Just barely escaped an electrical fire!!!

I too almost had a disaster the other night... one of my heaters had become exposed to the air, and heated up so much that when it touched the water it sizzled and boiled the water for a second. It also burned all of the paint/printing off of the outside of the heater

I thought it was my heater to the house, but I knew that was odd since it usually only smells the first time or two of the cold season...

A few hours later I found the heater... glad it didn;t melt a hole in my sump!
 
I recently had my auto top-off overflow the tank and one sizzling & smoking powerstrip...that was pretty scary. Hopefully I learned my lesson too.
 
GFCI's are literally a life-saver. You should purchase one of those before pumps, powerstrips, or any other electrical components for your tank. I'm glad you caught the problem and avoided disaster.
 
Or you can just install a GFCI outlet where ever you plug your tank stuff into. Thats what I plan on doing very soon. Its very easy and costs under $20.


Tutorial on how to do it.
http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_index.asp?page_id=35720244
 
This may help as well: http://www.melevsreef.com/wiring_outlets.html
 
Glad you caught it in time! I have a couple of GFCI circuits for the outlets on the exterior of my house and the tank. Instead of the outlets, the breaker itself is GFCI protected.
 
I'm not sure if I'd call this a great catch or a lucky one. either way, glad you're still here to tell us of it.
I would recommend getting a grounding probe for the tank as well. this will assist the CGFI's in doing their job in case of a shorting powerhead or other pump.
 
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