My tank gave me a shock - Need help

[GaryG]

After some tank maintenance the carpet in front of my tank was a little wet. I had sneakers on but my wife was bare foot. I asked her to come over for a minute and help me. As soon as she toched the water she claimed she got a shock. At first I thought she was over reacting to a mild static shock. (I had not yet made the collaration of sneakers vs bare feet).

A couple of weeks later (yesterday) a hose was leaking on my protein skimmer and again the carpet was wet. I had been in the pool so I was only in a bathing suit. After I tightened the hose I was standing on the wet carpet and put my hand on the top metal rail of the tank and got a shock so hard it made me yell out.
Being kind of stupid I also wanted to squirt a coupld of rocks with a turkey baster, so I carefully avoided touching the metal railing and put the turkey baster in the water. I squeezed the bulb and as soon as I unsqueezed and the water hit the top of the bulb I got another shock. The turkey baster ended up on the other side of the room. Thinking back to my wife's experience of a few weeks earlier I put my sneakers on before doing anything else.

After I put the sneakers on I was able to touch the tank and the water as much as I wanted with no effect.

So ... Is something wrong? Or does this just happen when you have wet carpet. If something is wrong (I assume something is not grounded?) how do I begin to determine what it is? Is this hurting my livestock in any way?

Do I just unplug everything electric, stand in a wet puddle bare foot and plug them in one by one and wait until I get electricuted to determine what piece of equipment is going it?

Thanks

[Gary Majchrzak]

Start unpluging electrical devices with sneakers on until you find the culprit.IME, it is usually a faulty heater or powerhead causing stray voltages,although submersible pumps in the sump may fail and cause this in the system...
I would NEVER stand in water while working around my aquariums!Good luck,and BE CAREFUL !

[Junkzoo]

Ditto on Gary's post. what you did is complete a path for voltage to go (arm- feet/ground)do a search on TRT for "stray voltage", ground probes ,etc. read up on checking to see what the culprit is in "leaking" voltage in your tank, make sure you have a GFI ,AND a ground probe for the tank, but find out what is putting voltage in the tank. if you don't get any onfo thru a search, post again and i will go over the procedure again on finding the bad device .
powerheads/pumps,heaters,,, even lighting tracking from the top of the tank to the water via salt spray patina can cause a stray voltage condition. good luck and GET IT FIXED!!!!

i work with 138,000 volts at work, my tank gets my most respect!

[hesaias]

Are your electrical devices GFCI protected? If not, they need to be. This will protect you in the case of more shock than your heart can stand. A grounding probe will remove inducted current from your PHs. Do you have a volt meter to check the system with?

[GaryG]

All of my power is just plugged into power strips which then go to a normal wall outlet. For the GFI - is that something that needs to be done in the circuit breaker box by an electrician, or can I go to Home Depot and get GFI wall plugs?

I have a ground probe that is in the sump. Should I put another one in the tank?

To determine the culprit by process of elimination, how do I know when it has stopped? I was just kidding about standing in a puddle, but seriously ... how can I test it without shocking my self?

Thanks

[Spanky]

Gary, you probably have "salt creep" shorting something out too. That can happen over time.

You can install GFI's in your outlets yourself, and you need them!! You can also buy GFI power strips. Be sure your breakers or fuses are off first.

[RWD]

Don't overlook external pumps either. If my Dolphin 3600 case is not grounded I get a shock when I touch the water. Hard to believe but true. Bob

[Junkzoo]

on the probe in the sump,,,, yup! put one in the tanks too,, as a electrician i figured one in the sump would be fine (water flow between tank/sump would make "as one") WRONG! don't ask how i found out ,,,lol tested a "hot" tank (that had a sump probe) with a digital meter,,,had enuf stray/induced voltage in the tank to warrant a probe in the tank also,,,

Remember:
"stray " voltage is what is "leaked" out to the water via a break in a electrical part,(cracked/leaking heater,defective power head/ pump.) power from lights that track down thru the tank qualifies as stray also.

"induced" voltage is created from powerheads/pump normal operation, in itself,, not considered dangerous/ deadly to us, but harmful to fish and coral , inverts etc. said to be one of the causes of hole in the head/lateral line "disease" . induced voltage is the real reason to use a ground probe.

a ground probe will cause a GFI to trip if you have voltage in the tank,you might be the cause of a GFI to trip if you have no probe.
(path to ground)

keep in mind, a GFI/probe combo will not protect you in 100% of the times. there are certain scenarios that will not be seen by the GFI (or in time)

bottom line get/ borrow a DIGITAL meter, do a search on related posts here on TRT, do you test/repairs/removal of defective devices as per the search results on stray voltage threads.

[R1Bill]

Gary,

Electricity and salt water is extremely dangerous. I can't believe the advice you are getting! Don't do any testing with your fingers in the tank unless you have a good life insurance policy.

First go to Home Depot or other and get a GFCI outlet. Then after you install it, plug in your devices one by one into the GFCI until it trips. Then you know which one is the problem and you don't have to try to kill yourself.

Be Careful!!!!!

Bill



Everybody who values their life will install a GFCI for their aquarium. At work we get to see safety videos all the time and when you see what happens to people with graphic detail when they are electricuted you may reconsider.

[Junkzoo]

Originally posted by R1Bill
Gary,

: I can't believe the advice you are getting!

other than the sneaker trick,,,,HUH?

[R1Bill]

yeah, you're right. a little harsh sorry

just hit a nerve. after years in the power generation business, seen one guy get zapped too many.

bill

[Junkzoo]

No prob Bill , we take 13.8 from the power co. and up it to 138K to reheat molten steel,,, our electrodes are WATER-COOLED (h2o runs THRU the cables ) my tanks get the most respect from me,,, although i've never seen my tanks blow up , like at work! LOL

[GaryG]

Thanks all. I bought new GFI wall outlet plugs and will install them this weekend.

I also bought a voltage meter. I touched one probe to the carpet and touched the other probe (holding plastic handle and with sneakers on) to the water surface and needle got buried! I unplugged everything and the needle went back to zero. I plugged everything back in one item at a time until the needle jumped again. Turns out it was a fairly new surface moving powerhead (RIO 1400). I took it out and under close examination I found a round 1/8 inch blackened hole in the case.

Thank all of you for your help. Everytime I have a problem you guys have the answer!!!

[R1Bill]

another one for the wonderful RIO. good thing you got it out before the copper leached out and killed everything in your tank!



bill

[hesaias]

Glad you found it Gary.

That problem is akin to having an extension cord plugged in then stuck into your tank. It coulda been bad. Glad you got the GFCI in. It will trip fast enough to save your life, but you might wet your pants

Rios are poorly designed, IMO, at least the non-UL listed ones.