broken skimmer, fire?

[jacrmill]

Sorry I know this may be the wrong forum for this, but I am always able to get quick responses here. I posted this in the equipment section this morning and nobody really responded.
My prizm skimmer quit on me Friday night, it was just kind of humming but the impeller wouldnt spin. so I took it apart and cleaned the impeller really well. its working a little today, but I am kind of a paranoid person. I am going to get a new skimmer when I get home, but I am leaving tomorrow for a week vacation. Do you think it is safe to leave the skimmer running, if it stops is there any chance it could start a fire? I couldnt imagine that it would, but just looking for some reassurance.
Thanks for the help,
Jacob

 

[curve]

I would not take the chance with it. I would just shut it off and let it be for the week while your gone. I don't run a skimmer on any of my tanks and I don't have any trouble so I would think you would be fine for a week without it running.

 

[pjlovesbaskets]

Okay... let me put this really simply. NO WAY! DON'T GO AWAY WITH IT PLUG IN! With that said.... let me share that I went away June 11-17th with a 5 month old (brand new) skimmer that was working fine and it siphoned my 125g tank all over my house. I am still blowing fans on carpets and have ceiling damage as well. It overflowed so quickly that it got water in my surge and burnt up the surge and skimmer cord. I am now in the final stages of getting the company who made the skimmer to pay for the damage. It looks really promising. My carpets smell musty.
It also tripped my filter off so my tank wasn't filtering. When I got home my tank was a mess. I only lost one fish and a shrimp. I got the filtration up and going and have been operating without a skimmer ever since. My readings are good too. You will be fine without a skimmer for a week. You will rest a lot easier too. TRUST ME! DON'T DO IT!!!

 

[jacrmill]

well theres not really any risk of it overflowing, my prizm is in my sump. but i appreciatte the advice and good luck with getting the company to pay. It seems to be working ok now that I cleaned it well, but is there any way if the impeller stops turning it could start a fire.....i dont see any way, I mean there is no way for water to get to the outlet, and if the pump heats up it will just be cooled by the tank and couldnt really start a fire. but wanted some more experiences.
any more experiences?

 

[usirchchris]

I don't have a personal experience in the matter but...I don't think it would harm anything at all to leave it unplugged for 1 week. It is not that long and not worth the worry imo.