spilling water on power strips

[Hybridfish7]

My fishroom, as one would expect, has a lot of powerstrips. One in particular is in a weird spot under one of my 20 talls, and has been splashed with water multiple times from me moving things in and out of the tank, or just filling it up and the tank either overflowing or me transferring the python from another tank to it and water splashing on it. Obviously it doesn't get hit with entire splashes of high amounts of water, but when it does get hit I turn it off and dry it instantly and dry the inside as well, and in hindsight I don't know why it happens to be that tank in particular that has so many accidents, but still my main concern is, is there a risk of a fire? It has gotten water on it about 4-5 times, water in it twice.
While we're here, anyone else occasionally overflow their tanks with pythons? It has happened to me 5-6 times in 4 years of waterchanges, mostly on 10s because I occasionally slip up on the concept that small tanks fill up fast.

 

[Gpdriftwood]

Yes. Yes. And duct tape splash guards!

 

[jjohnwm]

The risk of fire is actually fairly low, but the risk of electrocution more than makes up for it. All electrical equipment used in proximity to an aquarium should be GFCI (ground fault circuit interruptor) protected. This can be a GFCI receptacle in the wall, a GFCI breaker in the panel, or a power bar with built-in GFCI protection.

Also, there must surely be a higher, safer location for that power bar. Under the tank? Yikes...

 

[Krismo962]

I used double sided tape to attach my power strip to a leg of my iron stand i'm paranoid about this happening some day lol.

 

[Zanzag]

I actually had one that as my tank ran lower it would get plashed. One day during maint as I unplugged stuff I felt a tingle. Doncha know it was corrosion in the power strip making it so the whole strip became energized. Got rid of that strip real quick and now only have strips where splash can't get them.

 

[fishdance]

If water has splashed onto your powerstrip twice, why would you wait for a third time?

You could throw a plastic fish bag over the top & around the power cords like a big hat. Or completely move it elsewhere.

Don't forget to use drip loops on each power cable.

Don't under estimate condensation and tank overfill floods.

 

[tiger15]

Don’t underestimate the danger of water shorting an electrical receptor. It happened to me recently in a leak of my kitchen sink plumbing. The leak drained into an electrical receptacle located in the basment along the stud pathway. It triggered an electrical spark that melted the plastic parts and smelled burnt plastic. Fortunately,, the receptacle is enclosed in a metal box according to code that prevented fire spreading. Imagine what could happen if it were a power strip with no protection.