Lets talk stray voltage

[nivram]

Just found out I had some equipment leaking voltage in the tank. I had 7v ac. I was able to get it down to about 1vac. There was less than 1v dc.

Is there an exceptable amount of voltage to see in the tank? Even with everything off, I still have like .3 volts.

Could this be part of my troubles keeping corals? They all seem to slowly decline over time. Everything from acros to chalices. Even zoas are struggling. Before the chloramine bandwagon starts up, I've already changed my filters.

 

[Biggar]

Do you have a ground probe in the water? I would agree to fix the issue, then add one.

I use one like this:
http://www.amazon.com/RV2735-Rid-Vo...92733043&sr=8-2&keywords=stray+voltage+ground

Not sure if helps coral growth, but I feel more safe putting my hand in the water with it there and I never feel a shock or tingle in a hangnail.

 

[ravedood]

I was in the process of moving some rocks in my nano cube when I suddenly got shocked. It was a bad power head. I am definitely buying these probes for my tanks.

 

[nivram]

Do you have a ground probe in the water? I would agree to fix the issue, then add one.

I use one like this:
http://www.amazon.com/RV2735-Rid-Vo...92733043&sr=8-2&keywords=stray+voltage+ground

Not sure if helps coral growth, but I feel more safe putting my hand in the water with it there and I never feel a shock or tingle in a hangnail.

Does your tank show any voltage with that?

What made you want or need to run the probe?

 

[Jgoal55]

Marvin...some good stuff here. I asked the same question a few weeks ago....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2311922

 

[mlivvy]

I got zapped from my tank really bad oneday. I checked every component by pulling them out and testing the water with a multimeter. It turned out to be a a modded mj1200 that was leaking volts into the water.

 

[Biggar]

Does your tank show any voltage with that?

What made you want or need to run the probe?

Fear. Didnt want to die. Sounds bad, but who knows the worst that can happen?

Also, my heater in my 75 gallon was shocking me where my skin was brittle. Any small cutting or hang nails would sting when submerged. This triggered me to look around for a solution.

 

[vnizzle]

What are you using to test? You may be experiencing ghost voltage.

 

[nivram]

What are you using to test? You may be experiencing ghost voltage.

Volt meter. Probe in ground of a ply an other probe in tank.

 

[nivram]

Fear. Didnt want to die. Sounds bad, but who knows the worst that can happen?

Also, my heater in my 75 gallon was shocking me where my skin was brittle. Any small cutting or hang nails would sting when submerged. This triggered me to look around for a solution.

Did you see the Facebook post where that guy was saying ground probes could be worst?

 

[rovster]

Marv I think a few volts in the tank is ok. I recently went through this. Shocked the heck out of myself. Had a pump leaking. Tested with a multimeter and there was 100+ volts in the tank!

 

[nivram]

Marv I think a few volts in the tank is ok. I recently went through this. Shocked the heck out of myself. Had a pump leaking. Tested with a multimeter and there was 100+ volts in the tank!

Ouch! Well I'm going to try the ground probe anyways and also a gfci. I think I'm going to go with a gfci strip vs the outlet. Unless someone can give me a good reason not to.

 

[DRThompson]

Marvin, did you test your voltage meter on regular saltwater in a plastic cup? I'm thinking saltwater will show a false positive on the meter to a certain extent. (ghost voltage - as vnizzle suggests)

 

[nivram]

Marvin, did you test your voltage meter on regular saltwater in a plastic cup? I'm thinking saltwater will show a false positive on the meter to a certain extent. (ghost voltage - as vnizzle suggests)

Good idea Dave. I also read that sw creates minute voltage when running or something like that.

I'll test tonight.

 

[rovster]

Marvin, a year and a half ago when I started my build :deadhorse: I had an electrician come and run a new circuit box and a bunch of GFI outlets for my tank. Obviously for safely. Now I'm questioning it. I've read the flip side and that is that its great when GFI outlets trip when they are supposed to, but they can trip for other reasons and leave you without power. I think I will keep them because I will be running a battery backup with my MPs, but its something to consider. I also have a grounding probe that should have been installed in my ghetto tank. My ghetto tank is NOT on a GFI.

 

[nivram]

Marvin, a year and a half ago when I started my build :deadhorse: I had an electrician come and run a new circuit box and a bunch of GFI outlets for my tank. Obviously for safely. Now I'm questioning it. I've read the flip side and that is that its great when GFI outlets trip when they are supposed to, but they can trip for other reasons and leave you without power. I think I will keep them because I will be running a battery backup with my MPs, but its something to consider. I also have a grounding probe that should have been installed in my ghetto tank. My ghetto tank is NOT on a GFI.

Good point. I think I'll go with a Gfi strip for now. Plus my fat butt can't easily get to the outlet to install/reset it when necessary. Nice thing about the apex is we can get notifications of these incidents and confirm with video if everything is setup to allow this.

 

[billsreef]

Just keep in mind that even with gfci and grounding probes, there is no guarantee that you won't get shocked from some equipment that is leaking current without tripping the gfci. Worse shock I ever got came from an electrically leaky magdrive in a system with both a ground probe and the pump plugged into a gfci outlet. The main 15 amp breaker popped...gfci didn't trip (and later checked out as functional) and the probe allowed me to reach in without feeling anything until I touched the pump :eek1:

 

[Crackem]

I had to remove my 2 gfci power strips from my tank because they were constantly tripping. Now I'm not using a gfci. I do have a ground probe tho and I'm still confused whether that's good or bad. I bought the gfci strips online from an aquarium supply store forget which one and when it started tripping I bought a new one at HDepot. That was tripping also. If your power that your consuming is close to the amount your breaker is equal to it will cause it to trip. Since removing the strips I no longer have outages.

 

[nivram]

I had to remove my 2 gfci power strips from my tank because they were constantly tripping. Now I'm not using a gfci. I do have a ground probe tho and I'm still confused whether that's good or bad. I bought the gfci strips online from an aquarium supply store forget which one and when it started tripping I bought a new one at HDepot. That was tripping also. If your power that your consuming is close to the amount your breaker is equal to it will cause it to trip. Since removing the strips I no longer have outages.

I don't blame you for feeling confused. I keep hearing arguments for different methods.

I think something everyone does agree with is to remove the defective equipment.

 

[Crackem]

What I'm confused about is whether or not to use a gfci. From what I understand, using a gfci is to prevent an overload. In my case, when I used the gfci power strips I would constantly get power outages on my tank because the gfci's were tripping, most likely from a chiller that would have a heavy draw of power upon startup. Also is confusing is whether or not to use a ground probe. Can you use a probe without a gfci or do you need to use one with a gfci?
Of course any faulty equipment needs to be removed immediately.