Help please

[uncpmatt]

Hey guys, I came home from work today and my entire setup was dead... lights, filters, everything. I started checking everything and when I got to the CoraLife digital timer, well... see the picture.

I'll have to move the tank and stand to inspect the outlet, so in the meantime I've run a drop cord to power my FX6, my internal canister filter, and a light. When i got everything plugged in the light and internal canister came on but the FX6 is silent and is not moving any water.

Here are my questions:

Has anyone else ever had a CoraLife timer do this?

Does anyone with a FX6 know how I might revive it? After i post this I'm going to open it up and check for anything jamming the impeller, but I'm concerned that the motor was wrecked when the timer shorted out.

TIA for any help.

 

[celebrist]

Wow, that sucks

 

[kzimmerman]

It's doubtful That the motor was affected, so you should be good there. I would definitely check the outlet there. Any sign of damage to the outlet means that it needs to be replaced. How this short happened is interesting, as there is no sign that it shorted to the other prongs on the outlet. It's possible there was a broken connection in the plug itself that caused arching inside the plug. You can smell the outlet after you take off the cover plate to see if you can smell any burned smell. Outlets are cheap, if you can install it or know somebody who can, it might be worth it just to replace the outlet.
I'm glad you didn't burn your house down, believe me that sucks.
It's all really hypothetical though, you can't really tell from the picture 100%.
I would replace the timer, and test each component separately to ensure everything works like it should. Pay special attention to the heaters, you might want to think about replacing those anyway in case there is damage, you don't want to cook your fish!

 

[Disturbed.)]

Arc fault for sure. Usually happens on the female side as the connection wears out and gets loose. Whether it was the cord or the plug is irrelevant now. The heat that damaged the side you can see undoubtedly harmed the side you can't. A 3 dollar duplex outlet isn't worth the risk of a house fire down the road. Very glad the damage wasn't worse than it was and that no one got hurt.

 

[uncpmatt]

Arc fault for sure. Usually happens on the female side as the connection wears out and gets loose. Whether it was the cord or the plug is irrelevant now. The heat that damaged the side you can see undoubtedly harmed the side you can't. A 3 dollar duplex outlet isn't worth the risk of a house fire down the road. Very glad the damage wasn't worse than it was and that no one got hurt.

That's what I was thinking too. I never smelled any smoke and neither have the wife or kids, so I guess we just got lucky there. I'll be draining and moving the tank later to check the damage to the outlet, even though I've already bought a replacement for it.

Silver lining, I guess, is that my wife has been wanting to replace the carpet in that room with LVP for ages, and that tank is the biggest obstacle. It looks like it'll be coming down anyway, so maybe we can get that done too...