something between 5 and 10 amps depending on manufacturer and quality of power bar. Pretty easy to see how putting a few things into a power bar can quickly overload/overheat the power bar without ever causing an issue for the breaker protecting the circuit. The same is true for most readily available extension cords.

Our Tanks can very quickly become a very large electrical demand on the wiring in our homes. Ideally we would be able to run dedicated circuits to them but sometimes that doesn't happen. At the very least you should do your best to plug the higher draw items like MH lighting into higher end power blocks like you would see for home theater equipment as these often have the heavier gauge wiring in them to handle the draw. if you can't do this make sure you keep an eye on things.

In this particular situation I would agree the moisture and salt definitely accelerated the problem but it likely would have happened anyway. This is something I see on a regular basis (at least weekly) with my job. People always overload power bars. If possible we should keep as much of the electrical as isolated from the wet/damp environment as possible obviously without a sizeable fish room this can be pretty tricky.

Just a few other electrical safety thoughts.

If your house is more than 20 years old you should consider having your panel inspected by a qualified electrician who specializes in residential service (working on existing occupied homes) and very likely plan on replacing your breakers. Breakers have a 20-30yr life expectancy under ideal conditions, as they age and stop working properly they will not trip when they are supposed to and this can lead to some pretty serious fire risks in your home. The electrical in your home is just like anything else out there, it wears out over time and needs to be properly maintained to function properly and safely.

Okay I should stop now but just a quick word on GFCI's

Just because there is water close doesn't mean you need a GFCI. If there is a sink, bathtub or shower nearby then yes code says you need it. A fish tank does not require GFCI protection and while it is a good idea for some items I would recommend that items vital to tank survival like pumps and power heads not be GFCI protected as they may cause the GFCI to trip when not needed and if not caught can be disastrous to your system... just my personal opinion on the GFCI matter. Depending on how the burning took place a GFCI may or may not have prevented this melted power bar.

[andestang]

I find just the opposite, especially if a breaker has been tripped more than half a dozen times or so they tend to trip more easy, but yes breakers do wear out.

Originally Posted by Wildechild_01

If your house is more than 20 years old you should consider having your panel inspected by a qualified electrician who specializes in residential service (working on existing occupied homes) and very likely plan on replacing your breakers. Breakers have a 20-30yr life expectancy under ideal conditions, as they age and stop working properly they will not trip when they are supposed to and this can lead to some pretty serious fire risks in your home. The electrical in your home is just like anything else out there, it wears out over time and needs to be properly maintained to function properly and safely.

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by andestang

I find just the opposite, especially if a breaker has been tripped more than half a dozen times or so they tend to trip more easy, but yes breakers do wear out.

Yup repeated cycling will wear out the mechanisms resulting in tripping early... frustrating, but safe.

The safety issues come from age related issues with the metal components like good old corrosion. Additionally the changing flow of power over the years heats and cools the metals and they can start to fuse together over time. And if your lucky enough to have a Federal Pacific/Pioneer stab lock panel breakers probably didn't trip when they were supposed to from day one so now in extreme cases the internals could be full on welded together Surprisingly reliable check, turn your breakers off then back on, if the handles don't move smoothly and easily there is probably some internal corrosion going on and may be time to replace.

Side note... If you have a Federal Pacific, Federal Pioneer, Sylvania, or CEB panel, call an electrician and get it out of your house they all have known issues with their breakers not tripping when they are supposed to.

okay I'm going to try to stop preaching electrical safety now haha.

[mike31154]

Not certain about code requirements with regard to GFCI & fish tanks, but if it is code to have one near sinks, bathtubs etc., doesn't it make sense to use a GFCI for equipment powering a fish tank full of water? Especially if you're going to be reaching body parts into it from time to time? Code, schmode & if my critters die due to a GFCI tripping, I'd sooner deal with that, than risking my own or my family's skin.

[kien]

holy frak! Glad you didn't burn your house down Tai! Had to go check my cheap powerbars, then remembered that I have my all my lights plugged into one GHL profilux powerbar which was anything but cheap..

[ashr]

How about AMERICAN DJ PC-100A 19" Rack Light Power Distribution Center?

Any thoughts?

http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/AMERICAN-...item51b1c7a5b2

[DSlater]

Originally Posted by Wildechild_01

Yup repeated cycling will wear out the mechanisms resulting in tripping early... frustrating, but safe.

The safety issues come from age related issues with the metal components like good old corrosion. Additionally the changing flow of power over the years heats and cools the metals and they can start to fuse together over time. And if your lucky enough to have a Federal Pacific/Pioneer stab lock panel breakers probably didn't trip when they were supposed to from day one so now in extreme cases the internals could be full on welded together Surprisingly reliable check, turn your breakers off then back on, if the handles don't move smoothly and easily there is probably some internal corrosion going on and may be time to replace.

Side note... If you have a Federal Pacific, Federal Pioneer, Sylvania, or CEB panel, call an electrician and get it out of your house they all have known issues with their breakers not tripping when they are supposed to.

okay I'm going to try to stop preaching electrical safety now haha.

I tend to agree with the Federal panels. If not ripped out, breakers should be checked once in a while. They don't call them weld-locks for nothing.

For GFCI protection on a tank, I don't understand why someone wouldn't. It only takes 10 milliamps to kill you. Typically, our dry skin has enough resistance that 120V will not conduct 10 milliamps. Higher voltages, 240 to 600 can and will hold you so you can't let go. The Saltwater in our tanks, being so conductive, will lessen the resistance of our skin and make the 120v in our homes so much more dangerous.

Cheaply made power bars (most are cheap) do not have to follow the same electrical codes as an electrician. They have to follow a manufactures code for CSA/ULC and get away with smaller wires due to less distance run. That being said, when they burn up it's due resistance in the connection. Dirty/corroded plugs create resistance and heat, it would only take 2ohms resistance to create a little 50w heater in that plug. As the heats builds so does the resistance and the problem gets worse. Also, now there is a voltage loss at the receptacle. No normal breaker or GFI will catch this in time. I went and checked all my plugs when I read this thread.

If you don't like power bars, I just made my own with one GFCI receptacle protecting a few commercial grade receptacles. Higher grade receptacles have larger contacts inside and hold tighter.