Unwanted shock therapy

R

RoachF4

New member
I posted this earlier on the tale end of another thread and figured it might have gotten buried, so I apoligize if you are reading it for the second time.

OK...situations is as follows: When I put my hand into the tank water...nothing happens. When I touch my PC light fixture...nothing happens. When I put my hand in the water, while brushing my arm up against the fixture (the fixture has to have water on it as well) then I get a little zing. So I don't know...it seems like it would be the light fixture but I have 6 pumps and a heater as well. Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated at this point. I felt the last jolt in my fillings.

Matt
 
tkeracer619,

Thanks for your time...I'm not sure if the reflector is grounded...it's a custom sealife 4X65w PC. Two three prongged plugs (which I thought meant grounded). One of the Moonlight LED's started flickering about a month ago, so I don't have those plugged in as I haven't gotten around to replacing the LED (nor do I have the expertise). I also dont have a digital multimeter...
 
3 prong is supposed to mean grounded, yes. But that does not mean that the end ground lead is attached to the fixture inside. Do you still get a zinger if the unit is off? Not unplugged, just off.
 
Ok, lets trouble shoot this right then. Unplug the unit, lets start eliminating items in the tank, its still possible its the fixture though. Power still runs into the unit. I kno it suks, but without a volt meter, you gotta keep touching the thing until you have unplugged the bad item. One item at a time, it will stop once you've got the right one unplugged. Then replace it. Then go get a volt meter or a grounding probe, plug that into a gfci, then you unplug everything until the gfci stops popping.
 
I've had it forever...haven't used it in years though so it looks like new. I have some new lights on order, but what should I do in the meantime? Is there a chance of some serious voltage getting loose here?
 
Wll, I'll tell ya. I would just leave it for now, if its old the grounding wire may have detached inside. Knowing as long as you stay away from it (do not touch), I'd leave it until you get your other. But that just me, not many like the risks I take with my tank, but....Do you just have fish? If you just have fish you can just leave the lights off until you get your new fixture, corals are a different story. You'll need the light for them.
 
Yeah...I'm kind of lazy about this type of thing. Yeah, I could die a horrible death or burn my house down, but the new lights will be here in less then two weeks. I'll just refrain from touching the damn thing. Thanks for the help...I feel better knowing what caused it.
 
Don't mess around with safety when it comes to electrical. Several years ago I got a good zap off someones light and spent 2 days in the hospital. 3rd degree burns on my hand, a dislocated shoulder, messed up my memory, spent years taking meds so I can stay awake during the day, and more meds to sleep at night. For your own sake, find the problem and have it fixed, or throw the thing away before it kills you.
 
GrindingNemo said:
Don't mess around with safety when it comes to electrical. Several years ago I got a good zap off someones light and spent 2 days in the hospital. 3rd degree burns on my hand, a dislocated shoulder, messed up my memory, spent years taking meds so I can stay awake during the day, and more meds to sleep at night. For your own sake, find the problem and have it fixed, or throw the thing away before it kills you.
Click to expand...

this
 
Shocks

Shocks

I just installed a grounding probe in my display and refugium and have not gotten any shocks since. They were only 5 dollars each at my LFS. Cheap fix for me , but worth it. Insall a titanium probe as soon as possible!!!!!:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the advice...I really don't want to use something that's unsafe, but I'm in a bind. I don't have an alternate source for the tank other then two 400 watt halides that would be a pain to mount on this tank, considering that I'm getting new lights in less then two weeks.

Fixing the actual light is probably beyond my scope of expertise...
 
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