Every Reefers Worst Nightmare come true -Warning graphic photos

[Scooterman]

Ben did you do them massive water changes?

with all the pumps & lights i don't need heaters, won't use them if i can help it. If not already the wall replacement GFCI work great in protecting you, now a ground probe would of helped your corals. Sorry for the loss, hope you recover most.

 

[class clown]

Ben did you do them massive water changes?

with all the pumps & lights i don't need heaters, won't use them if i can help it. If not already the wall replacement GFCI work great in protecting you, now a ground probe would of helped your corals. Sorry for the loss, hope you recover most.

Working on water changes as I type. I've got new carbon in. Oh, and I do have a ground probe - doesn't look like it helped me on this one.

 

[burning2nd]

im so sorry to hear this....... karma for you my friend

 

[Scooterman]

Yes the ground probe did, it lessoned your shock most probably from being a fatal one. The GFCI detects difference of potential between ground & neutral & trips super fast thus protection you In that case. The ground probe brings current to ground by providing a least path to ground. So when you put your hand in the water, that GP was working but not all of the voltage was carried by it. It saved you! Do them WC's soon, big ones!

 

[spongebob lover]

omg dood !!!
ouch, ouch and more ouch !! .
i'm very sorry to hear what happened .

 

[dragoneggs]

So sorry to hear Ben! That is indeed a nightmare and not your fault which is harder to take IMO. Like Jezz said, BR went through this and I saw the tank then and now and many of the SPS are recovering very well! Bleaching is fading and colors are coming back!

 

[dragoneggs]

I was going to do a post about Aqua-Via's SS or Titanium heaters when I got around to it, this seems like an approperate time to mention my problems with them.

I have had two fail in 6months. One failed on and the other failed off. Both of them failed in their controller box. Looked like a relay problem, (mechanical not solid state).

Okay Meche... now you got me worried about my two Via Aqua titanium 250W heaters in my sump :shock:

I wonder what heaters are considered best? most reliable? Anybody know of a consumer study done on aquarium heaters?

 

[class clown]

Yes the ground probe did, it lessoned your shock most probably from being a fatal one. The GFCI detects difference of potential between ground & neutral & trips super fast thus protection you In that case. The ground probe brings current to ground by providing a least path to ground. So when you put your hand in the water, that GP was working but not all of the voltage was carried by it. It saved you! Do them WC's soon, big ones!

pheww - well - let's add that to the lesson book too. These probes are only a couple bucks a piece. If it saved everything from being fatal, probably the best $2 I spent then.

thanks for the explanation scooty.

 

[class clown]

I wonder what heaters are considered best? most reliable? Anybody know of a consumer study done on aquarium heaters?

Mark - great question. I went titanium after a glass one broke on me b/c they are sturdier. I thought b/c they cost more, they'd have better engeneering behind them and better reliability - It sounds like a few others thought this way too and it may not be turning out to be the case.

As I'll need to replace a heater, great question - let's turn this thread into a positive one. Any studies out there on reliability that anyone knows of? Obviously we can't go by manufacturer claims.

 

[Jan]

Not to mention the huge positive that that probe probably saved your life!

 

[lavenderfish]

Oh jeez I hope things recover for you. Jager heaters have been good for me but I have had many a heater failure and don't really trust any of them.

 

[Scooterman]

If you had a GFCI it probably tripped because the heater is conductive on the outside, the ground is probably common to that. With that said, when the hot would of made contact with water, the GFCI would if seen a difference & tripped being the metal heater body & that hot wire were both in contact with water. The circuitry would of picked up a difference between ground & the neutral in milliseconds. In the meantime if by any chance you had your hand in that water that GP would of provided a lesser path & would of lessened your shock, which it probably did but the power stayed on as you didn't have a working GFCI. Assuming that you didn't have a working GFCI & that the ground was actually in contact to the heater body.

 

[class clown]

Nothing unexpected, just dissapointing. Here is the reply I received from Finnex. I guess I wouldn't expect anything less. Hmm.. so I pay $5-$10 shipping back to the company, they either repair it, send me a new one or a refurb one and I can go through this whole mess again.. awesome!

"Hello Ben,

Sorry about your corals. Our warranty is limited to repair or replacement of
product, This warranty does not cover personal injury, property loss,
including livestock or any direct, indirect incidental or consequential
damages or specific relief. You can sent your heater back to us for warranty
exchange. Our address is 5324 East Ave Countryside, IL 60525. Thanks

JSK Merchandising, Inc.

5324 East Ave

Countryside, IL 60525

Ron"

 

[class clown]

If you had a GFCI it probably tripped because the heater is conductive on the outside, the ground is probably common to that. With that said, when the hot would of made contact with water, the GFCI would if seen a difference & tripped being the metal heater body & that hot wire were both in contact with water. The circuitry would of picked up a difference between ground & the neutral in milliseconds. In the meantime if by any chance you had your hand in that water that GP would of provided a lesser path & would of lessened your shock, which it probably did but the power stayed on as you didn't have a working GFCI. Assuming that you didn't have a working GFCI & that the ground was actually in contact to the heater body.

your hunch is right - no GFCI unfortunately. Won't make the same oversight again w/ my new tank.

 

[Krish]

Really sorry to hear that Ben :doubt: Things like this really upset me. Hope you can bounce back man...

 

[SueT]

Ben, I am so very sorry to read about this happening. Like Scooterman, I don't use heaters being all the lights and the heat from being in texas. Wouldn't you just expect some reply like that. Hang in there and keep the faith, things will be ok.

 

[jezzeaepi]

One thing about the GFCI, only do some of your circuits with them. For your main circulation, you should always have it on a non gfci outlet. If the outlet should trip, you dont want your flow to stop and your stuff to die. Ive had my gfci trip for seemingly no reason before. If that happened while I was gone for a day, I would have come home to a tank with a bunch of dead things and no oxygen.

 

[class clown]

One thing about the GFCI, only do some of your circuits with them. For your main circulation, you should always have it on a non gfci outlet. If the outlet should trip, you dont want your flow to stop and your stuff to die. Ive had my gfci trip for seemingly no reason before. If that happened while I was gone for a day, I would have come home to a tank with a bunch of dead things and no oxygen.

Nice wisdom Jesse - and that makes total sense.

 

[bighitrider45]

ohh man ben that blows, sorry to hear about your corals and whole tank, hope everything recovers

 

[dragoneggs]

One thing about the GFCI, only do some of your circuits with them. For your main circulation, you should always have it on a non gfci outlet. If the outlet should trip, you dont want your flow to stop and your stuff to die. Ive had my gfci trip for seemingly no reason before. If that happened while I was gone for a day, I would have come home to a tank with a bunch of dead things and no oxygen.

Without much thought here, I am not sure I would agree with you on this one. I have GFCI all over the place in my house, garage, outside, and have only tripped the outside one once in 20 years. It seems that something is not quite right if you are having problems with tripping. Could be a faulty GFCI outlet or breaker? That is an easy replacement.

In my case... to do what you are suggesting means adding another dedicated circuit for just one pump. I already have two 20amp circuits and 70ft of wiring each. Mabye Ben's situation (electrical arrangement) is different and more conducive however.