Here is another grrr

[coralcor]

Im guessing the ballast is sealed to prevent electrocution or water damage.

usually you can just unscrew them and they pop off. but that one melted it self shut

 

[pillowfish]

Sorry to see Jenn, glad you were home and found it in time...a fire anytime of the year is not a pleasant experience. Good luck on the DIY for the 72!

 

[Bobbofin]

If you can get the end off where the cord plugs in and get at the hot, neutral and ground wires you probably could fix it then fill in up with epoxy. I get place for electric supplies is You Do It Electronics in Needham. They have just about every electronic/electrical connector you'd ever want.

 

[JohnK]

usually you can just unscrew them and they pop off. but that one melted it self shut

Electronic ballasts are normally sealed up like this.


Bummer Jenn. Like has been said, be thankful, really thankful.
(was it an electronic ballast?)

 

[Pinkskunk]

Yes, i was wondering why didn't your breaker trip? unless it's not a GFI breaker. i would not put my hand into a tank with water that is not plugged into a GFI protected circuitry.

Anyhow, if i were you, i would not bother fixing it, you are risking it. get a new one or buy used, but definately not reuse that ballast regardless what kind it is.

 

[bluemerle]

"While I am sitting here doing nothing but staring at this forum, I see a whole lot of people that have either not read the thread or just do not give a sh_t.

Really gives me that loved warm and fuzzy feeling. The kind that makes you want to go back to lurking and say F it."

QUOTE ABOVE:Sorry I don't know how to break up a quote..


Are you implying that your post didn't get the response you thought it should? Maybe it was the time of day of your post..I mean it was what close to 1 in the afternoon? Most are at work...Geez I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful but chill out. Some of my posts don't get one response at all...Oh well..no biggie to me.


Anyway sorry about your flame..glad you were home and caught it.

 

[molsen187]

glad you were home to find it in time.

 

[JayM]

jenn, I can probably scare up a ballast if you're in a bind....LMK

 

[willray]

I am happy for your safety.Do not despair.
Please don't bother trying to repair it,chances are everything inside is toast or about to be and will fail again causing another potential fire risk.

 

[Jennifer]

Well I do appologize for my little tantrum yesterday. I guess the thought of a fire in my house was really scary. Ya know sometimes that whole life kicking you down constantly can get to you. Maybe I just hit my limit. I was hoping for what is a crappy tank to just hold out for 2 months while I finish my room and tank upgrade. I dont ask for much, I am a very realistic person.
I have been pouring so much money into rebuilding my house and my tank, plus buying all those Christmas present, I am tapped there just is no more money to spend.

So any who thank you all, and sorry I doubted you guys. I think I was just looking for a friend, everyone was at work and I just could not figure out what to do with myself. I think we have all been there at one time or another.

Well i have no clue what a ballast is, and hopefull i never have to find out. Can i buy you a coke. Do you want to borrow a light?
Smile it can only go up, or not
Michelle

Thanks Michelle, today looks a whole lot brighter. Thanks for the light offer, someone who I would like to publically thank but will wait till they say I can) has offered a 250 watt ballast. So I think that is the way I will go.

 

[Jennifer]

haha wow man, im glad it wasnt worse. I would not use that ballast again, for the cost of another single light eballast it isnt worth the risk.

On the bright side, we had the same kind of thing happen on a submarine recently, except the power cable on the sub was a hull penetrator, carries 290V at 60AMPS and when saltwater invades that, electolysis splits it into hydrogen and oxygen, that is until the hydrogen pocket grows big enough, then it arcs, detonates the hydrogen, blows the connector apart, and the pressure hull is compromised.

anyway. THAT was a bad day. and a lot of forensic engineering to find the culprit. I am glad your house will be ok and you caught the problem in time. Also, I like your idea of a smoke detector wired like a "water on the floor" detector. interesting...

I think you are all right that this ballast is not worth taking the chance on.

Wow I think I would rather have my ballast catch fire than be on a sub with a compromised pressure hull, that is for sure a bad day.

