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Author Topic: Make sure your tub is wired properly!  (Read 3856 times)

Zep

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Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« on: February 01, 2007, 09:39:08 am »


[size=16]Tequesta fire blamed on faulty hot tub wiring[/size]

By MICHELLE SHELDONE
michelle.sheldone@scripps.com
January 31, 2007

An electrical wiring problem claimed the third wood-frame structure in the area
in less than as many weeks.

Kati and Mike Ballard of Tequesta were left homeless and lost at least one of
their two pets to a fire that the Martin County Fire Marshal said was caused by
a short in hot tub wiring.

The short then "ignited the wood frame of the structure," Martin County Chief
Jon Pasqualone said.

The Ballards were at work when a neighbor called to tell them their Paddock
Circle home in South Martin County's Turtle Creek subdivision was on fire.
Inside the home were Bally, the Ballards' yellow Labrador, and Kiki, their
white cat.

Lupita McElroy, who lives across the street, was about to run errands when
she saw the thick black smoke that blocked her view of their home.

Smoke like that "a lot of times caused by the roof — like burning tar, because
that's what it is," Pasqualone said.

"It took seconds to get to that point," McElroy said.

Firefighters from Martin and Palm Beach County and Tequesta spent 20
minutes battling the blaze. They found the Lab, but not the cat.

The Martin County Chapter of the American Red Cross stepped in to assist
the firefighters and the Ballard family.

A Jan. 7 electrical fire, believed to have started with a water heater,
consumed the Jupiter guesthouse of Pat and Bill Magrogan.

No one was injured and the main house on Riverside Drive was not damaged.

But ten days later, Vickie Blakemore of Jupiter Farms lost two dogs and
a bearded dragon after degraded insulation around an electrical cord started
a fire that also left her and her children homeless.

ELECTRICAL FIRE SAFETY TIPS

• Purchase UL-approved or safety-tested appliances.

• Give large appliances their own heavy-duty electrical circuit;
follow the manufacturer's instructions for plugging in.

• Unplug appliances after use.

• Avoid running extension cords across doorways or under carpets.

• Consider having a qualified electrician add circuits or outlets that avoid use extension cord use.

• Use only safety-tested extension cords or multiple adapters with built-in circuit   breakers.

• If outlets or switches feel warm, shut off the circuit and have an electrician
  check them.

• When possible, avoid the use of cube taps and other devices that allow
   connecting multiple appliances into a single receptacle.

• Place lamps on level surfaces, away from things that can burn, and use bulbs
   that match the lamp's recommended wattage.

• Provide appliances with adequate air circulation.

• Keep appliances away from water, and have them professionally serviced if
  they get wet.

• Replace broken plugs or frayed and worn cords immediately.

• Call a licensed electrician if you experience frequently blown fuses, tripped
  circuit breakers, flickering lights or a shrinking television picture. All are signs
  of faulty or inadequate wiring.

• Supervise children using appliances.

• Use outlet covers on outdoor receptacles near swimming pools; keep cords
   and electrical devices away from pools; never handle electrical items when you
   are wet.

• Ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) are required in kitchens,
bathrooms, outdoor areas, basements and garages in new residential
construction.

• All arc fault circuit interrupters and GFCIs should be installed by a
  qualified electrician and tested after installation and then once monthly to
  make sure they're working properly.

Source: Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Community Education literature

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,,TCP_16736_5316042,00.html

Hot Tub Forum

Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« on: February 01, 2007, 09:39:08 am »

Dr. Spa™ Ret.

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2007, 10:30:20 am »
Unfortunately the article isn't specific enough. Was the cause of the fire from the actual factory wiring in the spa, or the wiring installed by the electrician necessary to hook it up? Were there and unusual outside "forces" that damaged the wiring? And, for that matter, is there any evidence showing a portable spa is any more (or less) likely to cause a fire than any other large appliance?
If you can't sell it on eBay, it may not even qualify as landfill.

Retired (mostly) from the industry after 33 years...but still putzing around with a consumer information website, and trying to sell obsolete owners manuals

Gary

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2007, 10:42:41 am »
No doubt the insurance company will file a subrogation claim against the hot tub manufacture regardless of what is at fault. I do a few fire investigations for hot tub manufactures (only to determine if the spa had anything to do with the fire) and I am amazed at what insurance companies will do.

I had one insurance guy tell " if we are unsure as to what caused the fire we will send out several subrogation claims and hope some will just send some money"

Whoever the manufactures is I hope they fight it.
I am a scientist, I convert beer, wine and whiskey into urine.

Zep

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2007, 11:08:52 am »
re: unusual outside "forces" that damaged the wiring

About a year ago a guy that worked for me was electrocuted while working on
a pond pump at his Mother's house......I don't know the exact details....but his
wife told me it had something to with fire ants that had eaten through some of
the wiring.

What was really sad....his wife said his 7 year old granddaughter was out at
the pond sitting in the grass "watching PaPa fix the pond" when it happened.

One of the EMT's that was at the scene who goes to the same church later told
his wife that if he would have had a GFCI outlet it probably would have saved his
life.

After this event I had GFCI outlets installed in all my bathrooms, kitchen, garage,
and outside outlets. I think newer house codes require this....my house was built
in 1989 and did not have hardly any GFCI outlets.




Dr. Spa™ Ret.

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2007, 11:28:38 am »
Only against the manufacturer?  ;D I've done some expert witnessing in the past and my experience has been that not only will they file a claim against the spa manufacturer, but also against any of the companies that made the individual parts for the spa and any and ALL people that have ever worked on the spa.

Many years ago I was involved in a suit for a spa that over heated. I had repaired the spa TWELVE years earlier. Since I had made the PLUMBING repair, 5 other service companies had worked on the spa, one of them replacing the ENTIRE spa pack. My recollection is there were somewhere around 15 different defendants. What made it even more bazaar is initially the home owners insurance company took away the spa pack to have it checked out and tested. Prior to the filing of the suit, they LOST the thing.




Quote
No doubt the insurance company will file a subrogation claim against the hot tub manufacture regardless of what is at fault. I do a few fire investigations for hot tub manufactures (only to determine if the spa had anything to do with the fire) and I am amazed at what insurance companies will do.

I had one insurance guy tell " if we are unsure as to what caused the fire we will send out several subrogation claims and hope some will just send some money"

Whoever the manufactures is I hope they fight it.
If you can't sell it on eBay, it may not even qualify as landfill.

Retired (mostly) from the industry after 33 years...but still putzing around with a consumer information website, and trying to sell obsolete owners manuals

Chas

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2007, 11:35:51 am »
I agree - even if the tub was the starting point for the fire, the tub may have not been the problem. Sounds odd, but it's not. The source of the fire could have been the wiring which ran to the unit, the outlet the tub was plugged into if it was a 110 unit, or even an outlet near the tub or it's equipment which may have been improperly added years later.

It does say it was an elctrical short, but doesn't specify if it was in the unit or feeding the unit.

I suppose it could also have been an -in-ground unit or a tub with seperate pumps and equipment installed by who-knows who?

 8-)



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windsurfdog

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Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2007, 12:11:14 pm »
Quote
I had one insurance guy tell " if we are unsure as to what caused the fire we will send out several subrogation claims and hope some will just send some money"
Sounds like the insurance industry we all know and love.......
We, the unwilling, led by the unqualified, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful...

Hot Tub Forum

Re: Make sure your tub is wired properly!
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2007, 12:11:14 pm »

 

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