PSA: Beware of Cheap eBay Fixtures. Fire!

I am simply posting this as a PSA (public service announcement) to warn potential buyers about the hidden dangers of buying cheap, 3rd party fixtures off eBay.

Recently a local teacher in the East Phoenix Metropolitan set up a small reef tank in her classroom with the intent of education. "Miss Janet" was able to do this via many local reefers donating livestock and equipment. However, some things she acquired/purchased on her own, with budget being in her foresight. The lighting she purchased, via eBay, was sold as "Aquarium Reef LED Lamp 30W 450 nm Actinic BLUE" (eBay link). Some of you are likely familiar with this product; it looks like this:




On Christmas morning, this light caught fire, and the subsequent sprinkler system in the building caused thousands of dollars in damage. Surveillance cameras captured the origin of the fire. Directly from "janetora" on RC, the teacher who set up this tank with the best of intentions: "Except for the burned pile that was my tank, my classroom looks almost the same. But because of the water damage my room plus eight others are a complete loss. They are talking about a half a million or something like that in cost. ... Cameras have it [the eBay light] smoking and then catching on fire. Poof! It started in the LED light housing." (Original RC Thread)

Thankfully, the wider local community pulled together and was able to get this community center back up and running in short order: East Valley Jewish Community Center gets thousands in donations after a fire on Christmas Day

So please, buyer beware and make your eBay purchases carefully! Saving a little now can cost you a WHOLE lot more later.

Disclaimer: I do not have any ties to this unfortunate teacher, the community center, nor the eBay seller. This is purely to help spread important information to all buyers in the LED market.

 

That is a crazy story!

 

It's not so crazy.

And to think how many people I made mad by warning them of buying from these cheap, fly by night companies! I'm talking about companies that won't list their address or phone number for fear of liability. I guess you just got to ask, "Is it worth the risk?"

 

That is all very true.

 

There is a 3reef member who has one or two of those. hopefully they see this thread.

 

wow that's unfortunate, luckily no one hurt during the whole ordeal

 

I'm not sure of the likelihood of fire versus a "better" fixture. A lot of these aren't UL approved, though,so, that gives insurance companies an out if a fire does happen. That's the part that always worried me the most with the budget stuff.

 

So true! You get what you pay for..

I'm glad nobody was hurt, its a shame to see anything like this happen.


P.S. Karma for you!!! (Savings Lives = Karma)

 

This seems all to familiar. People looking to buy a light for as cheap as they come. And are stunned when the extremely cheap pieces of hardware catch fire.

Anyone else remember this with Oddysea ? Same story different company.
As someone else said. You get what you pay for.

 

I beg you all, if you cannot easily locate a phone number or address of a company, please refrain from purchasing from that company. The only reason to hide this info is to escape liability. And don't be afraid to verify a distributor, E-tailer, or manufacturer's address using google maps. Private postal mailboxes (ie: the UPS Store) are also a big red flag. They won't release any info about the company who owns it. Regular US postal service PO Box is somewhat acceptable.