Sad about vortex filter :-( ....

[Daniel Morrow]

I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of todays
experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I think is
a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose output hose
slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must thank
him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci tripped
and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but I
decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products would come
out with special hoses or something which would prevent what happened to me
from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially designated to
storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even imagine what
would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play back before
my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!

--
You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com

[Charles]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:24:07 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
> wrote:

>I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of todays
>experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
>Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I think is
>a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose output hose
>slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
>miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must thank
>him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci tripped
>and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but I
>decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products would come
>out with special hoses or something which would prevent what happened to me
>from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially designated to
>storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even imagine what
>would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play back before
>my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!


I forget how they're made, haven't had one for a few years, but I
wonder if a hose clamp wouldn't work to hold the hose on.

I find that a HOT Magnum with the micron filter pollishes the water to
my satisfaction.

It's good you use the gfci, but without it probably nothing would have
happened. I've reached into tanks with a broken heater, three days in
a row. I've hav fluorescent lights fall into the tank, reached in and
pullerd them out while they were still powered. I've had an extention
cord outdoors when the rain made a puddle that submerged, the
connection where two cords were plugged together, walked through the
puddle.

Lucky? maybe, but electricity isn't certain death.

[Koi-lo]

"Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
...
But after I turned it on the loose output hose
> slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
> miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must
> thank
> him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci.
=========================
Try hose-clamps. All Lowe's, ACE Hardware and Home Depots carry them.
They're less than a $1 each.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Daniel Morrow]

Mid posted.

--
You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com
"Charles" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:24:07 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
> > wrote:
>
> >I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of
todays
> >experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
> >Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I think
is
> >a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose output
hose
> >slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
> >miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must
thank
> >him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci
tripped
> >and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but I
> >decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products would
come
> >out with special hoses or something which would prevent what happened to
me
> >from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially designated to
> >storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even imagine
what
> >would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play back
before
> >my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!
>
>
> I forget how they're made, haven't had one for a few years, but I
> wonder if a hose clamp wouldn't work to hold the hose on.

It's easy to over tighten hose clamps - I accidentally did that and crushed
a connection or two on my vortexes previous main body/chassis and had to
replace it. Also - the other end of the hose (the free end/return) was what
fell out, not the end connected to the vortex xl. I plan on getting a magnum
350 deluxe sometime soon anyways though.


>
> I find that a HOT Magnum with the micron filter pollishes the water to
> my satisfaction.
>
> It's good you use the gfci, but without it probably nothing would have
> happened. I've reached into tanks with a broken heater, three days in
> a row. I've hav fluorescent lights fall into the tank, reached in and
> pullerd them out while they were still powered. I've had an extention
> cord outdoors when the rain made a puddle that submerged, the
> connection where two cords were plugged together, walked through the
> puddle.
>
> Lucky? maybe, but electricity isn't certain death.

True, I am experienced in electronics and LOVE electricity.

[Charles]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:27:16 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
> wrote:

>It's easy to over tighten hose clamps - I accidentally did that and crushed
>a connection or two on my vortexes previous main body/chassis and had to
>replace it. Also - the other end of the hose (the free end/return) was what
>fell out, not the end connected to the vortex xl. I plan on getting a magnum
>350 deluxe sometime soon anyways though.


for permanent connection, the 350 might be okay, I have pretty much
abandoned mine, it's too hard to purge the air from it when it is
first set up. It works well once it is going, but I hate
inconvenience. The HOT magnum I like for a temporary setup for a
couple days to clean up the water when it gets messy. I cleaned up
green water in three days, I liked that.

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.

--
You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com
"Charles" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:27:16 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
> > wrote:
>
> >It's easy to over tighten hose clamps - I accidentally did that and
crushed
> >a connection or two on my vortexes previous main body/chassis and had to
> >replace it. Also - the other end of the hose (the free end/return) was
what
> >fell out, not the end connected to the vortex xl. I plan on getting a
magnum
> >350 deluxe sometime soon anyways though.
>
>
> for permanent connection, the 350 might be okay, I have pretty much
> abandoned mine, it's too hard to purge the air from it when it is
> first set up. It works well once it is going, but I hate
> inconvenience. The HOT magnum I like for a temporary setup for a
> couple days to clean up the water when it gets messy. I cleaned up
> green water in three days, I liked that.

