Article: Fire Prevention

[natas]

Ok, we need this article bad. So lets get this article started. Please reply with ideas, or your own fire prevention article.

Once we get enough information gathered we will then turn this into a full article that will go in our article section

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[Sleepy_FF]

oh... very good idea. let me start by saying that each and every one of my tanks is hooked into its own surge protector

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[Adrya]

I have all of the electrical cords bundled and tied up with those plastic zip ties that you can't get loose again, and everything is very neat and tidy. No cords touching the ground whatsoever. If there are any transformers that do get hot, that is the only thing that I will have on the floor and I keep it in an empty metal coffee can so it's not directly contacting any possible combustible material.

I also have all of my heat tape and some lights on dimmers, as well as everything plugged into surge protectors.

I keep all of my animals in the same building, and since I also keep birds (the parakeets are the messiest), the parakeets are near the gas heater, and I make sure it stays absolutely clean around it. No feathers at all. I also make sure that ghost turds/dust bunnies don't build up around the electrical outlets or cords.

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[SoberGuy]

One of the biggest issues with electrical concerns is simply keeping all cords, wires, and cables neat and organized, in dry places where they won’t be exposed to water, severe temperatures, or any crimping or kinking. Check your cables carefully to make sure the insulation is solid and intact, with no bare wiring exposed. Wiring doesn’t have to make contact to short out; electricity can arc over air. Check out this link to see an incredible display of electricity arcing. 500kV Switch Opening - Google Video Scary, isn’t it?

The next thing we need to do is specify which circuit in our house we’ll be using. Now, every house and apartment has a circuit box, or breaker box, whatever you’d like to call it. In apartments, this might be inside, it might be outside. Go find it and let’s take a look. Below is a decent enough picture similar to what you should see.



On the door, hopefully, you’ll have some labeling to let you know what circuit breaker goes to which room. Hopefully it will labeled nicely. If not, switch one off, see what room it went to, and keep proceeding until you find the right one. This is a bit easier with two people, one to tell you what went out, and you can just stand there and flip switches. Either way, locate the right one, and turn it off.

Now, let’s go to that room, our snake room, and find out what has been affected. You want to check all light switches and all outlets. It’s important to know exactly what is controlled by that breaker. We also want to check neighboring rooms, bathrooms, hallways, etc, to find out if anything else was affected at all. Now, hopefully you’ve written down which outlets, switches, lights, fans, etc, are controlled by that circuit. You can flip the circuit back on now. We just needed to know what’s controlled by that breaker.

Now we get to have a bit of fun. We need to find out how much power is on this circuit. We’re going to do this by adding up all of our amps. Everything you plug in should be labeled with either watts or amps. Ceiling lights, like any light bulb, will be labeled in watts. Appliances, heaters, etc, may either be watts or amps. Right down everything that’s affected by that circuit, and exactly how much of what it’s using. Be sure to notate if it’s watts or amps, as these two are completely different.

Now that we’ve got our list, let’s separate the watts and the amps. Add up all of your watts, and only the watts. To convert watts to amps, we need to divide our total watts by our voltage, which is typically 120. So, for example, let’s say that we have a lighting bar in our bathroom, complete with 4 bulbs that are each 60 watts. Our total watts is 240, which is simply 4 times 60. Our total amps is 240 divided by 120, or 2. So our 4 bulbs that are 60 watts each use a total of 2 amps. Now, convert all your watts to amps. Once you have that done, add up your amps, and find let’s find out what our total is.

Hopefully, you’re total number of amps on this circuit are going to be anywhere from 12 to 15, maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less. Now, let’s go back to our circuit breaker box. Remember which specific breaker is controlling our herp room? What do the numbers on it say? 15? 20? That’s the maximum amount of amps you can pull before that breaker should trip. If you’re over that number, well, we have a bit of problem. If you’re very, very close to that number, we need to do some trimming.

Obviously there’s a lot more to this. I’m actively working on more, and hope to have it closer to complete by the end of the day.

