Quote from: windpath on March 18, 2014, 04:16:31 AM

WOW, Glad you and your home are OK....

Quote from: kthejung on March 18, 2014, 12:21:29 AM

Let's talk about preventative measures.

To 2nd kthejung, this is a great thread to drive home some basic safety stuff for all of us....

Here is my list to get started, would love to see other contributions:

Prevention:
1. Monitor your machines.
2. Get a kill-a-watt meter to see what your drawing at all outlets/circuits: https://www.google.com/search?q=kill+a+watt
3. Add an external digital display thermometer to each piece of equipment that does not have one (image below)
3. Love your PSU's as much as your miner:
- Don't exceed the ratings on quality units (I like corsair), and on lower quality PSUs stay below 75% of rating
- cables from PSU to wall should remain cool to the touch or room temp
- cables from PSU to miner *may* be warm, but should never be hot
- miners are very susceptible to power spikes and dips, a good power conditioning UPS can eliminate spikes to your equipment.
- having an efficient and sufficient power supply system will reduce your ongoing power costs, prolong the life of your equipment, and keep your mining profitable longer.
4. Heat is a fire starter, monitor your rig temps everywhere you can and keep them within manufacturers spec
5. Heat is a fire starter, its going to start to warm up soon (hopefully) for much of the mining world, keep an eye on your temps as the ambient temp increases
6. Heat is a fire starter, if you overclock, provide the needed extra cooling
7. GFCI outlets are never a bad thing
8. Have a smoke detector you can monitor away from the mine (eg: https://store.nest.com/product/smoke-co-alarm/ expensive, but cool)

In the event of electrical fire:
NOTE: DO NOT PUT WATER ON AN ELECTRICAL FIRE IF THE POWER IS ON!!!!
1. Call the fire department if the fire has spread from your equipment to anywhere, seriously.
2. Don't fight a fire not worth fighting.
3. Shut off the main building power breaker if possible, if you can not access the building main breaker the breaker in the fuse box (DRY HANDS, not part of fire). This alone will stop most electrical fires in their initial stages.
4. Use a Fire Blanket, it will save what is left of your equipment and is the most effective way to put out the fire. You can find a 4x5 foot fire blanket for under $20
5. Use ONLY Class "C" or multipurpose "ABC" fire extinguishers (you have a couple nearby right?)
6. As a last resort, AFTER THE MAIN BREAKER HAS BEEN SHUT OFF, you can use water.

Yes, this costs a little money, yes it is worth it.

IMO properly providing and monitoring clean power with overrated cable is the best way to prevent fires.

I run overclocked AntMiners at 200GH/s (400 MHz) with a 2nd 120mm high volume fan added as an exhaust off of Corsair RM 550W power supplies, the PSU and all power cables remain cool, miners run steadily at 38C (100F) in a room kept around 20C (68F) during winter and around 22C (72F) during summer.

Here is a shot of a external digital display thermometer monitoring 2 AntMiner S1s:

Wow thanks for these details!!!
I really like the way this threat has turned out to be a place to share experiences on preventing fire.
Thanks to everyone,
JT

Edidt:
One more thing where did you get those thermometers ?? Ebay??