Power out

gashunk · Dec 31, 2016

so the power went out I put my battery power pump in the tank to maintain ph for the fishy now now my question is how long can it last without a heater the house is all closed up heater is at 72 outside temp is 54 oh we blew a fuse and don't know how long it'll be out for cause of the holiday weekend

Bluefish9 · Dec 31, 2016

If you have a thermometer handy, place it in the sump/tank. Assuming you have gas appliances, heat up some water and pour into plastic bottles. You can periodically do this and place them in the sump/tank to keep the water warm until power is restored.

You said you blew a fuse... do you still have actual fuses in your house or were you speaking metaphorically? Did you loose power only at your house, or the whole hood' is out?

Dont panic, you at least have the advantage of being home...This is a great asset!

gashunk · Dec 31, 2016

Yeah a actual fuse only the wall where the tank is and another room when we went to turn it back on one kinda buzzed smoked and zapped alittle more so hopefully it's just a plug one and it can be swapped out easily

Bluefish9 · Dec 31, 2016

gashunk said:
Yeah a actual fuse only the wall where the tank is and another room when we went to turn it back on one kinda buzzed smoked and zapped alittle more so hopefully it's just a plug one and it can be swapped out easily

Turn it back on? Im confused, do you have breakers or fuses. I can walk you through getting this repaired but need to know exactly what you have going on.

gashunk · Dec 31, 2016

We went to turn it back on but it did those symptoms that I said sorry I'm not good at electrical it's a double row panel and one of the switches went out n won't turn back on

USMC 4 LIFE · Dec 31, 2016

Send pictures of the panel. Is it a circuit breaker that's tripping?

I'm an electrician on helicopters, so I can help to a degree

Bluefish9 · Dec 31, 2016

Ok. One of the outlets that breaker protects, likely shorted out and needs to be replaced.

First we have to figure out WHY it shorted (if it is in fact shorted) so that we can prevent it from happening again.

Then I can tell you how to replace it today, (if you feel comfortable with that).

So, first question... what did you see smoke and zap? Was it the breaker itself in the panel? Or was it an outlet?

if it was an outlet, was it a GFCI outlet (like the ones in your kitchen/bathroom with the test and reset buttons) or is it a standard outlet.

Im an Electrician of 18 years turned Licensed Home Inspector.

gashunk · Jan 1, 2017

Bluefish9 said:
Ok. One of the outlets that breaker protects, likely shorted out and needs to be replaced.

First we have to figure out WHY it shorted (if it is in fact shorted) so that we can prevent it from happening again.

Then I can tell you how to replace it today, (if you feel comfortable with that).

So, first question... what did you see smoke and zap? Was it the breaker itself in the panel? Or was it an outlet?

if it was an outlet, was it a GFCI outlet (like the ones in your kitchen/bathroom with the test and reset buttons) or is it a standard outlet.

Im an Electrician of 18 years turned Licensed Home Inspector.

I guess someone plugged a fan in that had maybe a bad plug or was just overloading the circuit and once we unplugged that one it turned back. On fine but one weird thing was the tank was unplugged and it still wouldn't kick back on so I'm guessing something is wrong with the fan like it might have a short idk!