Ok so I noticed something odd tonight as I was feeding my fish. When I stuck a certain finger in the water I felt a tingling sensation. I looked at my finger and I had a cut around the cuticle. When I stuck another finger in the water I felt nothing. This got me thinking. i went over to another tank and stuck the same finger that had a cut on the cuticle and another finger and felt nothing. So I thought that I would measure both voltage and current by probing the tank and a grounded outlet. I measured about 5 volts AC and about 11 mA of current. Is this something to worry about? I noticed that most of the current contribution is coming from an ungrounded heater and return pump. Mostly from the heater. Will this problem, if it is one, be corrected by purchasing grounded equipement? Or should I not even worry about this. I am contemplating the idea of installing a gfci on the outlet but at the moment would the gfci just trip because of the stray current? This doesnt sit well especially since I'm leaving to go out of town tomorrow for a few days. I'm kind of mad at myself because I just bought the heater maybe a month ago and I had a hard time finding a heater that would fit in my 24 gallon bio cube chamber #1. The one heater that I did find was not exactly the best brand and it was a two prong or ungrounded plug. The pump is old anyways and I have been suspecting that the pump is not producing like it used to so a replacement is not a stretch. Actually Im kind of done with this 24 gallon tank. Im sick and tired of this tank actually and trying to find replacement parts has been a pain in the a$$. I have a wonderful skimmer that went out of business and finding a replacement pump took forever. But nevertheless whether i keep the tank or not, is the current an issue and what are some possible solutions to not get "bit" when I have a cut cuticle :headwally:
electrical question
- Thread starter madean
- Start date
Yes, this is a problem. Figure out which device is the problem and remove and replace it. Over time this could become a bigger problem to you and you tank. Water and electricity never mixes very well. Usually when there is a GFCI in place and it trips that means there is a problem. Using a ground probe will work with the GFCI. In this hobby this is commonly over looked.
Chris27
New member
For grounded plugs to be effective, they have to be used on equipment that has a metal enclosure of types. That prong is there to ensure you don't get zapped by the metal enclosure when you touch it in the event the AC line shorts to it. That said, a ground plug on a heater is worthless....they have a glass or plastic enclosure that doesn't conduct electricity.
In regards to your tank, did you take that measurement when the lights were running? Oftentimes a florescent or MH fixture will cause what you're seeing given the high frequency at which they operate.
FWIW, 5VAC is nothing to shake a stick at, if a wire were nicked or the potting degraded to any degree, you would be reading significantly more voltage then that, as the exposed conductor would essentially be energizing the water just the same as a wire.
If you're going away for a few days, you probably don't want to start messing with this now, just leave the tank be and fix it if you have to when you get back. That little bit of electricity in the tank is much easier on the tank then if a GFCI were to trip leaving it without water movement for 2 days.
In regards to your tank, did you take that measurement when the lights were running? Oftentimes a florescent or MH fixture will cause what you're seeing given the high frequency at which they operate.
FWIW, 5VAC is nothing to shake a stick at, if a wire were nicked or the potting degraded to any degree, you would be reading significantly more voltage then that, as the exposed conductor would essentially be energizing the water just the same as a wire.
If you're going away for a few days, you probably don't want to start messing with this now, just leave the tank be and fix it if you have to when you get back. That little bit of electricity in the tank is much easier on the tank then if a GFCI were to trip leaving it without water movement for 2 days.
