Almost an Inferno - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

IceIceBaBy · #1 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 11:30 PM

k well while i was at class tonight i had a near fatal spark that could have easily taken down my grow room and possibly even my house!

somehow...my 1000w MH timer roasted and started buring my rug and smoking up my room! im not totally sure how this happened at all but luckily my roommate was home to prevent any real damage from going down..i can only imagine what would have happened if he was working til 11pm and i was in class til 9pm......i can see it now ( ON MY LOCAL NEWS!!!)

anyway.....amen to not burning down my room/house/girls. everything is back up and running again and my exhaust and carbon filter took care of any smoke and smell of burning carpet!

The HSIC · #2 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 12:29 AM

This is not funny at all, and a prime example why every grow room should have a fire extinguisher located immediately outside of the grow room.

I just give thanks that no one is hurt this time.
Peace

knottyd · #3 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 01:09 AM

Glad to hear everything turned out ok

Baywatch242000 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 01:39 AM

I would have been horrified if this were to have happened. Thank god you had a smart and reactive roommate that got things under control before it got out of control.

I hope you roll them a big fat blunt and bake some nice brownies for him/her for saving your ass. ;-)

ISO2BWELL · #5 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 03:41 AM

Ice,

Seems the Ganja Goddess was watching over your home today. Good thing!

I had a similar experience late last fall. Was in my garage chatting with a buddy and we walked into the veg room for something and the 1000W MH was arcing in the air-cooled fixture! Sparks and bolts of electricity were flying everywhere up there

...I about...(yep,

that's it!) my pants. Apparently the socket had shorted to the back of the lamp, blowing the whole mess up. The retailer replaced the entire system for me, N/C. Thank God for tempered glass! That MH had exploded in there, and molten metal from the socket had dripped on the glass...

I had designed the room so the breakers were easily accessible, and I tripped them immediately after I saw the sparks...had I not been there I could have lost everything...garage, house and possibly much more.

A Fire Puter-Outer is now mounted plainly just inside the door to the grow room.

ISO

green_nobody · #6 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by videoman

This is not funny at all, and a prime example why every grow room should have a fire extinguisher located immediately outside of the grow room.

I just give thanks that no one is hurt this time.
Peace

right, that is why i have a huge one hanging outside of my grow, one step out and a reach to the left - ready for action.

there are smoke detectors that can hold a SIM card and will place a call to a number you set up earlier, most will set it to 911 but you could set it also to your mobile.

Another simple step is to have a little look at your grow and question yourself what could catch fire in it and if this is needed then in your grow or could be taken out or replaced. or make simple steps as putting electrical appliances straight on a wooden wall but rather having some sheet metal in between or some ceramic stuff as this doesn't conduct.

my 2 cents

jangel · #7 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 10:53 AM

Not long ago I heard on the news of a couple of growers getting popped and caught by a fire. Their grow caught fire and the fire men put it out but now they have major headaches and legal issues to deal with. I am getting a smoke alarm in my grow and have an extinguisher just outside the room. Better safe than sorry.

ISO, green, video, anyone? this is about the 6th time I have heard of 1000w hps's catching on fire. I was thinking of getting down the road an HPS. Is it better to get a 600 for this reason or is it just one of those things??? Thanks.

green_nobody · #8 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

Not long ago I heard on the news of a couple of growers getting popped and caught by a fire. Their grow caught fire and the fire men put it out but now they have major headaches and legal issues to deal with. I am getting a smoke alarm in my grow and have an extinguisher just outside the room. Better safe than sorry.

ISO this is about the 6th time I have heard of 1000w hps's catching on fire. I was thinking of getting down the road an HPS. Is it better to get a 600 for this reason or is it just one of those things??? Thanks.

it actually the first time that i hear that the socket
/bulb shorted out and burned/melted - so i would put this under rear for now.

ISO, did they tell you by the way what was wrong with the last burned one? would be interesting to know

most of the time it is the wiring that is to weak to take the stress or a old ballast that is burning, or something that been touching the hot bulb.

i grow with only a 400W HPS, keeps the bills low as well as the peak on my bills, enough lumen for a small grow and manageable heat development.

ISO2BWELL · #9 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by green_nobody

ISO, did they tell you by the way what was wrong with the last burned one? would be interesting to know

Nope, never did find out. The Mogul socket was shot; looked like it had been welded inside. The lampw as toast (blown up) and the ballast was suspect, but still worked. They replaced that a week later when it kept dropping the output voltage.

I doubt I'll buy another 1kW fixture. 2 of the 600W HPS's can put out amazing lumens, and add a total of 3 amps to the bill over the 1000W.

I run 2 X 600W HPS for flower now, and far as I can tell I am getting maximum yield from my gals.

ISO

IceIceBaBy · #10 (**permalink**) 05-21-2008, 05:50 PM

thank you all for the concern and input....i am as you said, very lucky my roommate was home and not working til 11pm....it could have ended everything. im still unsure about what happened....my timer was connected to a power surge which was connected to the wall...the power surge plug melted so bad and one of the prongs is still stuck in the socket...i need to kill my breakers and try to rewire a new outlet cuz i believe this one is totally shot now.

thank god that this happened while some1 was here to prevent any serious damage...mainly i lost my outlet and burned my rug a bit...nothing too serious but again it could have been a real issue if no1 had been here.

this opened my eyes to grow room safety measures....hopefully it will do the same for some of you others out there. be safe.

green_nobody · #11 (**permalink**) 05-23-2008, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

Nope, never did find out. The Mogul socket was shot; looked like it had been welded inside. The lampw as toast (blown up) and the ballast was suspect, but still worked. They replaced that a week later when it kept dropping the output voltage.

