VHO Fire this morning.......

Imaexpat2 · 10-27-2003, 10:09 PM

Well, this morning I had my custom Oak canopy go up in flames with not even so much as a warning! Anyone out there experience a simular problem?

The good news is I was running late getting out the door this morning, so I caught it just minutes before I would have left for work. Didnt do too much damage...Oak canopy is history, most of the lighting is salvagable, the 15lbs Halon bottle earned its keep(and all this time I just thought I was overly paranoid). What was scaey is the GFI circuit didnt trip! Didnt appear to be any moisture in any of the lighting fixtures (4 x VHO, 3 X 250 watt Halide), theres two 8" fans to circulate air so I am not sure moisture was an issue, especially with the amount of heat that moves through the canopy. I didnt notice and loose or poor wiring. So I am kinda wondering what gives....

ruhspolostar · 10-27-2003, 10:20 PM

Oh, I thought from the thread name you lived in SoCal, lucky you, you don't

, of course I'm refferring to the fires we have, seven in total

Rick O · 10-27-2003, 10:22 PM

I'm glad to hear the damage was minimal. Do you think the heat from the lights ignited the wood rather than an electrical fire? In that situation the GFCI wouldn't trip.

Imaexpat2 · 10-27-2003, 10:35 PM

I am pretty sure that it wasnt heat related(at least not til it went up in smoke) Temp inside is usually only about 90 degrees. The end socket on one end was obliviated and looked like a well done marshmellow. That was the only "fixture damage" the wood was just beat up on that side and there was some pretty impressive arcing (and that comming from someone who builds bombs for a living, so it takes a lot to impress me as you might imagine). The inside of the canopy is kept spotless, ie... no salt creep. I have never noticed any moisture build up at all.

seamonkey · 10-27-2003, 11:42 PM

What do you have as a reflector? I am not sure how many vho bulbs you run or where you keep your ballest but when dealing with regular wood like oak if you had just a thin reflector between the lights and the wood this could be an issue. I had a normal set of 45 watt bulbs catch my hood on fire in one of my old fw tanks because I used a piece of stainless steel highly polished as a reflector. what I beleave happened was the heat built up over a period of months slowly scorcherd small areas till it was enough for it to catch fire. Was there alot of burn marks on and around the reflector because that could show excess heat. I am also sry to here about this accident. I wish I knew how to ask some of these questions differently but I am unsure how to do it by typing. I am a fire fighter and have alot of ideas about how it happened and don't exactly know how do ask about them. If you realy want a good idea of what happened if you can't figure it out take every thing to your local fire department and the chiefs and captians will be able to help.

Imaexpat2 · 10-28-2003, 12:27 AM

Its a polished aluminum reflector. This reflector is mounted on two 1.5 x 1.5 inch oak stringer to leave 1.5 inches of space between the canopy and the reflector for 70 inches of clearance on the 73.5 inch canopy (hope I explained that in a understandable way) I have disassembled the canopy and the only area where there seems to be any "damage" is the rear left corner in the area of the "marsh-mellowed" socket. The nearest stringer is about 18" away. There is an inch of clearance in all other directions of the nearest item and contact with the reflector or socket. Heat build up, ventilation and fire hazards were a over riding concern when I constructed this porject. I would have expected the halides to be more of a problem than the VHO's. I have been running a simular set up VHO'S only with compareable temps inside the canopy made of pine on my 55 for a year and there are no signs of heat build up and it doesnt have a fan to move air, just a some what open back side to that canopy. Yeah I actually do have thermometers mounted inside of both canopys to keep tabs on the heat build up.

This is really got me trippin' cuase I am very paranoid of fire (long story) and usually cut off and unplug all non-essential electrical equipment (ie.. the phone, frige or aquarium equipment thats life sustaining, everything else is un-plugged and off and or cold to the touch) before I leave the house for longer than a few seconds. I cant really complain cuase it could have been so much more serious than it was, but I am pretty bummed out just the same and looking for answers...

Alice · 10-28-2003, 12:54 AM

I've seen the "marshmallow" endcap once before with VHO's. 660 ballast that should have been running 4 bulbs had the 4 in place but 3 of the 4 were burned out. This guy was very lucky he didn't have the same result you did. Not saying this is what happened in your case though. How old were the endcaps?

Glad it wasn't worse and that you were running late!

Alice

Imaexpat2 · 10-28-2003, 01:03 AM

Alice

That particular retrofit kit was only about 4-5 weeks old max! I would guess since they build to order that the parts were relatively new. They appeared to be when I got it anyways.....

It was quiet the heart stopper! I think it was noon or so before "Fun Meter" went back down to normal.

JennM · 10-28-2003, 07:31 AM

I'd be contacting the manufacturer...

Glad there was no major damage, and glad you're ok.

I'd definitely call the maker and see what they can do for you - if it was only a few weeks old, at the very least it could be a material defect that they should know about.

Jenn

Caterham · 10-28-2003, 08:04 AM

Let me guess....was it an Icecap Ballast?

Rick O · 10-28-2003, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Caterham
Let me guess....was it an Icecap Ballast?

What are you getting at?

jwwill0 · 10-28-2003, 08:21 AM

Ok, you guys really got me paranoid now. I am in the process of hooking up my Icecap 660 w/ VHO's and MH's in my new tank.

Imaexpat2 · 10-28-2003, 09:35 AM

Ballast was an electronic one, I think ARO. Sockets were brand ?. The bulbs were URI Pro Series.

Even though I got insurance....My lights will now only run when I am home! I cant take another blast to the ticker like that, again. Thats way too much drama for me.

I did contact the manufacture and they did seem a bit concerned. Didnt sound like they were gonna replace anything. I already had some parts being over nighted to get it back up again. I am gonna push the issue if the ballast is messed up.

Should I be avoiding the use of Ice Cap products? I was already planning to replace my old tar ballast on my halides before this happened. Good move - bad move?

Geoff · 10-28-2003, 10:00 AM

a little confused, was the ballast icecap or ARO-like the ones you get from hellolights?

G~

Phantom Phish · 10-28-2003, 10:52 AM

This is obviously a very serious issue, which apparently is not that uncommon. I went over to ReefCentral, and found a recent thread on VHO end caps and canopy fires. I highly recommend that everyone reads through it (it's long, over 4 or 5 pages). Embedded in the thread is a response from IceCap on the proper installation of their end caps. I don't know how, or if I can link to that thread, but its entitled, "WOW!!! My endcap just caught on fire" posted by Frick-n-Frags on 10-3-03 in the Reef Discussion forum. After reading through that thread, I'm really spooked and seriuosly considering removing my VHOs and PCs. I love my tank, but it's obviously not worth threatening the safety of my house or endangering the lives of my wife and kids.

VHO Fire this morning.......

oops