Electrifying!

[FishyFamily]

So my husband reached into our tank the other day and had a sensitive spot on his finger from a small scratch, when he did he felt a small shock. He got out his thingamijig that measures electrial current and found that there were about 20 millivoltz (if i remember what he said correctly) running through our aquarium water. By process of elimination, he found that it was the pump that is attached to our uv sterilizer. We have of course unplugged it and are just waiting for that old green cloud to reappear.

Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this before?

 

[Tex]

Yes, you need a titanium grounding probe and a GFI wall plug. Saltwater is highly conductive.

 

[AndyH5512]

I pologize for butting in. Where is the best place to get the grounding equipment mentioned?

 

[Tex]

You can buy one anywhere and install it anywhere, main tank, sump/fuge. It doesn't matter. The probes cost less than $10 and protect your animals and not necessarily YOU. If a pump, heater or some other submereged electrical device begins to leak current, the probe will safely bleed that current to an earth ground through the wiring in your home. It MUST be titanium. Also, GFI's recepticles are about $10 or $15 and should be considered a MUST HAVE for any saltwater aquarist.

PM me if you want detailed information on these subjects. I'll be more than happy to help save your life. 8)

 

[roka64]

I got my 15Ampre plugs at Home Depot for around $12, each. They look like the plugs, probablt in your kitchen and/or bathroom, with the test button on it.

Tex, where do you get this probe? How do you ground it? To the plug? Please inform us.

Thanks

 

[JM]

LFS should have the Ground Probe. It should come with directions, but usually u just have to plug the end into a grounded outlet or put the metal peice against the screw in the middle of the outlet.
My uncle is an electrician for about 25 years now and i asked him about a GFI outlet for my tank and he told me that it probably wasnt a good idea because they tend to trip too easily and if this happened when you arent around for a period of time it could be the end of all ur fish.
I think having a ground probe is enough for stray voltage.

 

[ryguy]

My uncle is an electrician for about 25 years now and i asked him about a GFI outlet for my tank and he told me that it probably wasnt a good idea because they tend to trip too easily and if this happened when you arent around for a period of time it could be the end of all ur fish.
I think having a ground probe is enough for stray voltage.

That is not good advice. The little grounding probe is NOT enough to save your life!! It's job is to remove stray voltage from heaters, pumps etc... to protect your fish from electrical related injuries. It may be enough to protect you from small leaks, but the GFCI is a MUST-HAVE.

For those thinking that they trip too easy, causing a possible loss of life to your fish...Think about your own life too. Is it worth the trade off?

As far as them tripping easy, I have never had mine trip yet accidentally, but I do have my inline (unsubmerged) return pump connected to a standard outlet and everything else to the GFCI.

If it does trip, then the pump will continue circulation and still produce enough heat to maintain my tank.

Not using a GFCI, is just plain silly!!

 

[Marc118]

Is a GFCI power strip the ones with the power and ground LEDs?

 

[ryguy]

They are the ones with a test and reset button on them. All bathrooms have them installed in there. It's building code for them to be installed.

There are three options for us aquarists. 1.) Installing a GFCI "circuit breaker" within the breaker box, this will protect any outlets on that specific circuit.

2.) Installing a GFCI "outlet" which just replaces the standard outlet.

3.) Getting an 'stand-alone" GFCI, which plugs into a standard outlet and has it's own receptacle/s.

 

[Marc118]

Oh ok, yea have those in the bathroom but no where else. I guess ill pick a few up.

Do you think home depot would have the grounding probe as well?

 

[ryguy]

Do you think home depot would have the grounding probe as well?

I doubt it. They are a aquarium product.

Check out this link

 

[Marc118]

Thanks, Marine Depot is right down the street from me so I can just pick that up.

 

[Tex]

You can certinaly buy GFI power strips. They work just fine. The ground probes are available at your LFS, drsfostersmith.com, thatpetplace.com or dozens of other places. Typically they are connected to the CENTER screw that holds on the plastic cover plate for your plug. If a house is wired properly this center screw will be grounded to earth.

