Dodged a Bullet - Major Grow Box Electrical Fire

[mpd]

I am DONE growing. Today I narrowly avoided burning down the house. I had a wiring fire in the grow cabinet that enveloped two (2) tubes and burned up the Mylar. If I had been using 1-mil Mylar we would have had a major house fire. Just another reason why you don't ever want to use 1-mil Mylar in a grow box under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.



My air filtration system worked so good at cleaning the air I did not know there was a problem until it got to the flashpoint stage.

That's it for me and marijuana. I am not going to risk burning my house down. Time for another plan.

 

[ThirstyKenny]

No good at all!! Glad you're ok mate

 

[mean mr.mustard]

They sell fire extinguishing systems that have a thermostat switch.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Grow on safely mpd.

 

[greekgardner]

yep either grow safely or dont grow at all,i see folks plug there ballasts into chicken shit timers and it makes me shudder...........

 

[cravin morehead]

glad you caught it in time. good thing you were there at the time... at least your safe.
another reason why all grows should comply with building codes. electricity shows no mercy.

cm

 

[mpd]

No, it was wired up okay. The fault was the lampholder. It caused an arc in the tube, but the wiring fire did not kick the breaker so it went right on.

 

[ThirstyKenny]

Shocking, absolutely shocking! ....just trying to lighten the mood, no doubt you're still feeling a little wired mate .....sometimes i can't believe how funny i am hehe

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Nice save, you are really lucky.

I don't think most people realize how good of an environment for fire a grow area is, with ventiltaion running 24-7 it can really help fire grow quickly.

I always shake my head when I see amateurs taking on their own electrical projects without knowing really what they are doing. It's too easy to create situations favorable to fire with faulty electrical work.

Another thing most don't think about is that if you start a fire with your own shoddy electrical work and burn the house down homeowners insurance will tell you to shit in your hat because the work wasn't done legally or up to code by a licensed electrician. Be smart and stay safe.

 

[soursmoker]

glad you are safe man! hope i dont run into these problems with my PLLs

 

[messn'n'gommin']

Glad it wasn't any worse than it was! Can certainly understand why you're thinking of folding up shop, but is outdoors an option?

 

[usda101]

How long have you been growing ? Thats why they are called accidents , learn from it come up with a better plan and keep moving . Understand if your shook up tho i have been there . But it was'nt an option for me to pack it up .

 

[Bobbles]

It really sucks people are even forced to grow in a box in the first place...

... also. Some folks who fall of the bike, stay off, others jump back on. Choice is yours.

 

[rives]

No, it was wired up okay. The fault was the lampholder. It caused an arc in the tube, but the wiring fire did not kick the breaker so it went right on.

Standard breakers will not react to that type of problem because the fault isn't going to ground, so the current doesn't rise high enough to trip the breaker.

Arc fault breakers are made for precisely this reason, and would have protected your home. My new setup has 240v ballasts (120v is not an option), and at this point they do not appear to make double-pole arc fault breakers. I am planning on using a smoke detector to trigger a shunt-trip activated breaker to achieve the same thing, and put the smoke detector in the air plenum.

 

[cravin morehead]

at this point they do not appear to make double-pole arc fault breakers.

yes they do now. i've seen eatons, cutler hammer, siemans, etc. what type do you need?
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/siemen...ombination-afci-circuit-breaker-q220afcp.html

cm

 

[FRIENDinDEED]

DUDE, DONT QUIT!!! ive got the pics to prove the fire I avoided as well. gotta get them up somehow but shit happens man. did you need so many cfls? anyway. I hear what your saying about doing something else but don't say "that's it for me and marijuana. grow a couple outside or something

 

[devilgoob]

Connect a myriad of jugs together, suspended, criss-crossing and going to the ground with a pully. one stringburns apart, all jugs release or tip over.

 

[-Capfan-]

Another thing most don't think about is that if you start a fire with your own shoddy electrical work and burn the house down homeowners insurance will tell you to shit in your hat because the work wasn't done legally or up to code by a licensed electrician. Be smart and stay safe.

How do they know a wire caused the whole house to burn, id think there wouldn't be much left to determine the cause



Funny i came across this thread aswell, i have 12 older magnetic ballast mounted in the attic, and i came in with a sulfur smell, fuckin igniter caught on fire man, Ballast was BLACK, i aswell felt as if i dodged a bullet, not sure why the whole place didnt burn down honestly, There was fire...


Not sure of the cause either, they have been running perfect for 12 months...

Anyhow, just ordered 12 Nano's....


Dont stop growing m8, just be safer! Seen a Fire Sprinkler at our local hydro shop controlled by a thermostat, neat addition to the grow room, give it some thought!

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Connect a myriad of jugs together, suspended, criss-crossing and going to the ground with a pully. one stringburns apart, all jugs release or tip over.

So this dumps water all over your electrical equipment?

How do they know a wire caused the whole house to burn, id think there wouldn't be much left to determine the cause

The Fire Marshall or insurance inspectors will be sifting through the remains to determine a cause. Your homeowner's policy will have a clause stating that they won't pay for anything that happens while in the commission of an illegal activity.

You can get heat sensors that shut off electrical if temps go above 110 F. If you vent to your attic you'll want a damper which clamps down if there's a grow room fire.


Check out the Grow Room Safety forum in Growers Forums. It's full of fire stories. Here's the Fireproofing your grow area thread.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=24347

 

[rives]

yes they do now. i've seen eatons, cutler hammer, siemans, etc. what type do you need?

Thanks very much, CM! I need GE, and had looked in their catalog as well as searching retail outlets for them. I figured that there was no market for them since the code exempted them for applications over 120v. They make a hell of a lot of sense to me, a huge portion of the electrical faults that I've seen over the years were similar to the problem that the OP had here and would not have tripped a breaker.

 

[cravin morehead]

no problem rives, my work keeps me in the manufacturers catalogs and talking with sales reps alot. agreed, breakers are mainly for over-current and ground fault situations. i really like your shunt trip idea. i bet a detailed post of that wiring would be extremely helpful to lots of people here. keep up the good work. you help a ton of people out here. i mostly stay out of threads that you're helping in, because 90% of the time i agree with what you're doing. the other 10%, well theres always more than one way to skin a cat. plus, you have more patience than i do.

keep it up,

cm