Stray Voltage?!?

[bwalders65]

Alright so in the past I have gotten shocked one way or another around my tank and could not figure out why. Today I had one hand in the tank and the other reaching for something in the cannot and agian felt this shock. It was brief, then went away. So I figured today was the final straw and I would test the water. So I got a electrical meter and set it to AC to check voltage.

Culprits:
- Heater
- Return
- Jebao power head
- protien skimmer

I unplugged each and tested voltage and plugged them back in one by one. There wasn't any amount of measurable voltage. Nor did I feel the shock in the tank like before. The sparatic shock leads me to believe that it's when something turns on. I'm somewhat lost and possibly considering getting a grounding probe? Any ideas guys?

 

[setsail4mexico]

Grounding probe is a must! One of your items is probably having an intermittent short or is building up a charge then releasing, make sure all your items have a grounding plug and make sure the outlet you plug into has a good ground, only use items with three prong plugs so you know they have a ground. Still, put in a ground probe (sorry had to repeat due to the importance)!

 

[asbauto]

Well as for the grounding probe always comes with pros and cons along with difference in opinion, personally have never had one in almost 10 years in hobby. In regards to equipment I have 3 jebao powerheads and never seen stray voltage in 2 years from them.... What type of pumps are you running on return and skimmer? Maybe keep the heater unplugged for a few days and keep testing to eliminate it????

 

[bwalders65]

I have heard there are differing opinions on the probes after some research. I have noticed it is a marine land heater and dose not have a grounding prong and is only a 2 prong plug. I think this heater might be my culprit however when I test the water there is nothing unusual about the voltage. Reads .25-.5

 

[cfmx]

The last two times I had this, it was the heater. Must use grounding probe very cheap solution.