Something Just Burnt Out

[daizeUK]

Strong smell of burning plastic from the cabinet under my 120L.  Prime suspect is the external Hydor heater.  Not 100% sure, could have been the external Eheim canister filter.  Hard to pinpoint where the smell was coming from and nothing feels hot.
 
I don't think I dare to plug the Hydor back in again.  I'm scared to think what might have happened if I hadn't been in the room and acted.  A fire started, flooded kitchen etc...

 

[Ch4rlie]

Oh no!

You did right thing to act quickly and switch off like you say, anything could have happened.

Burning plastic smell, makes me think could be impeller in filter or the heater burning plastic housing. Could either of those be running dry to make these burn out.

Take plug out of wall and do little investigation to see if you spot any obvious melted plastic or anything of that nature.

Hope its a simple and cheaper fix.

 

[Liv15]

Can I just say make sure you have plenty of fire alarms/smoke detectors in your home and check they work regularly. I had one that kept going off and couldn't work out why, couldn't even smell anything and turns out it was my heater and could have burnt the house down. Don't underestimate fire & stay safe! Hope you solve your problem

 

[daizeUK]

Burning plastic smell, makes me think could be impeller in filter or the heater burning plastic housing. Could either of those be running dry to make these burn out.

 
Those are my main suspects too.  They'd both just been plugged back in after unplugging for my daily EasyCarbo spot-dosing.  Five minutes later the kitchen started to fill up with fumes.  I thought it was the workmen outside making bitumen or something.  I closed the window and sniffed the air outside before I realised it was coming from my fish cabinet!
 
I don't think they were running dry because I always plug the filter back in first, then the heater.  I switched the filter back on and have had no further smells or problems so I'm fairly sure it's the heaters fault.
 
It's a shame because the Hydor is only about 18 months old but I've heard stories about these things burning out and killing fish before and I can't bring myself to trust it anymore.  I think I'll just buy a new internal heater.
 
 

Can I just say make sure you have plenty of fire alarms/smoke detectors in your home and check they work regularly. I had one that kept going off and couldn't work out why, couldn't even smell anything and turns out it was my heater and could have burnt the house down. Don't underestimate fire & stay safe! Hope you solve your problem

 
Good advice, we have a working smoke alarm in the hall outside the kitchen.  It goes off every time I make a slice of toast and drives me potty but I would never turn it off. 

 

[daizeUK]

Mystery solved today when I found lumps of melted plastic around a nano-heater that I had stuffed in the cabinet.  My guess is that I accidentally plugged the wrong heater back in after a water change and burned the nano-heater dry.  The good news is that my Hydor is fine and I can keep using it.  The bad news is I'm a total idiot for not realising what happened sooner. 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Not a total idiot at all. This could have happened to me and me being a electronics engineer :x THAT would have been a lot worse

But it all ended well and no harm done, except you lost a nano heater but these are easily replaced. Not end of world.

Main point is you took early action and that counts for a lot.

Glad you found the source of the problem and you can now rest easier without that niggling doubt

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I usually do the opposite, I forget to plug something back in completely. In most cases it is a filter since on most tanks I run 2 or 3 filters. I tend to place heaters lower down in a tank and to orient them horizontally. Since heat rises, placing heaters this way gives one better coverage, imo. It also tends to mean I do not need to unplug heaters during maint. Finally, its usually easier to hide them from view this way.
 
Just an fyi daize, I have had a pair of Hydor inlines running now without any issues for well over 10 years. I consider them to be one of the most reliable heaters I have used.

 

[Byron]

Here's another method re the plugging in/out of heaters during maintenance.  I have a small power bar with a switch for each of the larger tanks, and one for the three smaller tanks in a row.  The power bar goes into the wall outlet, and the heaters and filter only are plugged into this.  The light is plugged into the timer also in the wall outlet so separate.  When I do maintenance, I can just switch off the individual power bar; it has a red "on" light in the switch so I can easily see if it is off or on afterwards.  Saves unplugging heaters and filters, and easy to remember to turn them back on.
 
Byron.

 

[Ch4rlie]

This is the same method I use as well, a 2 meter extension lead with 6 plugs, each individual plug is switched, a little more expensive than normal plain extension but well worth it.
 
What I do is simply put a print out sticker with 'heater' , 'filter' etc on each plug, making it easy to identify to switch off whichever you need during maintenance and simply switch back on when completed, the little red light tells you if its on or not
 
Like this for example -
 
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extension-Lead-6-Way-Mains-Plug-Power-Cable-Individually-Switched-ROHS-/140852485964?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20cb765f4c

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Charlie on  my average tank there will be 2 heaters, and 2 - 3 filters. Often I have two light fixtures as well. So on some tanks I have 7 plugs. On small tanks it is usually only 3 or so. Do the math. If I average 5 plugs/tank I would need 75 switched receptacles for my current tank load which is 5 fewer than at the peak. Even at 4 plugs/tank that is still 60.
 
I usually have tanks stacked in twos- so it is not unusual for me to have 3 x 6 plug strips for each pair of tanks. The good part of this is even if I forget to plug something back in, there is enough other equipment involved that the tank will not crash and burn.

 

[Ch4rlie]

TTA - I think you're the exception
 
Most of us hobbiest will not have that amount of equipment in each tank I think.
 
For each tank for the general fishkeeper, think there will be a single heater, one filter, a light unit and perhaps a co2 system with solenoid regulator, so that is basically 3 or 4 plugs per tank, pushing it to 5 plugs if two light units on a tank.
 
Thats, to be fair is what most of us, imho, will have on a single tank.

 

[daizeUK]

I agree, I totally need to get myself a switched extension for that tank.  I don't like pulling plugs in and out.  I've also forgotten to plug things back in again too, TTA!
My 64L has the heater and filter on a main switch just as Byron suggests and it's so much easier.

Just an fyi daize, I have had a pair of Hydor inlines running now without any issues for well over 10 years. I consider them to be one of the most reliable heaters I have used.

 
That's good to know.  Do you have any tips for cleaning inside the darned things?

 

[Gruntle]

On both of my tanks I have a filter, heater, light unit and air pump. So that's four outlets each required.