Tank Reboot. Just not a lucky man.

[ReeferCrabness]

I think anyone who has had a reef tank for any
length of time has probably experienced at least
one TAE (Tank Altering Event). I am currently
on my third do-over. Now the first one was due
purely to my stupidity. The second one, well ok,
that was stupidity too. This one though, surely
I am off the hook.

The power transformer that feeds our house self
destructed and sent 220V down each 110V line!
Every piece of equipment toasted. The heaters
were cracked and sending little lightning bolts
into the water. HOB refugium pump melted off
and burnt into the floor.

Below are the pictures of one of my sump pumps
and the AC Voltage reading from a power strip.
The reading eventually went to 186V before I
killed the feed into the house. Didn't get any other
pictures because I was too busy putting out fires
and soiling myself. Rebooting sucks, but I ain't
owning this one.

 

[Terri Caton]

OMGsh! That’s terrible. Yes, you’re off the hook.

 

[maroun.c]

Sorry to hear.
Make sure to soak ur rocks in RO water to leach whatever nasties they might have absorbed from the burning equipment.

 

[maroun.c]

Anyway you can add some protection to kill the current if it goes above 130?

 

[ReeferCrabness]

Sorry to hear.
Make sure to soak ur rocks in RO water to leach whatever nasties they might have absorbed from the burning equipment.

That is excellent advice! I did the RO flush due to all
the die off. Never would have thought about all the
crap from the pumps/skimmer/heaters. There was
about 1/2 inch of white dust or powder in the bottom
of both my sumps. No clue what that was. I just dumped
all the substrate, it was pretty nasty. Thanks for the input.

 

[ReeferCrabness]

Anyway you can add some protection to kill the current if it goes above 130?

The utility company put in a new "smart" meter that is
supposed to monitor and disconnect during over-voltage
or reverse polarity? Can't remember the details. When
the electricians were here re-wiring the house, they had
assure me it would "never" happen again. Never is a long
time

The utility company had to fork out $20K for all the
damages. I just thank the stars above me I was home
when it happened. TV's can be replaced, tanks can be
rebuilt, but breaking in a new wife? Who has the time?...

 

[jace]

yikes!! Glad the electrical company took the right means to compensate . Anytime you have electricity involved it’s scary-but electricity and water??? I’m glad you’re all safe!