[natas]

Good job Soberguy. Lets keep this up

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[ChadRamsey]

simple and stupid: Keep a fire extinguisher in your "snakeroom".

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[natas]

Smoke alarm as well

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[Sleepy_FF]

wow sober.... wow. big words scare me.


as for the fire extinguisher and the smoke alarm... already got both. good ideas

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[DaveA]

great job Sober...

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[SoberGuy]

Thanks, folks. More to come....

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[SoberGuy]

If you need to trim back on your usage and are concerned about pulling too many amps on a circuit, there are a few options. Obviously you can purchase energy efficient equipment, like the light bulbs and some appliances. You can take a look at using other heating elements that are more efficient, or you can look at re-designing cages to hold in the heat better, or allow the heat to transfer in more effectively.

If your breaker is just 15 amps, you can also look at going up to a 20 amp breaker. This can get a bit tricky, as you have to worry about wire size, how things are wired, etc. Please do not swap out breakers on your own. If you’d like to up the size of the breaker, add an additional circuit or do anything, please consult a professional electrician and have the work done by someone who (hopefully) won’t kill themselves in the process. It’s also a good idea to have your breakers replaced every few years. Again, seek professional help in this process. Regular, routine maintenance can be a huge factor in fire prevention.

Now that we know what our capacity is (breaker size) and our usage needs (amps), let’s take a look at how it’s all plugged in. Are you using power strips, or surge protectors? Remember, there is a difference between the two. Power strips are basically extension cords, adding a little extra length and a few more places to plug in cables than a normal wall outlet would allow. Surge protectors are designed to trip if too many amps are suddenly pulled. Surge protectors are designed for sensitive electronic equipment, like televisions and computers. Personally, I don’t see too much need to have a surge protector hooked up to herp equipment, unless of course you’re running a very expensive, very sensitive thermostat. You can go either way with this. Use one or don’t, I don’t see much difference.

The important thing, despite what you use, even if it’s just a regular old extension cord, is to be aware of its capacity. Anything new should have its capacity printed on the box, wrapper, material included, etc. If your power strip is only rated for 5 or 7 amps, please don’t put more into than it says it can handle. The reason for this is the wiring inside.

The great by-product of electricity is heat. Light bulbs are hot after being used, your television gets hot, computer, etc. It all gets hot from the current (amps) being fed through it. Extension cords are the same, and so is the wiring inside your house. If you put too much current through a wire, it will get hot and melt the insulation around it. When the insulation gets hot and melts, it can catch fire on it’s own, or it can expose the wire and allow it to arc, easily starting a big fire. Going over capacity on any wiring, circuits, breakers, etc, runs a great risk of starting a fire. The damage, as far as melting away insulation and exposing wiring, can take place very quickly, or it can take a year or so to build up enough of a cumulative effect to start a fire. If you notice your amps are too high, or your extension cords or power strips are being used beyond capacity, please fix this. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Keep your cables organized, preferably labeled where they plug in at. Keep them away from water, away from sever hot temperatures, away from anything might crimp or kink them. This cannot be stressed enough. Your wiring should also be somewhat accessible. You should check it periodically to see if you notice any water in the area (pipe leaks, spilled water as you change out cages, whatever), evidence of the insulation being eaten away (either from rodents or heat), etc.

Smoke alarms are a great idea. Make sure they work, make sure they have batteries, either as a main power supply or as a backup. When you change your clocks in the fall and the spring, you should also replace the batteries in all smoke alarms. If you live in Arizona, well, figure out a similar time line to help you out. Or just change your clocks like the rest of us.

Fire extinguishers have their pros and cons. Remember, not just any fire extinguisher will do. Make sure you get one specifically for the room it will go in. Grease fires and kitchen fires have their own needs, so pay attention to what you buy. Make sure it’s easily accessible, and readily available if you do decide to get one. Wall mounts are great, but in your home, there’s not much need to have a nice little box with a glass cover. Simple brackets are fine, unless of course your kids like to play pranks… Fire extinguishers loose their charge periodically, so you either need to get it recharged or replaced. Having a fire extinguisher does no good if it’s from the 70’s or has no charge. Annual checking is a minimum, every 6 months is recommended.

