OK, I got lit up (shocked)

[taftonomos]

Well, I was showing my frag tank setup today, and low and behold I was shocked.

Tank(s) are 2 4'x4'.

The return is inbetween both tanks, Dart sequence is the return.

Ranco controller
2 500 watt Ti heaters

Tanks are in the basement, on a woodenstand, on Tile, directly above concrete.

I was barefoot (dumb)

I stuck my hand in the tank near the edge to grab a frag plug, and felt a small tingle...I didn't think anything of it


I got closer to the return, and got LIT UP. I've been shocked quite a few times before, but this one was a pretty good zap. Just to check, my ******* stuck my hand in again....SHOCK VERIFIED!

Ok, so now I go down to the basement with a multimeter...AND SHOES.

Readings:

Nothing plugged in to the tank at all : 44volts
Dart pump plugged in : 52 volts
One heater on : 97 volts
2 heaters on : 99-101 volts

What gives? Now that I'm in shoes, it's not shocking me anymore (I'm not grounded anymore?)

The heaters are about 5 months old, sealed Ti heaters. Ranco controller is operating correctly.

I'm never been shocked before in that tank, but I can't remember the last time I was down there without shoes.

 

[freezerrat]

I don't know where the problem is but I would say no shoes is what got you zapped. The same think happened to me in the garage. Barefoot with damp hands I hit the power switch on a power strip. Done lots of times before but never without shoes.

 

[tebriel]

You can get a titanium grounding probe which will give the current somewhere to go, but then you're just treating the symptom. Something is leaking current into the tank (typically it's the heaters) and having rubber soled shoes is a great way to avoid grounding yourself and therefore avoid being shocked! I used to do all my aquarium stuff barefoot until I got shocked. Now I have a GFCI as my wall outlet and always wear rubber soled shoes. Haven't gotten shocked since. Also, I've read that your lights can leak current into your tank, dunno about the veracity of this or how it works, but that's what I read.

 

[skriz]

Something is leaking. You can check with the volt meter in the water.

I always reccomend a grounding probe. They're cheap and they work. Oh, and barefoot it NEVER a good idea!

 

[taftonomos]

Volt meter in the water with NOTHING plugged in

40 volts?

50 with the dart pump on

105 with both heaters, 95 with only one heater. Doesn't matter which heater, either or will bump it from 50 to 95.

40 volts with nothing plugged in???

 

[skriz]

electric eel?

 

[jwevans79]

The voltage is coming from somewhere that you're not listing (something's plugged in somewhere). You can put down rubber mats on the floor to give extra insulating protection.

 

[taftonomos]

jwevans79;206847 wrote: The voltage is coming from somewhere that you're not listing (something's plugged in somewhere). You can put down rubber mats on the floor to give extra insulating protection.

There is a return pump, 2 heaters/controller, and a single powerhead on the tank.

With everything unplugged, the voltmeter says 40 volts. Makes no sense to me, but there is nothing plugged in at the present. Not turned off, simply not plugged in.

 

[skriz]

Ground the water, then recheck. The ground should nuetralize the voltage. If not, you have something that is putting the voltage there, or your volt meter is faulty.

Unplug everything, including lights and all.

 

[james s_]

I have around 33-37 volts in my tank with nothing plugged in. Doesn't surprise me you have it to. When you test for this do you actually unplug everything or do you just cut off the power to them? There may be some stray voltage from your neutral that is always there. Like Raj said ground your water then test it. Mine goes to 0 when I ground it.

 

[taftonomos]

Everything unplugged from the wall.

How can I ground it, just run a wire from water to ground plug for a quick/dirty check?

 

[skriz]

as long as you know which one is the gound plug and you don't nuke yourself...

Warning: this is hazardous, please consult a licensed electrician. Electrocution can cause severe burns and even death.

 

[derek_s]

Yeah, you called me today! Haha, I still think it has something to do with the difference of potential of the salt water and the ground. Maybe like a battery ; a chemical reaction of the salinity, ph, err whatever. But this is just my crazy, unconfirmed notion.

