I was assuming I was getting low micro amp range current because it is from induced voltage. I was also assuming that if my voltage was due to a bad connection (cracked heater exposing wires to water), that I would get a larger current.
voltage in tank question
- Thread starter cnaegler
- Start date
I was assuming I was getting low micro amp range current because it is from induced voltage. I was also assuming that if my voltage was due to a bad connection (cracked heater exposing wires to water), that I would get a larger current.
sittnon18s
josh
so does everything u submerge in water and plug in give off some volts or is everything i have plugged in crap. most of it is fairly new
If you guys call the manufactures I am sure they will tell you if equipment is putting voltage into the tank to git rid of it. ( I would) Who knows they may enven replace it. The fella who is talking about birds on Power lines- I think you are getting confused with step voltage. It won't apply in this case as the birds are at the same potential and not grounded. I have seen birds on high voltage lines 138KV and it dosen't bother them a bit. PS animals do not explode when the get in power lines equipment, they do get fried though.
Skunkbudfour20
New member
No kidding they dont explode... it was an intentional overstatement.. they would most likely just be incinerated and burned up.
Lineman that service high voltage lines "bond" themselves to the line and charge themselves to avoid shock. Typically they do it from a helicopter, which is the same thing as a bird flying up. They also use a hot suit, to keep the electical charge flowing around their body, instead of through it.
Now if you were to give that charge a place to TRAVEL (ground, or other line), you would be killed. Providing a path to ground will dramatically increase current flow, melt metal, and fry anything in that ground path.
The reason birds arent hurt, is because its a "parallel" flow of electricity, and they have the same potental as the line. There is little flow of electricity... If you have 2 points of contact (another line or ground) the bird would be done for. The resistance in a birds feet, from one contact point to another, has more resistance than the line itself so its not an acceptable path.
which is less than a static shock...
Recap... isolated is good, a path or travel is bad. Why use a grounding probe and give it a place to go?
Crazy Cracker
New member
I discovered this thread after being 'tingled' myself tonight.
Recently I've been fighting a serious algae bloom (I was cleaning it out of my bulkheads when I was shocked) so I too would like to know if there is a correlation between the two issues. I've performed 30% water changes for two weeks straight, and still I'm fighting huge amounts of algae and now I
found the voltage leak.
So I will ask again: can voltage leakage lead to algae blooms?
tkeracer619
New member
It's probably inconclusive.
After a not so slight tingle the other day I tested my tank to find 80 volts. Heater malfunctioned, the GFCI tripped, my ground probe is severely corroded and probably making zero contact so it did not trip the gfci prior to my hand going in the water.
I run a dart return pump that feeds the media reactors. 5x vortechs for flow. 360g
The only things I have in my tank that has a wire are on a GFCI w/ground probe. Has a Full time Kill-a-watt so I can tell if the skimmer air intake starts to get clogged or the heater isn't providing proper wattage.
- 1 250w heater. I do not submerge the wire.
- 1 Askoll 1500 Skimmer pump.
Tank reads 6 volts with probe unplugged after replacing the heater and removing the media reactor feed pumps.
After a not so slight tingle the other day I tested my tank to find 80 volts. Heater malfunctioned, the GFCI tripped, my ground probe is severely corroded and probably making zero contact so it did not trip the gfci prior to my hand going in the water.
I run a dart return pump that feeds the media reactors. 5x vortechs for flow. 360g
The only things I have in my tank that has a wire are on a GFCI w/ground probe. Has a Full time Kill-a-watt so I can tell if the skimmer air intake starts to get clogged or the heater isn't providing proper wattage.
- 1 250w heater. I do not submerge the wire.
- 1 Askoll 1500 Skimmer pump.
Tank reads 6 volts with probe unplugged after replacing the heater and removing the media reactor feed pumps.
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