A little adage I was taught will hopefully help out a bit. It’s the 7 Ps. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Painfully Poor Performance.

[Adrya]

Great post, especially about the whole amps thing... I should go check on that.

I also did forget to mention that I already have a fire extinguisher and smoke/CO alarm in the building as well.

Oh and also since it can get rediculously dripping humid in the building from having the turtle ponds in there, I have a dehumidifier running all the time and it's hooked up so it drains into the sink. Lately it's been warm enough outside that I've had some windows open and the humidity drops down a lot into the 40s without the dehumidifier.

Also another good idea I forgot to mention is if you have a few big appliances (chest freezer, fridge, etc) I try to even out where everything is plugged in... so that one wall isn't overloaded with things plugged into it than the opposite wall, etc.

[SoberGuy]

Originally Posted by Adrya_Webb

Also another good idea I forgot to mention is if you have a few big appliances (chest freezer, fridge, etc) I try to even out where everything is plugged in... so that one wall isn't overloaded with things plugged into it than the opposite wall, etc.

While this certainly doesn't hurt, it doesn't really matter too much, technically. The wiring is rated for a certain amp load, and it doesn't matter if it's pulling at capacity or half capacity. As long as it isn't pulling any amps over its rating, your fine. Basically, you only have one set of wires coming off your circuit breaker. So it's really not a big deal. Like I said, doesn't matter muc, really. So, now you can re-decorate comfortably if you like.

[fire_kat]

wow...great job,Soberguy!Thanks a million...that was explained very well!

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[SoberGuy]

Thanks, fire kat. If there's anything else that needs more explanation, or a different explanation, or further, or whatever, just let me know and I'll do what I can. I have some pretty good resources...

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[Adrya]

Originally Posted by SoberGuy

While this certainly doesn't hurt, it doesn't really matter too much, technically. The wiring is rated for a certain amp load, and it doesn't matter if it's pulling at capacity or half capacity. As long as it isn't pulling any amps over its rating, your fine. Basically, you only have one set of wires coming off your circuit breaker. So it's really not a big deal. Like I said, doesn't matter muc, really. So, now you can re-decorate comfortably if you like.

Well after I posted that there's actually 4 different circuit breakers... one line controls two walls and another one controls the other two walls. Third I think goes to the ceiling lights and such, and I think the 4th goes to the water heater in the basement. And each one's rated 20 amps so I'm actually good. lol but yeah I guess it really isn't a big deal. My setup this winter is actually the best setup yet. Thanks for the info, I feel kinda silly now. lol I already had the big appliances on one wall already, but before I used to have at least one of those on another wall.. just my dad one time said "isn't that a lot for one wall?" but he's the one who wired the place, so he should know. lol Don't worry, he's not dumb when it comes to wiring.. just I had hardly anything on one side of the room and I had the fridge, freezer and dehumidifier on the other, so that's why he said that.. lol

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[SoberGuy]

Well, as long as it works for you, and hey, now you know how it's set up!

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[All_American]

SG, are you ready to come over and re wire my house? LOL
That jacobs later ark was awsome. that probably makes your hair stand on end when it arks like that

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[SoberGuy]

Ed, sure. We can get busy anytime. I gotta show you what I did in my apartment with cable and data lines to get TV and internet in the garage. Pretty clean. Oh, yeah, I need to be a bit more modest.

When it arcs like that, it's very scary, to me. That stuff is so dang dangerous. Just yesterday a guy in San Bernardino was almost killed cause he tried to steal LIVE copper wire from an abandoned building. I mean, that's only 120, maybe 240 if he was closer to a service line or something. But still, dude is in a world of hurt in the hospital. Electricity is scary stuff.

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[SoberGuy]

Ttt

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