I know what you mean but I have for myself a solution. I made a little
device that I can pump water into any canister filter with and totally prime
them. The device consists of a bellows (cylindrical) type hand pump and some
hose. The pump was bought brand new at a hardware store super cheap and it
was originally intended by the manufacturer to be used to siphon kerosene.
It works great - I use it with all of my canister filters - very useful! If
you are interested on making your own check out my original post I posted
about it here, do a search on google groups if you need to. The hot sounds
pretty good - I am impressed you were able to get rid of green water like
that with it. To me the hot seems more like a convenience item than a
permanent solution (I prefer true canister filters). Good luck and later
charles!

[NetMax]

"Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
...
>I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of
>todays
> experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
> Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I
> think is
> a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose output
> hose
> slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
> miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must
> thank
> him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci
> tripped
> and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but I
> decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products would
> come
> out with special hoses or something which would prevent what happened
> to me
> from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially designated
> to
> storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even imagine
> what
> would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play back
> before
> my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!


I'm glad to hear that you're alright!
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.

--
You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com
"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of
> >todays
> > experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
> > Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I
> > think is
> > a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose output
> > hose
> > slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
> > miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I must
> > thank
> > him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci
> > tripped
> > and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but I
> > decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products would
> > come
> > out with special hoses or something which would prevent what happened
> > to me
> > from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially designated
> > to
> > storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even imagine
> > what
> > would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play back
> > before
> > my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!
>
>
> I'm glad to hear that you're alright!
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>
>

Thanks netmax! To be honest I am starting to wonder if what happened was not
such a big deal after all though. I just don't know. Good luck and later!

[NetMax]

"Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
...
> Bottom posted.
>
> --
> You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> "Daniel Morrow" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >I know I have preached about the vortex xl in the past but because of
>> >todays
>> > experience I had with mine I am planning on sending mine to storage.
>> > Everything was going fine when I was going to use it to fix what I
>> > think is
>> > a reduced overeating problem. But after I turned it on the loose
>> > output
>> > hose
>> > slipped from underneath the glass at the top of the tank and spilled
>> > miserably onto 2 power strips and if there is a benevolent god I
>> > must
>> > thank
>> > him/her/it for giving me the insight to always use a gfci. The gfci
>> > tripped
>> > and I didn't feel a thing (2 of my toes were wet in the puddle), but
>> > I
>> > decided the mess wasn't worth it and I wish inner space products
>> > would
>> > come
>> > out with special hoses or something which would prevent what
>> > happened
>> > to me
>> > from happening to someone else. My vortex xl is officially
>> > designated
>> > to
>> > storage. I will use other options in the future. Could you even
>> > imagine
>> > what
>> > would have happened if I didn't use a gfci? <seeing my life play
>> > back
>> > before
>> > my very eyes> Any ways - good luck (like me!) and later!
>>
>>
>> I'm glad to hear that you're alright!
>> --
>> www.NetMax.tk
>>
>>
>
> Thanks netmax! To be honest I am starting to wonder if what happened
> was not
> such a big deal after all though. I just don't know. Good luck and
> later!


I have some background in electrical engineering. The determining factor
tends to be whether a critical part of your body is the path of lowest
resistance. If yes, it can be very difficult to remove yourself from the
path if your muscles spasm. If no, then either the path's resistance
will be low enough to trip a fuse (ie: 15-20amps) or not, and if not, it
waits until some unfortunate comes along to provide that path, to conduct
the current to a lower voltage potential (ie: earth ground).

The bottom line, without a GFI, there is some luck involved. With a GFI,
you're generally *quite* safe.
--
www.NetMax.tk