2-Prong Socket Ground Probe

[beth]

I need to know if there is a 3-prong socket ground probe on the market, that has no additional wire attachments that need to be wired into the wall outlet.
If anyone knows of one, please give me the brand name so I can see if I can order it, get it, etc.
Post or email, plez.
Thanks
[This message has been edited by beth (edited 02-05-2001).]

 

[beth]

Yes, the titanium is for salt, non-corrosive. I've spent the whole weekend looking online, inquing, etc., etc. I've found the wire kind, and the plug in socket with wire. But not just a socket kind yet. Got a lot of inquries going out there though, so hopefully will find one [if they make them] soon. However, the one that has the plug and the "wire" looks easy enough. Its made by Coralife. The wire is really like one of those forked pins that you hook up to a TV, so I guess you can just hook that up to one of the screws on the socket plate. Is that right Salty?? Anyone?? LOL
Help, help. I don't want to get electricuted!

 

[rlv695]

your right about the wire going to the screww ont the cover plate.. that is gounded to the box in the wall which should have a grond wire to it from the feed lines to one outside in the mail pannel for which breakers or fuses are located... if not... you can make your own if needed... but required you drill hole in floor to crawl spac and run your own wire to an outside water sipc.
Have fun

Randy

 

[beth]

RvL: Unless you want to come to FLA and do all that wiring for me, I think I'll pass! LOL. Anyway, I think I found what I need.... Grounding probe that has standard grounded plug that will just plug in. Apparently the wire that comes with most probes is run thru the plug somehow. This is made by Coralife. So, I think, I hope, I have my probe, and, thus, a running chance now at curing my Tangs HLLE.
Thanks all!

 

[rlv695]

a trip to FLA.. if you pay im on the plane...lol....well it might new for some one to use then... glad you found what you needed...
Have fun

Randy

 

[mr . salty]

Hey DAD,Tes that is what BETH is looking for.Although I do know quite a bit about electricity,I am no expert.But I have a question for you.If electricity allways follows the path of least resistance,And you have voltage in the tank.it has Nowhere for it to go till you put a ground probe in the tank.Then it follows the path through the probe to ground.RIGHT? Meanwhile all this time the fish are not affected (shocked) by this because they are NOT grounded. What happens if they touch this ground probe??? Will they compleate the circuit through thier body and get shocked??? Like us touching a live,bare wire?????Thus should the grounding probe be somewhere the fish can't get to,like in the sump????

 

[beth]

Dad: actually I meant a 3-prong, not 2 prong. I know [or at least I think I know] that the grounding probe needs to be run to a grounded outlet, which you don't have in a 2-prong outlet.
However, I was thinking the same exact thing as Salty and would very much like to know the answer! Even more important, will I get zaped if I touch the grounding probe in the aquarium????? I don't have a sump so I can't put it in there. [BTW, Steve, I want you to come to FLA and set my tank up like yours! --all that stuff you got is so cool!]
Back to DAD: Any detailed info you have on this matter will be very much welcomed. I've become interested now in the electrical componet of this hobby, plus I want to do the correct connections, etc., and keep from getting myself electricuted!
The other question I have, concerns GFIC's. If I get an extension cord type of GFI [which are sold in most hobby stores or online] can I hook this up to an ungrounded outlet and will GFI still work?? I don't see how it could, but I did read in a marine hobby book that this would work.
Also, BTW to those looking for a probe. I also found one that has a plug on it that only hooks into the grounded socket [or 3rd hole in an outlet]. The purpose here is that you don't have to use up the entire outlet on the probe, but you can still incert a 2-pronged socket into the same outlet, as the probe was only using the grounded socket hole. .

 

[mr . salty]

HEY BETH, Yes the extention cord will work.So will a power strip with a ground interupt. I would love to come to Florida.just send me the ticket. Also,email me the link for that Plug in ground probe you found.I would be interested in getting that also.

