Northy Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Hi, I want to relate an experience last week. I had a non display breeding/grow out tank that sprung a leak as I was filling it after a spell in the garden, as I tried to pump the water out as the leak got worse, I quickly got a pump to extract water to the garden but the pump had an electrical fault with the lead that threw the fuse / circuit breaker and sent the whole house into darkness. No harm done - thank god - I had upgraded the fuse box on my 60yo house a few years ago which is design to shut off and protect from surges like this. It so happened I had plugged it in to the mains as my son was holding the pipe taking the water away. I know should have not done that. He was fine. Please upgrade your fuse box if you get the chance. That's water and electricity for you !! Cheers Northy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Been there - done that - thank goodness for Clipsal. I would endorse everything Northy has said. If you have fish tanks, the more you have and the longer you have them the greater your chance of getting zapped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 +1 for safety switches.... zapped myself while swapping some fuses into an active sub box for my hifi the other day. Note to self, don't support the back of the power terminal with your thumb while you push a live power lead into the socket on the opposite side. Yep stupid... but very easy to make a mistake like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 What's really fun is when you've got your arm in cleaning the tank & a large RD splashes the fluro..... Yeah yeah, I know I should turn them off first but then I can't see what I'm cleaning, plus it takes the thrill out of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 It's even funnier when the light falls in the tank....instant darkness (what happened? Oh... oops) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Your RD really has it in for you Ash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Some bad news to report I lost my 3 large venustus males, a couple of girls, about half a dozen geophagus, a pair of hongi's, a crimson tide and my favourite Tinanti who is irreplaceable. Why? Safety switch... I was at work and it looks like a tank which was dripping in the garage may have had a fine mist that went near the powerboard which was a few feet away from the drips. Very sad Annoyingly it potentially saved my life, but was part of the cause of death for so many of my favourite fish which I've had for many years. Only thing I can think of is to get a UPS in case this happens again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 Sad to hear of your loss, but won't you run the risk of electricution with a UPS working as a "bypass" for a safety switch? Also might water dripping onto them cause them to fuse out anyway which gives the same end result? Perhaps a battery backup airpump with stones in the tank so when the power cuts it still keeps the air up - most fish die in this situation not from ammonia poisoning but from suffocation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 The UPS would only be running air unless I pickup a decent size deep cycle battery which could also keep the pump going for my 6x2x2 sump (or potentially a smaller 'backup pump' so it keeps circulating). If I go with this, I'll definitely seal it off from the rest of the space under the tank & so I doubt there's any further risk of electrocution. The tank which was dripping had a faulty return pipe & as it was on a rack, I didn't have the power board taped vertically. I've now down this and there's a bit of a splash guard over the top in case it happens again. I guess it all comes down to better planning overall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant265 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Sad to hear of your loss, but won't you run the risk of electricution with a UPS working as a "bypass" for a safety switch? Also might water dripping onto them cause them to fuse out anyway which gives the same end result? Perhaps a battery backup airpump with stones in the tank so when the power cuts it still keeps the air up - most fish die in this situation not from ammonia poisoning but from suffocation I don't think powerboards cut out if water drips onto them as this happened to me a few weeks ago, came home from work one day to find the return hose from sump came off pump and about 20 odd litres went over the floor then about a week or so later was home for about 10 minutes and heard sound like wine bottle getting corked, i go into fishroom n see small puff of smoke but all power was still running. I turned everything off and the last socket on powerboard and filter plug were fried and some blackened carpet Still cant understand why it didnt cut out or why it took so long after the leak to burn out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 The powerboard surge protection didn't kick in (tho I wish it did instead, i wouldn't have lost any fish), it was the mains safety switch that was tripped. A lot of people may already do this, but otherwise maybe a good idea to mount all powerboard upside down in the cabinet/stand etc. I used to think side/wall mounting would be sufficient but not anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz_gooner Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 The cut out on a standard power board is only for an overload situation. It has to be marked as having a 'Safety Switch' (RCD) to protect against electrocution. It's usually forms part of the plug. The board that went poof would have had a short between the active (live) and the negative (return), not to earth, The resultant fault was cleared before the circuit breaker could trip. RCD's work on the principal that current flowing in the active must return via the neutral. If it doesn't (out of balance) then the RCD assumes that it is flowing through you and trips if the out of balance is approximately 30milli amps and within 300milli seconds max. So the reason it did not trip would most probably be that there was no earth fault. BUT BEWARE!!!!! RDC's do fail! If you have them test them by pressing the test button every 6 months minimum. Because of the amount of water about in fish rooms I would recommend testing them every month. This has been a community announcement from your friendly neighborhood sparky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonx Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Cheers gooner nothing like electrocution to wake yourself up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddy65 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 From another forum: Yesterday the water lily lady Tonia and I were talking about Gary Clarke. He had a three phase pump and was standing in water while fixing the pump christmas eve 2004. He did not get to Christmas. Imagine the Christmas his family, wife and daughter, had that year. Gary was a real nice fella that chased results and wasn't too concerned about safety, he died in his ponds electrocuted by not turning off the power before working on an appliance. Two aquaculturists died from electricity here in Darwin that year, another was fixing a paddle wheel oxygenator while standing in the water without turning the power off. I dont like it when people I know cease to exist, there has been too much of that lately. Please be careful MJ, move that ballast up away from the water and make it secure. Cheers Dave Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dave Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 A lot of people may already do this, but otherwise maybe a good idea to mount all powerboard upside down in the cabinet/stand etc. I used to think side/wall mounting would be sufficient but not anymore. Use boards with switches .... and maybe even enclose within a large resealable plastic bag. Keeps a barrier between wet hands and the board and protects it from leaks as well. HTH, Old Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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