I doubt I'll buy another 1kW fixture. 2 of the 600W HPS's can put out amazing lumens, and add a total of 3 amps to the bill over the 1000W.

I run 2 X 600W HPS for flower now, and far as I can tell I am getting maximum yield from my gals.

ISO

no wonder as the 600W ones the most energy efficient size and that way a pair of 600W will outdo a single 1000W by 50% more then the 1000W would yield for every Watt "used".

is it not interesting that they charge us for consumption of energy besides the law of physic say that energy can not be destroyed only transferred to another kind of energy. so why do we then pay for energy?

ISO2BWELL · #12 (**permalink**) 05-23-2008, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by green_nobody

no wonder as the 600W ones the most energy efficient size and that way a pair of 600W will outdo a single 1000W by 50% more then the 1000W would yield for every Watt "used".

is it not interesting that they charge us for consumption of energy besides the law of physic say that energy can not be destroyed only transferred to another kind of energy. so why do we then pay for energy?

Seems we are paying them for putting that energy into a form our appliances and lights can use, and for delivering it to our homes?

The SUN and WIND are free to anyone that wants to use them, and the wife and I have already discussed making our next home "off the grid". I've been looking into some windmills (not much sun in the PNW) that can generate 15 kw, enough to run a house and all the growing lights I could want.

ISO

jangel · #13 (**permalink**) 05-23-2008, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISO2BWELL

Seems we are paying them for putting that energy into a form our appliances and lights can use, and for delivering it to our homes?

The SUN and WIND are free to anyone that wants to use them, and the wife and I have already discussed making our next home "off the grid". I've been looking into some windmills (not much sun in the PNW) that can generate 15 kw, enough to run a house and all the growing lights I could want.

ISO

I would love to try that ISO. I would love a windmill. Or some solar panels but no money honey. Maybe in time. All things are possible I pray, and hope!!!

tokecrazy · #14 (**permalink**) 05-25-2008, 05:34 PM

Hey Ice,I would get a GFIC outlet if you are going to replace it.It's a good idea to inspeck the wiring in the wall too when replaceing that outlet.Those surge strips are crap if they cost less that $30.00.Those $5. & 6. dollare ones will burn your house down.They have breakers that are GFIC, they cost alittle more but you dont have worry as much.Gald to hear that it all was saved.Thanks for posting it we all need to do checks on our equipment at least 4 times a year.Peace

IceIceBaBy · #15 (**permalink**) 05-25-2008, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tokecrazy

Hey Ice,I would get a GFIC outlet if you are going to replace it.It's a good idea to inspeck the wiring in the wall too when replaceing that outlet.Those surge strips are crap if they cost less that $30.00.Those $5. & 6. dollare ones will burn your house down.They have breakers that are GFIC, they cost alittle more but you dont have worry as much.Gald to hear that it all was saved.Thanks for posting it we all need to do checks on our equipment at least 4 times a year.Peace

no problem toke...thanks for your input i will be replacing the outlet and def inspecting the wiring in the wall. i want to try to figure out what caused it to spark in the first place. luckily it wasnt as serious as it could have been...just a little bit of burned rug and a useless outlet for now. hope this has helped others out...at least to keep peoples eyes open to potential hazards like this.

HUMAN · #16 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008, 01:08 PM

I had a really bad chemical spill in the middle of the night during the precipitation stage of an extraction. While my lady and I slept, solvent rendered my freezer to gel and poured out my fridge filling the house will dangerous fumes. since, all naivete is gone and SAFTEY FIRST, SAFETY FIRST, SAFTEY FIRST. I treat any op/grow as a job site and my job sites are obsessively safe. Lose all unnecessary combustibles from the room. Carpets, rugs, furniture, anything you don't need that can ignite, lose it. Get your plugs, timers, cords off the ground and separated, consider "conduiting" high voltage outlets out of the combustible wall. Most times electric fire sparks at the GFI (where something is plugged in at) and pulling an outlet from the wall and putting a well done housing around it would keep that potential spark from encountering something that'll flame. Grow rooms are already warm and much more to prone to ignition from minor sources..jesus am I running on or what? Glad everything is OK

jangel · #17 (**permalink**) 10-25-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HUMAN

I had a really bad chemical spill in the middle of the night during the precipitation stage of an extraction. While my lady and I slept, solvent rendered my freezer to gel and poured out my fridge filling the house will dangerous fumes. since, all naivete is gone and SAFTEY FIRST, SAFETY FIRST, SAFTEY FIRST. I treat any op/grow as a job site and my job sites are obsessively safe. Lose all unnecessary combustibles from the room. Carpets, rugs, furniture, anything you don't need that can ignite, lose it. Get your plugs, timers, cords off the ground and separated, consider "conduiting" high voltage outlets out of the combustible wall. Most times electric fire sparks at the GFI (where something is plugged in at) and pulling an outlet from the wall and putting a well done housing around it would keep that potential spark from encountering something that'll flame. Grow rooms are already warm and much more to prone to ignition from minor sources..jesus am I running on or what? Glad everything is OK

Hey HUMAN, seems this morning I am following you around the site! Don't go freaking out or anything! LOL! it is just you have a lot of good things to say. Nice to meet you. It looks like you have some good wisdom to add to Green Passion. How about dropping by the Introduce yourself thread and tell us a bit about yourself? I am sure a lot of people would like to make your acquantance and Welcome you to Green Passion!