 

[jefft]

I would have an electrician check your receptical and breaker box for a loose ground. I had a Ti ground probe in my tank and was still getting a tingle (from the heater). I checked the receptical and found a ground wire loose. Don't panic I'm a retired electrician! I'm also the one who installed the receptical! I replaced the heater and reinstalled the Ti probe (after checking system with my Fluke).

 

[taftonomos]

I know which one is the ground plug, I wired the room up

I'll look around in the box tomorrow as well and double check, as well as double check the GFI's. I'll also make sure the grounds are correcly installed/not loose.

I checked with another multimeter tonight, still 44 volts without ANYTHING plugged in. Hell, I turned off the breakers to the room and it's still 44 volts. Thats weird man.

I can't get any time of amperage reading.

 

[acroholic]

I had this experience a couple years ago: I have my tanks in the basement. I have a walk out from my basement to a concrete patio where there is a garden hose hooked up to a spigot where I always wash out buckets, etc., barefooted many times. I noticed that when I would touch the spigot handle with wet hands and barefoot I would get shocked. My thinking was that there was a wire touching the copper plumbing leading to the outside garden spigot, but I traced it all over the place and no wires. I thought the voltage was coming from the spigot, thru me with bare feet and into the wet concrete patio.

My electric meter is also within 2 feet of the garden hose with the electric main under the patio.

Turned out that there was a break in the electric main insulation under the patio, so the main line was leaking stray voltage into the ground within a foot or two of where I washed out my buckets, so electricity was actually coming up thru the concrete, thru my bare feet and completing the circuit (me feeling the shock) when I touched the metal hose valve on the spigot.

Georgia power came out and cut a 3' x 3' hole in my patio and patched the main line.

Same thing happened about 6 weeks ago, but I knoew what it was this time. They had to completely cut thru the middle of my patio this time, replace about 15 feet of main line, and basically rebuild 1/3 of my patio.

What I am saying is that electricity can come from different sources, even from the concrete we are standing on. Usually the simplest answer is the correct one, but sometimes we have to look in unusual places.

Good luck, let us know if you solve your mystery.
Dave

 

[jefft]

Check the grounding rod for the house. Make sure the telephone ground is securely connected to this ground also. Sometimes this rod isn't pounded into the ground far enough.

 

[jefft]

Acroholic;206968 wrote: I had this experience a couple years ago: I have my tanks in the basement. I have a walk out from my basement to a concrete patio where there is a garden hose hooked up to a spigot where I always wash out buckets, etc., barefooted many times. I noticed that when I would touch the spigot handle with wet hands and barefoot I would get shocked. My thinking was that there was a wire touching the copper plumbing leading to the outside garden spigot, but I traced it all over the place and no wires. I thought the voltage was coming from the spigot, thru me with bare feet and into the wet concrete patio.

My electric meter is also within 2 feet of the garden hose with the electric main under the patio.

Turned out that there was a break in the electric main insulation under the patio, so the main line was leaking stray voltage into the ground within a foot or two of where I washed out my buckets, so electricity was actually coming up thru the concrete, thru my bare feet and completing the circuit (me feeling the shock) when I touched the metal hose valve on the spigot.

Georgia power came out and cut a 3' x 3' hole in my patio and patched the main line.

Same thing happened about 6 weeks ago, but I knoew what it was this time. They had to completely cut thru the middle of my patio this time, replace about 15 feet of main line, and basically rebuild 1/3 of my patio.

What I am saying is that electricity can come from different sources, even from the concrete we are standing on. Usually the simplest answer is the correct one, but sometimes we have to look in unusual places.

Good luck, let us know if you solve your mystery.
Dave

I had this problem a couple years ago. They patched the cable and within a year it went bad again. The EMC finally came out and replaced the whole cable from the pole (underground) to the breakerbox.

 

[taftonomos]

Well, I havn't tested to see if it'll still shock me but I found the problem.


My ******* never tied in the GROUND WIRE on the GFI/plug.

No current in the tank now.

On with the fragging.

 

[jefft]

ares;210062 wrote: seems like its still fixing the symptom no? Im not an electrician.

No he fixed the problem, with the ground wire not connected he had @60 volts AC floating around looking for an out.