Joshua Peterson with Peterson Electric in Loveland, Colorado with Quins and Ludo. We have a snake cage with a heat light. We used the wrong bulbs, so the arc on the ballast tripped the arc-fault breaker. It didn’t melt and set stuff on fire. It was on the way to burning down and the only indication we had was the smell. We looked in the room for all the electrical sockets we had. The Petersons came in and found the culprit. The smell was like gun powder or plastic burning. Very typical smell, but we couldn’t find any electrical sockets at fault. Luckily the breaker tripped on the house and that was the only indication that something electrical was going on. They found it. The sawdust in there and it could have gone a lot worse. To let you know, a simple ballast can melt due to higher bulbs or just wearing out in time. When that melted, it grounded out to the frame and therefore went to the circuits. They have an arc-fault breaker on this circuit in this bedroom. I have a lot of debates when I go into homes and do remodels, if they are really a big deal. I can say right now that this arc-fault breaker, if I was a normal breaker I doubt it would have sensed it. The arc-fault tripped it immediately. In my opinion, I have seen these ballast melt over the last 16 years and when they drip and get up to 300 degrees. It can be a little bit of lava to it. It may have caught that sawdust on fire. It is a great testimonial, great arc-fualts, great customers. They would absolutely hire us again.