JM, your uncle needs some education. His advice is not sound.

GFI stands for ground fault interrupt. When some electrical device fails and goes to an earth ground the switches open, stop the current flow and save your life. If you were to drop an old hair dryer in the bathtub it could kill you instantly. Fortunately hair dryers these days are fitted with GFI plugs. They are extremely fast acting and will open and stop current flow before your heart ever skips a beat.

Remember, the ground probe is for your fish, the GFI is for YOU.

 

[CMD26]

I have GFI outlets on all my aquarium stuff and I have never had one trip when it wasn't supposed to. My dad is an electrician and he insisted I switch the outlets I was using with GFI's just in case. He said it meant the difference between life and death, especially when dealing with saltwater.

 

[FishyFamily]

Wow! Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[ddm_aet]

I believe that a GFI actually measures the current between the hot and neutral leg and when they differ do to a short in the equipment the receptacle grounds itself tripping the receptacle or the circuit breaker.

Also do not put two GFI receptacles on a circuit, once you install one in a circuit the entire circuit becomes ground fault protected.

One of the main reasons of getting zapped is having bad grounds, make sure any equipment that requires grounds to be well grounded.

It happened to me once i was setting up a sump once for a friend using a surge protector strip to plug the pump into. I turned it on and but my hand in the water and got nailed. I realized that he had cut the ground probe off of the strip. So i plugged it straight into the receptacle and it was fine.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Okay so a powerstrip with the reset button is safe with a drip loop? Is that a gfic?? I have my aquariums set up with these type of power strips, allowing for drip loop and the powerstrip is away from the aquarium off to the side. Does gfic mean grounding for indirect current?

 

[jaiden]

NO, a power strip with a reset button is NOT a gfci. You can install a gfci without doing it in-wall

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_searc...ext=Tower Manufacturing&step=1&itemsonpage=15

look for the one with:
Automatic Reset Feature - this device automatically energizes for use upon being plugged in and after loss of primary power

otherwise a power blip will shut your tank off till you reset it. (mine sucks)

 

[Tex]

Okay so a powerstrip with the reset button is safe with a drip loop? Is that a gfic?? I have my aquariums set up with these type of power strips, allowing for drip loop and the powerstrip is away from the aquarium off to the side. Does gfic mean grounding for indirect current?

No! Just because a power strip has a reset button (circuit breaker) doesn't mean it's a GFI. It must clearly be labeled as one. Also it will have a test and reset button. GFI's work by sensing faults to ground. If a device fails and goes to ground it will rapdily discharge current to ground. GFI's are actually an extremely fast circuit breaker that sense the "lack of voltage potential" from the hot leg to the nuetral leg OR ground wire. They have been around since the 1980's and have been written into building codes in most areas.

GFIC does NOT mean grounding for indirect current. It means GROUND FAULT INTERRUPT CIRCUIT.

Further, any device operated from AC (alternating current) produces rising and falling magnetic flux lines perpendicular and parallel to the ac sine wave of electrons flowing through the wire. In the US we use 60 cycle power which means there are 60 perpendicular and 60 parallel energy fluctuations per second. The magnetic fluctuations CAN induce current flow in electrically conductive objects nearby. However tiny, the induced energy can be measured. For example, if you were to lay a lamp cord (with lamp turned on) across a piece of metal you could actually measure a miniscule amount of electricity in the metal that is induced from the rising and falling magnetic fields. Normally it's so small we consider it to be insignifigant and harmless. However, in saltwater things change because saltwater is HIGHLY conductive. Any submerged motor, heater light, etc, produces eddy currents in the water which won't kill fish immediately but can have term deletrious effects on their central nervous system. A titanium ground probe is the only way to safely discharge these currents from your tank to an earth ground.

 

[ckmn101]

If I have a power strip plugged into a GFI like the ones from marinedepot.com (that jaiden gave the link for) than I am protected right?
Thanks