Recently following a heavy rain one of the residual current breakers (RCD) on the main breaker box of the house tripped and could not be reset which took down half of the lighting and almost all of the wall sockets. I strung up a network of extension leads to the one remaining live socket (for the cooker) to keep power to the fridge/freezer and the boiler. What about the critters? I strung another lead through to power on the Shrimphaus to keep the new caridina shrimp happy with water flow, oxygenation and light. So far so good – call the electrician. Meanwhile, lets get the internet back on (check) and probably good to sort the Fireplace Aquarium as well. Connecting the powerbar for the Fireplace Aquarium immediately trips the RCD on the cooker socket circuit, taking down most of the rest of the power to the house.
Crap! First thought was that I’ve finally overloaded the one remaining socket with all the bits and pieces, however, the electrical kit for the Fireplace aquarium – air pump, powerhead, heater, lighting, CO2 solenoid – doesn’t draw much power (except maybe for the heater). It’s also strange that it is a second RCD that has tripped, rather than one of the main breakers you’d expect to trip for an overloaded circuit. Also, weirdly, now the RCD that tripped initially CAN successfully be reset… aha! Some electrical piece associated with the Fireplace Aquarium has a problem.
Careful with electrical gear in a (disused) fireplace
It didn’t take long to trace the problem to the powerhead where it turned out water had gotten into the connector between the mains power lead and the DC adaptor, presumably causing the current leakage that tripped the RCD. I dried out the connectors, plugged back in (fingers crossed!) and problem solved! Happily the powerhead was undamaged.
I’ve always been vaguely worried about water and other debris falling down the chimney onto the Fireplace Aquarium. There is a bird excluder on the top which covers up a lot of exposure, but during heavy rain there is some dripping. Take-home message, where possible try to shift electrical pieces out of the actual fireplace.