On the morning of 16 January 2003, I looked out of my office window and
saw a large cloud of smoke coming from the direction of the pump. I went out to take a look
and saw this:
Unfortunately, the flash is no match for the brightness of the sun, but you can see the
switch on the pillar in the middle has melted, the conduit is charred, and the plug is
lying, without prongs, on the left.
My best guess is that while performing plumbing work on 14
January, some dam water splashed on the power socket. It has a high salt content, so it
would conduct relatively well. The socket is made of plastic, which after charring conducts
even better.
We replaced the socket and confirmed that the pump is still OK. I tried to get a ceramic
insert, but they don't have that sort of thing. It would be too simple, wouldn't it?
