Shop Fire!

D

Darren Ellis

Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Messages
992
Well, this couldn't have happened at a worse time! I'm backed up on orders, the end of the school semester is upon me with the subsequent "everything due at once" syndrome, and now my welder and grinders are down too. Yesterday while working on forge orders, my electrical panel caught fire and burned up some of the 220V wiring. I managed to put it out before anything else caught on fire...like the rest of the shop (!), but I've now got some rewiring to do. Also, it looks like it took out my welder in the process...I was welding at the time. I ran a jumper from the house 220V circuit today and it's a no-go....I think the VFDs that power my grinders will be fine...thankfully, I wired them through on/off switches and they were all off. I'm glad I heeded some of the safety suggestions on here and have fire extinguishers in my shop, otherwise, it could have been really bad news.

So, if I was behind before, I'm really really behind now! I'm going to refund all deposits for forge orders I currently have. This way, for those who don't wish to wait, you can seek out an alternative option. I don't know how long it is going to take me to get things straightened out regarding the wiring and welder. Even though this is my livelihood, in addition to this work, I've got graduate school responsibilities that take precedent, so I'm not even going to try to guess when I will be back operational with the welding...I've got to get it to the repair facility and see what's wrong with it first as well as redo some wiring... I apologize in advance if this causes anyone any inconvenience...

When I get back operational, I'll finish up the current batch of forges and contact each person who had an order for one. If you still want it at that time, I'll get it shipped, but if you've found an alternative option before then, I completely understand...no obligations on your part at all.

Assuming my grinders are ok once I get the wiring redone to them, I don't think this will affect any knife orders by more than a couple of weeks. If it does, I'll email each person individually.

For those affected, thanks for your understanding.

-Darren
 
Sorry to hear about the fire. Don't forget to get your fire extinguishers refilled. I finally finished my forge and have some pics.Let me know what resolution you need and i will email them to you.

Mike
 
Darren, sorry to hear about that. I hope you get back to normal quickly with out too much expense....
 
Darren, that's really terrible, your fire and all the trouble you have. I'm glad you had your fire extinguisher handy!
 
Sorry about your fire.Hope you get it all hooked back soon.You may need more service to your panel,and heavier wiring.
Today I got back to the forge and worked on some 200 year old wrought iron.The forge is under an awning and the bamboo leaves had accumulated a bit on the back side of the anvil base.I went into the shop to get a different set of tongs.When I came back there was fire all around the anvil.I put it out with the hose and all was fine.Seems that the flying scale set it afire.Goes to show what can happen in just a few minutes.When I am done grinding in the shop an have packed up for the night,I always turn the light off with the door closed and look around in the dark for glowing metal filings.They will smolder for hours (maybe days).
 
Darren that's terrible to hear. I was there about a year and a half ago. Lost one wall of the barn and had alot of damage. Big or small, any fire is a real loss whether it's material, time, etc. If we can help out at all just give a yell. Best of luck.
 
Glad you're not hurt Darren, all else is replaceable in time. If you ever figure out the exact cause, post it here so we can all learn. Take care of yourself and your wife everything else will find it's way to "level". Nature's way by God's design.
 
Sorry about the badluck! I wish you were closer to kansas I'd trade you new shop wiring for kiln materials. Hope you get all fixed up.
 
Ride it out Darren. Slow down a little buudy. What will be, will be. You will be back up in no time. :D
 
Hey everybody, thanks for the words of support and encouragement. I think in retrospect, I should have made the subject line something like "burned up 220V shop wiring/panel and welder is down!" instead of "shop fire!" ...this was nothing like what J. and Tess had in their shop, not even in the same ballpark...

...it's just the timing of it that really sucks. ah, well, I figure I'll be back up in a month or two... if it wasn't the end of the school semester, it'd probably be sooner...

-Darren
 
as above sorry too to hear this. I hope your up and running soon..

if you didn't have loose wires that caused it ,
you may have over loaded the wires and them not fused/brakered right.
be sure you ckeck that out
a fuse is no good if the wire burns first... :(
 
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