Mystery power problem, Help!

[Anonymous]

I have recently (in the last week) started to have a wierd power problem with my tank. In the evenings, the tank will suddenly power out for no apparent reason and then- with no intervention from me- repower after between 30 seconds and just over a minute. This happens a couple of times every evening, when all the lights etc are on. I believe it also happens during less power intense periods. Has anyone had any similar experiences or have any suggestions as to what could be causing this?

FWIW, I had a electrician in 4 months ago and have both my tanks wired seperately direct from my mains board, with adequate provision for the maximum possible loading. This has never happened before.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Andy- that is quite strange. It's especially strange that it would correct itself and power back on again.

Are you using any (many) powerstrips? The only thing I can think of is that a powerstrip may be overloaded causing it to overheat. The internal safety fuse may then cut power, and not turn back on again until after it has cooled down.

AFAIK, most power strips do not work this way...but it's all I could think of.

When the power is off, is it visually evident anywhere i.e. circuit breaker, GFCI?

 

[Anonymous]

Andy, here in the States they have separate circuits (say for air conditioning) that can get shut off by power company during heavy or peak usage. They call it "interuptable service", and here we get a break on the rate for having non-essential stuff wired into that interuptable circuit. Do you have same in SA? How about asking the electrician that wired stuff up for you?

 

[Anonymous]

Tracy, thanks for the response....

We dont use the interruptable circuits, we have a charming system of rolling blackouts called 'load shedding' for peak usage, but that affects entire suburbs.

I am trying to avoid getting the electrician back, my hours are funny and I would have to be there to let him in and its helluva inconvenient- and expensive.

JH, I do use a few powerstrips, I will check the overheating issue. My timed stuff (lights, powerheads etc) are on an Aquatronica controller with its own powerstrip. the others are just normal powerstrips. When I was forced to put a huge aircon unit in in December (I had a tank overheat and partial crash) I was forced to get the Utility to run a bigger supply cable to my apartment to cope with the power usage. At the same time I had both tanks put on individual, seperate circuit breakers on my mains board. In the event of one of those circuits overloading, it would require manually resetting the tripped switch to reinstate the power. That is not the case with these mysterious outages.

I am at a complete loss I have never heard of powerstrips that cut off for overheating and then auto restart when they have cooled. (I'm not saying that they dont exist- just that I was unaware of them) The controller logs the power outages and records their duration, and they seem to run from 30 seconds to just over a minute... dunno if an overheated powerstrip would have cooled enough in that time to reset itself.....

 

[rbursek]

It could be a loose connection in your circuit box where the lead connects to the circuit breaker, if you have them on a dedicated circuit.
Bob

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bob, I thought of the loose connection possibility but think its unlikely as the incidence is almost rythmical and each event is so similar. If all else fails I will get a Sparky out and get him to check the wiring from end to end.

 

[bleedingthought]

Your fish tanks could be haunted.

 

[Anonymous]

Your fish tanks could be haunted.

Yes, consider getting rid of any ghost shrimp you have.

Seriously though...Have you tried pinpointing the problem? Wait unti it happens again and test to see where in the line the power is cut. With only a minute, you'd have to work fast.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

Thanks Bob, I thought of the loose connection possibility but think its unlikely as the incidence is almost rythmical and each event is so similar.

I tracked down a similar problem to a loose connection at a breaker.

Contractors had done some electrical work, and afterwards, the circuit would cycle on and off with load.

The connection was tight enough to provide some current, but then it would heat up and the thermal expansion caused the connection to break contact. After it cooled, the circuit would "work" again. This happened over and over.

Good that I caught it. Could have had a fire.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

FWIW, I had a electrician in 4 months ago and have both my tanks wired seperately direct from my mains board, with adequate provision for the maximum possible loading. This has never happened before.

I just reread your post. I'd say triple check the electrician's work.

Then look for marginal connections between outlet strips and receptacles, and between plugs and outlet strips.

Some outlet strips are really cheaply/shoddily made.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks all of you.... I took JHs advice and tested each point to see exactly where the ghost was. It turned out to be a problem with a plugstrip. I never found out exactly what was wrong with it, I just replaced the entire strip and the problem is fixed. It still baffles me how it could just switch itself on and off at random. FWIW there was no heating up of the affected strip at all.

 

[Anonymous]