I am definitely going to build the smoke detector into the tank. I will be sure to do a full detailed DIY walk through so that ALL can benefit from such a contraption. I have a way to make it work for all not just those with controllers.
Thanks

 

[Jennifer]

That really sucks Jenn. At least you were home. A fire would've been the last thing you need around the holidays.

I've got a couple 175w Hamilton magnetic ballasts you can have if you want.

Thanks man, That "almost fire" really did hit me a bit hard. I guess you just hear those stories of peoples homes burning down (seams worse around the holidays), it really makes you feel for them. At the same time you hope you never have to go through it yourself.

Thanks for the ballast offer, I think I am going to stick with the 250 watt offer seeing as I already have the bulbs and such.

 

[Jennifer]

Sorry about the ballast, the upside is that you were there before it could do damage to something other than itself.

My grrr moment yesterday was while feeding I could not find one of my clowns and my 3 yr old was looking for it also. Later on I looked behind the tank and there it was, so had to run out and get a replacement for it so my son can stop looking for it.

Thanks, I really am so glad that I did not leave to do my errands when I planned on.
Who knows if this would have gone to a full fire, there sure was a lot of smoke.

Bummer on the clown fish. I know it is a hard thing to tell a small child that the fish is dead. I would have run out at 2 am if it meant not having to see my child go through that heart ache.

 

[Jennifer]

Gee, that's too bad. Remember, look on the sunny side... In all reality this is something fixable and small and could have been a lot worse.

You should be out drinking and celebrating. I'll get started for you.

The sun is out today, though I do feel bad for making an A$$ of myself here yesterday.

I did go out drinking, I had to go help some friends out at 3pm anyway. So I made sure we all got to have a few drinks with each other. There is nothing like good friends to help take your mind off of the crappy things.

 

[Jennifer]

I'm surprised your surge protector didn't trip.

Me too

did you have that ballast on a gfi, and it didn't trip?

Yup and nope it did not. That GFI has been in there for a while, I guess I had not tested it in a while. Should make for a good lesson in there, to always check every part of your system occasionally .

 

[Jennifer]

Hi Jennifer

I am really glad you were home and not out on errands.


We were leaving for Aruba last year at 4:30 AM and smelt smoke at 3:30 AM it was a power strip melting, thank goodness we were home and not away.

PS 250W blue wave brand new in box if your looking.

Barry

Me too , Thanks

That sucks too, glad you were home as well. So you know just how I feel, though you had each other.
I suppose I was feeling just a bit lonely when this happened, ya know.

 

[Jennifer]

Sorry to hear about the hassle but glad you were home to catch it. Hope your starting to feel warm & fuzzy!

Thanks Kevin
Yea the warm and fuzzy feelings are definitely there.

 

[Jennifer]

I know this is getting long. I thought you all deserved the respect of getting a reply and not just a generic "Thanks".

I had a T5 ballast get corroded on the inside and it ended up frying. Thankfully I had one of those plugin GFI's and it tripped that before it it could do any damage to anything else. Glad everything is ok for you!

Jason

Thanks,
Yea good things your tripped, I apparently have a problem with mine.
Too be honest ever since my large tank crash, I have not cared for my older tanks as much as I should be. I am putting so much time and effort into everything else right now that my plate is just so full.



I have volunteered to do so many things for a lot of other people, with out ever asking for something in return.
Between that and all of my stuff I am just stressed to the max.

 

[Jennifer]

Glad everything is ok Jenn.....Great spirit in going to do other DIY projects.

Thanks , and me too!

If one of my silly diy projects can help save money (or protect) someone else then that is all I can ask.

 

[Jennifer]

wow i have never seen the melt them selves shut before.. thats crazy. its a damn good thing you were home... now that its broken we need to figure out how to prevent this from happening again. how did the salt water get to it to corrode it?

Me neither, weird huh.
It sure was a good thing.
I totally agree, I guess this is good reason to make sure our lighting systems are connected to a good working GFI and that we make sure that salt creep or corrosion does not do damage to the connections.

This ballast was mounted next to the tank about 6 inches away from it.