Electric current in water - Page 2 - Aquarium Advice

dskidmore · 09-21-2006, 03:09 PM

I think it's a matter of safety. Sure you should upkeep your equiptment and not depend on the ground probe to make up for faulty equiptment, but if you did have a sudden failure, the ground probe could save your life when you reach in the water.

afilter · 09-21-2006, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dskidmore

I think it's a matter of safety. Sure you should upkeep your equiptment and not depend on the ground probe to make up for faulty equiptment, but if you did have a sudden failure, the ground probe could save your life when you reach in the water.

Most definately, just do not assume because you have a probe that all is well. The problem may exist and you will not know until marine life starts to show signs of suffering/dieing or the probe fails. Then it is probably to late.

Unfortunately I think too many feel that if they have a ground probe the potential problem is solved.

Bottom line, a meter should probably be a part of the required list of aquarium equipment, and test often.

abnmojo · 09-24-2006, 12:54 AM

Well, I have a scary experience to tell here. A long time ago, I had as primary filtration on my 55 gallon salt tank a big canister filter. I still have it, in the garage, if anyone wants it.... lol. Anyway, the seal was not seated properly and when I plugged it in, it shot a stream of salt water 2 feet out and you guessed it, directly onto an electrical outlet.

Sparks, Smoke, scary stuff. I had to grab a broom handle and knock the plug out of the wall.

Quite frankly, saltwater is about 10000 times a better conductor of electricity than fresh water. I have never had any problems with a little bit of fresh water splashed on any electrical outlets, but I tell you, salt water is nothing to mess with.

A good rule of thumb is to buy the stupid grounding probe, and just toss those powerheads out once they are about 5 years old (for the cheap/mid priced ones). After that long, they are going to die soon anyway and most 'stray voltage' in a system can be traced to them if you have the time and equipment to check. I guess if you got some high dollar ones they would last longer, but I always get the cheap ones because I figure 2 X $35 powerheads in 10 years time is still cheaper than ONE $75 powerhead that would last that long.

09-21-2006, 03:09 PM	#11
dskidmore Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Genesee Valley Posts: 2,290 Images: 1	I think it's a matter of safety. Sure you should upkeep your equiptment and not depend on the ground probe to make up for faulty equiptment, but if you did have a sudden failure, the ground probe could save your life when you reach in the water. __________________ 75 gallon freshwater Baby shrimp sighted! 2.5 Gallon unpowered freshwater now with high light 0.25 gallon palmtop doomed to an unlit end?

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09-24-2006, 12:54 AM	#13
abnmojo Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: May 2006 Location: NC Posts: 118	Well, I have a scary experience to tell here. A long time ago, I had as primary filtration on my 55 gallon salt tank a big canister filter. I still have it, in the garage, if anyone wants it.... lol. Anyway, the seal was not seated properly and when I plugged it in, it shot a stream of salt water 2 feet out and you guessed it, directly onto an electrical outlet. Sparks, Smoke, scary stuff. I had to grab a broom handle and knock the plug out of the wall. Quite frankly, saltwater is about 10000 times a better conductor of electricity than fresh water. I have never had any problems with a little bit of fresh water splashed on any electrical outlets, but I tell you, salt water is nothing to mess with. A good rule of thumb is to buy the stupid grounding probe, and just toss those powerheads out once they are about 5 years old (for the cheap/mid priced ones). After that long, they are going to die soon anyway and most 'stray voltage' in a system can be traced to them if you have the time and equipment to check. I guess if you got some high dollar ones they would last longer, but I always get the cheap ones because I figure 2 X $35 powerheads in 10 years time is still cheaper than ONE $75 powerhead that would last that long.