Just got really Zapped - Electrical Shock - From Tank/ Light Fixture, please help

M

moneymm

Member
Today i opened up my lid to do clean off some algae on my overflow and i grazed the light fixture a couple times and notice a shock like when you walk on carpet and touch a door nob. then i really touched it( accidentally) and i got really zapped. It really hurt, but i am fine now.

after it i think i touched my tank and felt a zap as well. I am now assuming this was just b/c the current was in my body still or b/c the tank was touching the light fixture and the current was running through everything.

My fish are okay, and i unplugged the light and everything seems to be now.

What should I do? is this very common ? is it definitely the light fixture, how do i safely test everything else?
 
Grounding probe and I wouldn't touch the light. Maybe clean off any damn it creep on it? What kind of light is it?


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scuzy said:
Grounding probe and I wouldn't touch the light. Maybe clean off any damn it creep on it? What kind of light is it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

the salt can cause it to become like this?

does a grounding probe help just the aquarium water? or does it make the stand and fixture safe.

is there something to test what the problem really is?

i have a 3 year old and i really dont want her touching anything that will shock her.
 
I would either contact the manufacturer of the light (if pits still under warranty) or get a qualified electrician to look at it rather than trying to figure out the problem yourself.

Its probably also worth getting the electrician to check out the electrics feeding the other tank equipment for reassurance and get a GFI installed assuming there isn't already one there.

Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
 
Salt is conductive so if it touches electronics it can create a bridge. I'm not sure how to test for something like this but plugging it in a gfci circuit will be a good idea. Anything it sense a shock the circuit will trip.


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the manufacturer said The ballast have built in CE protection to prevent any issues of that kind.

and that it is likely another item in the tank and the light fixture is just collecting all the stray voltage.

so i really dont know what to do.
 
moneymm said:
the manufacturer said The ballast have built in CE protection to prevent any issues of that kind.

and that it is likely another item in the tank and the light fixture is just collecting all the stray voltage.

so i really dont know what to do.
Click to expand...

The light is not at fault here..
The case of an ATI fixture is grounded and connected directly to the ground in your house.
You likely have a failing heater or pump,etc...

I'll assume you don't have a multi-meter

First thing you should do is go to the hardware store (home depot,etc..) and purchase a power strip or similar that features GFCI protection..
Defiant makes a nice little lower cost unit that mounts/plugs right into the wall outlet and covers it up.
This guy here..
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-GFCI-5-Outlet-Adapter-30339037/203741442

Then you simply plug each device that is submerged into it and when it trips thats the culprit..

Lets start there..


Public service announcement!!!
ALL aquariums should have GFCI protected devices like that for ALL submerged line powered equipment to plug into..
It can save your life.. Without that the next time the shock could be an electrocution..
 
Last edited:
mcgyvr said:
The light is not at fault here..
The case of an ATI fixture is grounded and connected directly to the ground in your house.
You likely have a failing heater or pump,etc...

I'll assume you don't have a multi-meter

First thing you should do is go to the hardware store (home depot,etc..) and purchase a power strip or similar that features GFCI protection..
Defiant makes a nice little lower cost unit that mounts/plugs right into the wall outlet and covers it up.
This guy here..
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-GFCI-5-Outlet-Adapter-30339037/203741442

Then you simply plug each device that is submerged into it and when it trips thats the culprit..

Lets start there..


Public service announcement!!!
ALL aquariums should have GFCI protected devices like that for ALL submerged line powered equipment to plug into..
It can save your life.. Without that the next time the shock could be an electrocution..
Click to expand...

all my devices are plugged into surge protectors.
 
GFCI protects you from shorts and a surge protector is good for lightning strike, power outage. Two different things, you can get a surge protector that has a GFCI incorporated into it.
 
moneymm said:
all my devices are plugged into surge protectors.
Click to expand...

A surge protector is NOT a GFCI device.. BIG difference..

A GFCI device is constantly monitoring the line and neutral wires and will "Trip" when they are imbalanced by more than roughly 4-30ma (depending on country/device,etc..)
A surge protector has no such function and will happily keep shocking someone

A surge protector only absorbs over voltage "surges" as stated from lightning,etc.. (for a limited time until the MOV's are basically used up)
 
Now.. If you do have a multimeter you can
1-set it to measure AC voltage
2-place the black probe to the screw on your outlet or even into the round ground pin socket (assuming USA with 2 vertical line/neutral flat blade and 1 round ground hole outlets)
3-place the tip of the red probe into the water and look at the voltage..
With a failed piece of equipment you should see roughly 50-100% of the line voltage reading (120V in US)
4-Keep the probes where they are and start unplugging anything line powered thats in the water..
5-When the voltage reading drops considerably.. You found the culprit..
6-Continue unplugging to see if anything else causes a reduction in voltage (but don't assume its bad yet)
(don't be surprised to still see voltage.. As long as its less than oh 30% of line voltage it should just be ignored as its just picking up the emi,etc.. from near by electrical devices,etc.. motors/lights,etc..)