 

[beth]

Yeah, I am confused...if the grounding probe was so dangerous, why do they sell them.
Anyway, the probe and most of my electrical tank equip is plugged into an inwall GFIC. So hopefully that is safest.
Also, back to the original question Salty made. Are the fish in danger if they come into contact with the probe?
Steve, I'll send you email.

 

[mr . salty]

DAD,OK I'm with you on all this.But if someone was to have,,,say,,,33 volts in thier tank.Adding a ground probe is NOT solving the problem,it's just treating the symptoms.RIGHT.They would need to find out which piece of equiptment is shorting out into the water.And put it in the trash.

 

[mr . salty]

Thank you very much for your expert advise.It's so hard to find a cheap electrition now a day.(LOL)One of our other members is having a problem,and you just pretty much agreed with advice I gave him. But yours will hopefully carry a little more weight.

 

[mr . salty]

BY ALL MEANS,Please share this info with everyone.This kind of stuff is what this page is all about.

 

[beth]

Yes, please do....I want to know all about it, even if I don't understand it!
Steve, did he say it was safe or not to have probe in water if there is faulty equiptment? I don't want to get electricuted!!
Also, when I upgraded the electrical on my house 3 yrs ago my electrician suggest not using a gfic on my tank [as I had wanted one installed then for my tank] for the same reason that DAD says...they are tripped very easy. But then, everything I read in the hobby says you should have, so I resently had one installed.
What's the deal? Yes, all life support is on the GFIC, so far, its never been tripped. I guess all my equiptment is ok.
I still want to know, however, if
1. Having the probe is going to be a great risk to me [in the event of faulty equiptment]??? I have my hands in the water alot.
2. If you don't put all of your electrical equiptment in gfic, even life support, what exactly are you supposed to do??? It kinda defeats the purpose of having a gfic if you don't use it on all equiptment.
Also, I don't have my UV sterializer on the gfic due to lack of room and because my electrician told me that the big box-looking socket of the UV reduces voltage [or something like that] and it won't cause much shock...or whatever he said! He just implied that it was ok to leave it off gfic. What do you think???
Please comments.
Steve, did you get the email on probes?

 

[mr . salty]

Beth,I too am now a little confused. The way I understand it is that without a ground,or ground probe,the voltage has no where to go.So it is NOT in the water. But if you introduce a ground then this voltage is drawn into the water and out through this ground. So is it better NOT to have a ground probe in the tank.I'm thinking YES,No ground probe.Are you with me here??? And yes I did get your email.Just been busy these last couple days.

 

[mr . salty]

Mine checks at zero.It's been awhile.but I'm sure that it is still ok because last week when I had that leak I was standing barefoot in soaked carpet with my hands in the tank.If there was any voltage I would have felt it then.

 

[beth]

Well, couldn't quite read that website! LOL So, why do they sell these probes, if they are so dangerous? Am I in danger of electricution if I use it?....I think not cause I'm connecting to gfic. I believe I read [during my web search this past weekend] that the probe should [even must] be attached to gfic for max protection....and now that is probably the reason.
Anyway, how do you test for stray voltage....and, Salty no more jokes or you're going to get me fried!!!!!!

 

[mr . salty]

Originally posted by Tacks:
I hope SALTY doesn't delete it.

OUCHthat hurt's. In case you haven't noticed I usually don't deleate posts or links that are information related.The rule is against online stores. And besides,this is one of the most interesting and informative threads we have had in awhile.

 

[mr . salty]

I hope you don't mind me dragging you into this topic the way I did.But sounded like something you would be interested in. Just read that article that you and DAD posted,very interesting.But not really any new info.

 

[mr . salty]

This BB has an editing software that has been set to edit anything that resembles a website.This has been done because there was an outbreak of people posting competitors websites. Hopefully this will lighten up soon. As far as the dedicated circute goes,I have done this myself.My tank runs on it's own circute that I wired myself into the breaker box. TACKS Could you run an extention cord to another wall socket in another room and then recheck for voltage.I'm sure your problem is in the house wiring.

 

[beth]

Dad: Would you mind emailing me that website....I want to know more. I'm expecting my probe any day now.