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I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you to all those in fire rescue. Today i had a scary situation that could have been fatal. So like some of you know I grow coral which takes up a lot of power and planing. So today my mother and my chocolate lab were home my mom was getting ready to leave for work at about 7am when she went to our living room which has glass French doors that we keep shut so the dog doesn’t go in there at night. It is also where my display tank is. It was dark so you couldn’t really see in she opened the doors and gets a face of thick black smoke to find a high quality surge protector busted into 4ft high flames. Melting and toasting expensive aquarium equipment along with coral and fish lost. Smoke damage to the room and furniture as well. Firefighters to the rescue in 10 minutes. We are lucky it did not happen after she had left or my whole house would be gone. 69D607E8-E232-47C3-9E6F-56D6829E8C7C.jpeg
 
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Wowww
So glad you are okay and that this wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Yes we are very lucky on the timing, still quite a bit money with frying a $850 light, $450 powerhead and a lot of coral and 1 fish. We did file a insurance claim since the ceiling has smoke damage but it probably won’t cover any coral or livestock.
 
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It wasn’t even a cheap power strip it was a heavy duty high amp strip about $70 from bestbuy.
Based on what happened, cheap piece of crap and a good guess of an overloaded circuit. Plug into a 15A circuit, you get up to 1800 watts MAX including anything else plugged into any other outlets on that same circuit. If you overload, a good suppressor will shut off/go into protection mode, not burn up. Also, your circuit breaker should have popped. I suggest you get an electrician to check the breakers as well if they didn't. All accessory and peripheral items are overpriced at Best Buy, not a good gauge for quality.
 
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Based on what happened, cheap piece of crap and a good guess of an overloaded circuit. Plug into a 15A circuit, you get up to 1800 watts MAX including anything else plugged into any other outlets on that same circuit. If you overload, a good suppressor will shut off/go into protection mode, not burn up. Also, your circuit breaker should have popped. I suggest you get an electrician to check the breakers as well if they didn't. All accessory and peripheral items are overpriced at Best Buy, not a good gauge for quality.
Yes I agree, my uncle said very similar stuff, especially about the circuit breakers.
 

Rupe

Suburban robot that monitors reality -BOM Feb.'13
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It was VERY fortunate that your mom found it when she did!

If possible you might want to get your equipment set up on two separate surge protectors and even two separate circuits if possible. Totally agree with having an electrician check out the circuit box as well. You may be surprised at the dollar amount of the loss but will also be surprised at what homeowners insurance will cover if you have a decent policy.
 
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Some power strips have policies that cover items plugged into them if they are damaged. That may be worth looking into with the cost of your gear.
Glad everyone is alright, good luck!
 
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