7-Now assuming you found the culprit you can continue with the probes in place and plug it back in.. If the voltage jumps back up again.. Thats surely your bad device..


8-Then still go out and buy a GFCI device..
 
mcgyvr said:
Now.. If you do have a multimeter you can
1-set it to measure AC voltage
2-place the black probe to the screw on your outlet or even into the round ground pin socket (assuming USA with 2 vertical line/neutral flat blade and 1 round ground hole outlets)
3-place the tip of the red probe into the water and look at the voltage..
With a failed piece of equipment you should see roughly 50-100% of the line voltage reading (120V in US)
4-Keep the probes where they are and start unplugging anything line powered thats in the water..
5-When the voltage reading drops considerably.. You found the culprit..
6-Continue unplugging to see if anything else causes a reduction in voltage (but don't assume its bad yet)
(don't be surprised to still see voltage.. As long as its less than oh 30% of line voltage it should just be ignored as its just picking up the emi,etc.. from near by electrical devices,etc.. motors/lights,etc..)

7-Now assuming you found the culprit you can continue with the probes in place and plug it back in.. If the voltage jumps back up again.. Thats surely your bad device..


8-Then still go out and buy a GFCI device..
Click to expand...

Solid advice :wave:
 
Dealseer said:
:headwallblue:
Click to expand...
and to explain that..
A ground probe is useless and even worse than nothing if you do not combine it with a GFCI device again..
Its providing a path to ground.. Just like you were when you were getting the shock.. Notice how the tank is still running.. Thats because current was flowing through you and everything in the tank and nothing was stopping that.. There is only a current flow when there is a path to ground..
So don't use a ground probe without a GFCI to back it up..

The ONLY thing (and it can be a bigger negative than positive) that a ground probe does provide is that the second a device begins to fail there is a path to ground and this causes the GFCI to instantly trip.. Now the negative is that if you aren't home that means your tank is without power and assuming you don't have DC powered powerheads (and heater if its cold) your tank is starting to rapidly die..

Without a ground probe the fault can/will continue UNTIL there is a path to ground (aka you stick your hand in the tank).. Now the GFCI should/will protect you and shut down but you are home and can adapt..


Oh and you do not need to plug stuff like your DC powered Vortech/Jebao,etc.. power heads into the GFCI.. (or anything with a DC power brick/adapter on it.. They are low voltage and cannot harm you.. (well unless that power brick falls into the water)..
You do not need to plug LED lights (unless the AC cord goes directly to the light over your tank and it can fall in)..
Nor do you need to plug MH fixtures with external ballasts into either as the transformer will effectively prevent the GFCI from seeing the imbalance

But if its submerged and line powered it should be GFCI protected..

Lastly.. Its a good idea for some (larger tanks,etc..) to split your equipment up over 2 GFCI devices so a failure in one does not take out the whole tank and leaves the other happily powered the other half of your equipment..

Hope all that helped..
 
mcgyvr said:
Now.. If you do have a multimeter you can
1-set it to measure AC voltage
2-place the black probe to the screw on your outlet or even into the round ground pin socket (assuming USA with 2 vertical line/neutral flat blade and 1 round ground hole outlets)
3-place the tip of the red probe into the water and look at the voltage..
With a failed piece of equipment you should see roughly 50-100% of the line voltage reading (120V in US)
4-Keep the probes where they are and start unplugging anything line powered thats in the water..
5-When the voltage reading drops considerably.. You found the culprit..
6-Continue unplugging to see if anything else causes a reduction in voltage (but don't assume its bad yet)
(don't be surprised to still see voltage.. As long as its less than oh 30% of line voltage it should just be ignored as its just picking up the emi,etc.. from near by electrical devices,etc.. motors/lights,etc..)

7-Now assuming you found the culprit you can continue with the probes in place and plug it back in.. If the voltage jumps back up again.. Thats surely your bad device..


8-Then still go out and buy a GFCI device..
Click to expand...

thank you

can i just plug in my multiple power strips into one gfci strip? having trouble finding one on amazon
 
mcgyvr said:
Here ya go..
https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Manufa...488415038&sr=1-3&keywords=gfci+outlet+adapter
Click to expand...

i cant reach my outlet its behind the tank stand... 1 surge protector is plugged into it, and then a have another plugged into that and all my devices plugged into the two surge protectors.

can i just plug this into the surge protector that runs to the wall outlet?

https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Manufa...8&qid=1488415009&sr=1-3&keywords=gfci+adapter

or better yet, this product, since the amazon one wont get to me till friday.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1297864
 
moneymm said:
i cant reach my outlet its behind the tank stand... 1 surge protector is plugged into it, and then a have another plugged into that and all my devices plugged into the two surge protectors.

can i just plug this into the surge protector that runs to the wall outlet?

https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Manufa...8&qid=1488415009&sr=1-3&keywords=gfci+adapter
Click to expand...

again.. I kind of doubt its recommended to do so.. but check the manual there too as it could be but I suspect that a "no-no" and it should only be plugged into a wall outlet..

In reality is usually TOTALLY fine to do so.. But issues/fires have started because of doing that due to overloading/etc...
 
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