35 volts

[casalt]

I started testing for voltage leaks and I found it. Everything that goes in my tank or sump contributes to the voltage reading. I unplugged everthing one piece at a time . My meter was set to 200 a/c . the skimmer and mag7 in the sump are new and I'm seeing voltage at the surface of the tank. the mag is putting in about 2.5 v and the skimmer is around 2.9 v . The only thing thats not contributing is the lights, heater is throwing 1.8, and 4 powerheads all with 3.4 v each. What I did was put the probe in the water and ground the other. If I unplug everything the reading goes to 0... Is this normal or what. Has anyone done this kind of testing with any solutions. Maybe this is normal , I'm jsut throwing it out for opinions and advise.

 

[bored4long]

Very interesting. You are just using a multimeter?

It would be interesting to have several people to this and record their findings and the equipment that had the leaks.

 

[casalt]

yep just a multimeter, tossed the red probe in the water and black to a ground. salwater is very conductive.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11008606#post11008606 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by casalt
yep just a multimeter, tossed the red probe in the water and black to a ground. salwater is very conductive.

I did the same thing with a digital volt meter and got much the same results. I then put a 1000 ohm resistor between the red and black probes and the reading went to almost zero. The voltage reading really doesn't mean much if there is no potential current behind it. Now if the voltage stays high with a 1000 ohm drain to ground then there is a problem.

 

[casalt]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/weekly/aa101602.htm I found this article and used it for testing, I also have read that ground probes are good and bad. Everything in the water mass creates stary electricity, how much is bad is never mentioned though.

 

[funman1]

ok after I got off the phone with you I went and started doing some tests of my own..

Using your method I get 79.1 VAC from water to netural and 41.0 to ground.

So I went and got a wire and went to ground to tank water thinking the GFCI would trip, it did not....
hmmmm.. So I tested the readings with a ground probe in the tank. 0 volts on everything...

So it's just voltage with NO amperage behind it.... (Safe)

So I started looking into the issue and it's actually caused my magnetics in the water. (So any pump will cause this) The more pumps the higher the reading..

Just to prove what I had just read and seen, I went and got a GFCI tester. Plugged it in pushed the button and bang... Lights out..

So the GFCI is working fine, and yes there is "Voltage" in the tank but it's not from a leaking unit... (Only induction)

So I have to conclude that this method of measuring tank voltage is not a valid way of doing this..

Get the system on a real GFCI like we talked about and we will go from there... You may have nothing wrong at all after all!!!

 

[bored4long]

Thanks, Steve, for expanding on this.