mstrblstr33
Aquarium Advice Activist
If you do not already have one, get a grounding probe for your tank. It will save your livestock in case of an electrical charge. Just my 2 cents....
rdnelson99 said:Sorry to disagree mstrblstr33 but after 30 years in the business I would not recommend it. It can in many ways make it even worse and it is against the electrical code. If you do that, you are not taking the problem away you are just masking it and may be making it worse.
Best thing you can do is to get a GFCI receptacle. Ground probe may help in some cases but most likely it will make it worse by completing the path to ground, that means electrocuting your tank. GFCI only is my recommendation.
I got knocked on my butt when I touched a cord with a damp hand it didn't trip the GFCI but it made me hurt for a few days. Amazing how it make make the muscles that tense. I had the GFCI put in to prevent that but it didn't that day,
I have some basic knowledge. I would imagine the load would be connected to the line heading to the next outlet. The line would be the incoming line from breaker? I would like all outlets to be protected.
rdnelson99 said:Put all aquarium related stuff on the GFI in my opinion but don't tie downstream outlets to the load side. Tap the feed wires so that they go straight through to the downstream devices and have a tap that goes to the "Line" side of the GFI. Nothing attaches to the "Load" side of the GFI.
This way, if you plug a vacuum into an downstream outlet it won't trip the GFI feeding the aquarium. However, if anything related to the aquarium has a ground fault it will trip.
Reeffanman said:Ideally multiple gfis would be ideal that way if somthing trips it doesn't cut the power off the whole tank. But at around 20$ each they can get costly but. To have your return pump quit cause your heater shorted out while ur on vacation could bed devastating