falcondob
Thu, 23rd Jun 2005, 10:54 AM
Just thought I would pass this along, it could have cost me my life.
I had an electrician run some dedicated lines into my aquarium area, for lights and such. He installed new breakers at the main box, ran some pipe, and installed a small breaker box on the aquarium so that I could shut the entire system (or just one circuit) down for maintanence or in an emergency. To save some money, I told him I would run the line to the GFIC outlets and install the boxes. When he left I told him to leave the breaker off outside and I would turn it on when I was finished. Later that night I went outside and checked to make sure the breaker was off. It was. I didn't have the time to install that day; so it had to wait.
A couple of days later, the A/C guy came and installed my new A/C unit. We had him move it around the corner (for noise and to allow us to expand the deck.) In the process he had to rewire the circuit.
That night I started to wire up the GFIC outlets. Looking in the box I remembered what it is like to get a nasty shock (I was an Electronics Tech in the Navy) and decided to go and make sure the breaker was off. When I went outside, sure enough, ALL the breakers were on. If I had stuck my hand in the box, there is a good possibility I might not be here to write this.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE!
When you are working with electricity, for any reason, turn the breaker off and flag it. You can use tape, fluorescent yellow or red plastic tape, anything to let others know the circuit needs to remain off. School your family in what the flags mean.
Also, make sure you have a grounding wire in the water of your tank(s). They are a really cheap insurance policy for you, your family, and the inhabitants of your system.
THIS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS THING YOU CAN DO WHEN WORKING WITH YOUR AQUARIUM!
Sorry for being so preachy, but I would rather be accused of that than attend a funeral.
Thanks and be safe,
John
I had an electrician run some dedicated lines into my aquarium area, for lights and such. He installed new breakers at the main box, ran some pipe, and installed a small breaker box on the aquarium so that I could shut the entire system (or just one circuit) down for maintanence or in an emergency. To save some money, I told him I would run the line to the GFIC outlets and install the boxes. When he left I told him to leave the breaker off outside and I would turn it on when I was finished. Later that night I went outside and checked to make sure the breaker was off. It was. I didn't have the time to install that day; so it had to wait.
A couple of days later, the A/C guy came and installed my new A/C unit. We had him move it around the corner (for noise and to allow us to expand the deck.) In the process he had to rewire the circuit.
That night I started to wire up the GFIC outlets. Looking in the box I remembered what it is like to get a nasty shock (I was an Electronics Tech in the Navy) and decided to go and make sure the breaker was off. When I went outside, sure enough, ALL the breakers were on. If I had stuck my hand in the box, there is a good possibility I might not be here to write this.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE!
When you are working with electricity, for any reason, turn the breaker off and flag it. You can use tape, fluorescent yellow or red plastic tape, anything to let others know the circuit needs to remain off. School your family in what the flags mean.
Also, make sure you have a grounding wire in the water of your tank(s). They are a really cheap insurance policy for you, your family, and the inhabitants of your system.
THIS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS THING YOU CAN DO WHEN WORKING WITH YOUR AQUARIUM!
Sorry for being so preachy, but I would rather be accused of that than attend a funeral.
Thanks and be safe,
John