Heater exploded in mixing barrel

[BirdFish5000]

Hello all,

A few hours into mixing saltwater in my Brute barrel (heater and a return pump for circulation), I heard some very loud popping sounds and the smell of something burning. Saw smoke coming from the mixing barrel. Of course, I immediately unplugged both the heater and the pump. Heater was a cheap Aqueon heater I had lying around. A lot of black plastic was found in the water.

So, my question is - would a good bleach cleaning of the barrel suffice, or should I just toss it and get another Brute?

 

[piranhaman00]

I would just mix rodi in it a couple times and you will be fine.

 

[piranhaman00]

Also I hope you were plugged into GFI, doesn’t sound like you were?

 

[BirdFish5000]

Also I hope you were plugged into GFI, doesn’t sound like you were?

It is in fact a GFCI outlet. It was flickering on and off as this happened. It all went very quickly.

 

[HBtank]

It is in fact a GFCI outlet. It was flickering on and off as this happened. It all went very quickly.

Odd, should just switch off (it’s a physical separation) and then it has to be manually reset. I would get that checked out.

 

[BirdFish5000]

Yeah, I definitely plan to!

 

[I.AM.MR.MIKE]

I use the black preset Aqueon heaters to mix...

 

[BirdFish5000]

I use the black preset Aqueon heaters to mix...

Yeah, it was one of those that exploded on me.