Maxspect Razor dunking

[Holygral]

Rearranging rock work yesterday and knocked one of my Razors into the tank fully powered up to 100. GFI did not trip, I shut the transformers off after about 10 seconds. I would like to say that I shut it off immediately but with the shock of seeing it in the water still powered up, it was probably 10 seconds. The LEDS were starting to flash on and off in all different colors. I removed the light and put it in the kitchen sink and gave it a good hot water spray off. I then started taking it apart. I cleaned all the drivers and circuit boards with contact electrical cleaner. I did not see any burn spots of any of them. Then sat all parts in front of the furnace vents to make sure everything was dry. Carefully reassembled. Sprayed and dried the transformer end that went into the tank. The moment of truth came and it fired up. It still even had my programming in it. Not sure why it didn't fry it but I am thankful. Now I need to see why the GFI didn't trip. Got up this morning and it still seems fine.

 

[Brookster123]

Could it be such a low voltage it wouldn't trip it? I always picture the hairdryer in the sink is what it would take? The transformer in the cord would regulate the amount of juice allowed to the leds?? Not familiar with that unit though..

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[mr_X]

I think you simply lucked out. I did similar with a taotronics unit. It was full of salt water. I just unplugged it and put a hair dryer in front of the vents for a day or so, and it fired right back up and never skipped a beat.

 

[Delapool]

Curious on why the GFI did not trip if you get any further info.

 

[Holygral]

Curious on why the GFI did not trip if you get any further info.

Not yet, haven't looked into it further, I know they work as I have tripped them in the past

 

[Ingy]

As an electrician / electronics technologist, here's the low down:

Almost all transformers are sealed with a resin or other shellac so moisture cannot cause shorts between the primary and secondary windings. As for the circuit boards, current levels are soo low that the minor leakage thru salt water is not enough to cause a change in switch states. And if they do , the circuit path normally used is better than the one they water.

Trip levels for GFI breakers is about 5 mA but circuit board currents are in the micro amps.

Last month at the construction site I am working at we had a rainfall flood. Water levels got over the crane transformer (600v) yet the crane continued to work. When we saw it we shut it down and after the waters were gone, cleaned it and fired it up. Surprisingly everything was ok.


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[Delapool]

As an electrician / electronics technologist, here's the low down:

Almost all transformers are sealed with a resin or other shellac so moisture cannot cause shorts between the primary and secondary windings. As for the circuit boards, current levels are soo low that the minor leakage thru salt water is not enough to cause a change in switch states. And if they do , the circuit path normally used is better than the one they water.

Trip levels for GFI breakers is about 5 mA but circuit board currents are in the micro amps.

Last month at the construction site I am working at we had a rainfall flood. Water levels got over the crane transformer (600v) yet the crane continued to work. When we saw it we shut it down and after the waters were gone, cleaned it and fired it up. Surprisingly everything was ok.


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Hi, thanks for the reply!

Kind of wondering if I should be worried now. I think the risk for me would if the lights somehow drop into the tank or the tank gets cracked and explodes out somehow, dumping water out and the lights onto the water.

We have circuit breakers at the front of the house at the fuse box. Then there is a GFI/RCD plugged into the wall socket and then into a power board with surge protector.

Should I think about asking an electrician to have a look next time or is there any way/new gadget to make it safer?

 

[Ingy]

The gfi will protect against the major failure. This shows that these systems are designed to operate over water.
When s traditional bulb falls in water the glass breaks and the element does too. Now the 2 leads are separated by s high impedance and will look for a shorter current path to ground. Thru you or anything else.

LEDS however are both solid state and the glowing portion is embedded in plastic, protecting it from water and breakage. The current has the option of a very low resistance path thru the LED or a much high resistance path (relatively) thru you. No shock because the current takes the LED route.


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[Delapool]

Ah, good news!

Coincidentally looks like a strip light of LEDs has failed at the front of the tank so off the lfs this week

 

[Holygral]

Thanks to everyone, looks like a side benefit of LED's is the reduced risk of electrocution. Cant even think about dunking one of my old 250 watt MH in.

 

[Delapool]

"For the record. This is usually the exact moment during one of your projects when things go horribly wrong." - CartoonStock -