Trogdor447 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I woke up at 4:30 am to a kicked breaker and no a/c. So i poke around dont see any obvious anything. I turned the breaker back on at around 5:00am - and go back to bed. At about 5:10 I woke up to a helacious noise coming from my computer room where my tank is. I fly out of bed to take a look and there i smoke puffing out of the top of my skimmer. The pump is fried, thank god I quick yanked the surge protector out of the wall as soon as i sensed anything was going on. The pump is submerged in cold water now in my sink to prevent any additional melt downs etc etc. I feel the need to post this at 5:20 my time. Eshopp in sump 75 skimmer Will get the model off of the pump they are using when i feel its safe and cool enough to use. I cleaned this pump about 2 months ago in a nice long vinegar bath and let it soak out. No obvious imperfections, the pump is aprox 1 year old. I will be in contact w/ the vendor / fish store when their lights come on. Link to comment
vinhle00 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Sounds like you lucked out from waking up in time could've, been a tank crash or even worst. Keep us updated. Link to comment
tako Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Wow. Good thing you woke up. Is your tank on a GFI outlet? If so I'm surprised it didn't kick off. Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Is your tank on a GFI outlet? If so I'm surprised it didn't kick off. No not on a GFI but i probably should get one installed, never thought about that much. the outlet is up high enough that i'm not afraid of water splashing etc. Even still here yet I do not believe that would have kicked it. As the pump had not been 'grounded' by the water to my knowledge. I think it just went nuclear inside of itself. Atman: PH-1100 Powerhead The case and everything is still in tact so i got it before it went in meltdown mode and I would have had a hell of a problem on my hands. To be totally honest initially i thought my cats were fighting under my fish tank - that is what the noise sounded like. Link to comment
dling Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Your a very lucky man. I remember a few years ago I had a power compact lighting system .Wife and I were watching tv and we started smelling somthing burning.It was ther lighting ballast . I was very lucky that it did not start while we were at work. Brings to mind the talking heads song "burning down the house". Link to comment
GHill762 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Wow. Good thing you woke up. Is your tank on a GFI outlet? If so I'm surprised it didn't kick off. I have heard horror stories of people with tanks on GFI/GFCI having their tank power shut off for no reason, and crashing their tanks.. Link to comment
7digits Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Just so you know , it's an atman pump not atinan. Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Just so you know , it's an atman pump not atinan. Thanks it was 5am and i was basically in a zombie state Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 OMG, glad your okay, did your sump run dry? What do you think caused the failure? Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 OMG, glad your okay, did your sump run dry? What do you think caused the failure? Not at all sump did not run dry.. its 3 chambered apart so even if it ran dry - it would have to run dry for a long time. I do not neglect any of my products and it got cleaned twice in a year. nice long baths in vinegar. I'm not certain the cause of the melt down and waiting to hear from the manufacturer etc. They may very well like to have the pump back, Eshopps is closed until Monday. I may still tear down the unit and take step by step pictures and in the end send it to their folks. But sometimes its best for the sake of the rest of the hobby to leave my interest aside and send the pump back. I honestly have no clue what may have caused it. It was not abused, dropped, run dry, lack of cleaning. I mean a few months ago it quit running and had a string of chaeto that blocked the pump. But that is the worst this pump has seen! I have a degree in IT.. many years of hardware experience & programming, never have i seen a piece of electronic just catch fire after a long use. Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Update - So far Eshopp only wants photos of the pump - It was a very kind lady whom answered the phone there. She is obviously concerned for everything going on, and wants to make sure it gets dealt with right. She said I'm unfortunately out of my warranty. To which I laughed and said that is not why I'm calling! More updates to follow - I have to locate a pump asap for this.. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 If they don't want the pump back their obviously not that concerned as to what caused it. If I was a manufacturer of a electrical device and one of my customers called and said my pump caught fire for no apparent reason, I would want the pump back so an inspection could be performed and a cause could be determined. That's just me though. Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 If they don't want the pump back their obviously not that concerned as to what caused it. If I was a manufacturer of a electrical device and one of my customers called and said my pump caught fire for no apparent reason, I would want the pump back so an inspection could be performed and a cause could be determined. That's just me though. I agree totally that is why I'm calling with the offer - She did not seem to be the real person to talk to - only the go between. She was very concerned and passing the info along to the right people it appears. If they don't want the pump back that seems extremely foolish on their part. Although I don't believe they manufacture the pump in house. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Agreed, it's only Monday, give them some time to consult with the manufacturer on the issue. Link to comment
StevieT Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Always listen to your breaker, it was trying to tell you something when it tripped. Never overload a circuit, there is reasons why some lines can carry 15amp and some 20 I am guessing you have a window AC unit? You don't wnat aquarium equipment on that same circuit, the AC takes a lot of juice on compressor startup. Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Always listen to your breaker, it was trying to tell you something when it tripped. Never overload a circuit, there is reasons why some lines can carry 15amp and some 20 I am guessing you have a window AC unit? You don't wnat aquarium equipment on that same circuit, the AC takes a lot of juice on compressor startup. Stevie that is why I did not go back to sleep - I had a strange feeling about it - And I had plugged everything back in one by one starting with my computer equipment & such. Everything turned back on fine and the breaker did not kick.. to me this said there was no 'short' anywhere - but I knew something was up. A/C is on a small battery backup to prevent from the extended load on the wall - More to protect my computers, never thought about it affecting the fish tank! And it is a 15amp circuit. Link to comment
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