electric shock w/pics what should i do?-meter reading 41 volts

[cowfishrule]

Originally Posted by patrickwebb
http:///forum/post/2503128
top lamp-floresent 11 volts
what does this have to do with leaking elec into your tank?
the fact that you have this listed stumps me, since lighting has nothing to do with the tank (in terms of equip in the tank)

 

[patrickwebb]

and my question was...........will a ground probe help this----?

 

[patrickwebb]

Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2503687
what does this have to do with leaking elec into your tank?
the fact that you have this listed stumps me, since lighting has nothing to do with the tank (in terms of equip in the tank)

when my light is on----i get a testing of 11 volts coming from my water--??
i dont know how or why---thats why im here!!

 

[keith burn]

Originally Posted by patrickwebb
http:///forum/post/2503741
when my light is on----i get a testing of 11 volts coming from my water--??
i dont know how or why---thats why im here!!
It may be salt creep on the light.
IMO pull the light down and wipe it down if you see it or not.

 

[patrickwebb]

did that my light is clean and clear!

 

[patrickwebb]

does anybody eles have this problem with there tank,
And would a grounding probe fix this prob.

 

[cowfishrule]

i dont think a grounding probe would fix this, because the probe is for an accident prevention, not to correct a situation.
something funky is going on, and i cant figure it out.
i'd have to agree with a previous poster.
tear the tank apart.
put it back piece by piece till you find where the leak is.
and, not flaming, but i still cant accept that your lights are putting electricity into the water, since they are not coming in contact with the water. pumps/ph/heaters, i can believe. not lights.
also- why is your voltage meter on the setting that it is ?

 

[salty blues]

This may me redundant, but have you tried your strip in another outlet, even a non-gfci will do for test purposes. I suspect you may have a loose connection perhaps on the neutral side of the circuit at some point.
Try finding a different outlet if possible that you know is not part of the circuit(sharing the same circuit breaker)you are currently using. See if this changes any of your meter readings.
BE CAREFUL!
PS: you might try a different strip as well. You need to eliminate all possibillities.

 

[snaredrum]

Originally Posted by salty blues
http:///forum/post/2504148
This may me redundant, but have you tried your strip in another outlet, even a non-gfci will do for test purposes. I suspect you may have a loose connection perhaps on the neutral side of the circuit at some point.
Try finding a different outlet if possible that you know is not part of the circuit(sharing the same circuit breaker)you are currently using. See if this changes any of your meter readings.
BE CAREFUL!
PS: you might try a different strip as well. You need to eliminate all possibillities.
I agree with this 100%. Its got to be the outlet or the power strip.

 

[metweezer]

Didn't read all of this thread but you need to reverse the leads at your voltmeter. Black goes to common and the ground part of your outlet. Red to volts and your water.
Steve

 

[patrickwebb]

Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
http:///forum/post/2504101
i dont think a grounding probe would fix this, because the probe is for an accident prevention, not to correct a situation.
something funky is going on, and i cant figure it out.

also- why is your voltage meter on the setting that it is ?

so i googled it----seems i did have my stupid meter on the wrong setting!
thanks for aking me look-allthough now it says 1.4 mv---
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3D1%26hl%3Den

 

[patrickwebb]

it reads zero when i have it on volts-
finally-i got my test kit and my water right, i think im going to the lfs!
thanks for all of you who took the time to give me suggestions!
this place rocks!!!

 

[scotts]

I hate to say this, but I don't think your meter was on the wrong setting. It looks like it is set for AC volts. The other Volt setting is DC. The equisment that we use is AC. You don't need it set for 750 volts thoush. You can set it for 200 volts and you will be fine.

 

[scotts]

PS, a grounding probe will cause your voltmeter to read 0, but that is not fixing the problem. It will just cause electricty to flow through your tank. Akin to saying, I will fix my leaking faucet by opening up the drain in the sink. My sink no longer is full of water, but the faucet is still leaking.

 

[tarball]

Originally Posted by metweezer
http:///forum/post/2504339
Didn't read all of this thread but you need to reverse the leads at your voltmeter. Black goes to common and the ground part of your outlet. Red to volts and your water.
Steve

 

[natclanwy]

I have to agree with poster above I don't think you had it on the wrong setting, I think it should read 0 volts whether you have it on DC or AC or at least very close to 0. The range doesn't make much difference for this application. Orientation of the plugs won't make any difference for measuring voltage on a digital multimeter, AC will read correct regardless and if the polarity is reversed on DC it will read a negitive value.
If I understand correctly it doesn't matter what you plug in you get a voltage reading in your tank? Then each successive component you plug in adds to the voltage reading? If one particular component is causing the problem I would have to believe it would be the power strip try plugging equip directly to the wall circuit and maybe try each piece in a bucket and see if you get the same results in the bucket.

 

[scotts]

I agree with Nat. Also I looked at the first picture you posted on post #12 of this thread. You can see that you have the meter set for AC and have 29 volts in your tank. So you still have the problem. Sorry.
I also agree with Nat that you should bypass the power strip and plug things straight into the wall to see what if they are causing a problem or if it is the powerstrip.

 

[aninafish]

I had this same problem and it was my powerhead leaking volts. I know you do not have a powerhead but saltwater is a MUCH better conductor of electricity than regular water. When the power head was plugged in I was getting readings on everything. I had to narrow it down to my powerhead by unplugging everthing one at a time and testing each item again. This type of thing will not trip a gfci as (from what an electrician told me) saltwater can contain the small leaks of voltage a small power pump puts out. i.e. hair dryer in the sink will spread the electric - powerhead or heater in saltwater the voltage will absorb and stay in the tank. I did lose a lot fish over time to this and never knew why.

 

[gmann1139]

When Patrick said he had it on the wrong setting, he meant more about the fact he was reading on the 750 volt range. That's why he was getting readings off any piece of equipment. Heck, put a meter on that setting and hold two probes up in the air and I bet you can get 10 V easy. I was fairly surprised it took so long for someone to catch on to that. In fact, it dimmed my faith in the perfection of the information on this site. Now I don't know who to trust.

As far as AC/DC goes, yes, everything in the tank is probably AC, and that's the best setting to check. If you've got a problem though, I'm betting it would show up on either setting. I'm not 100% sure on that, haven't seen from experience, and am not willing to test it out, but AC/DC wasn't the major problem.
And as far as ground goes, I'd check on the power strip itself, so you're eliminating the power strip from the equation.
Patrick, if you're still out there, what are the readings on your tank?

 

[natclanwy]

Don't have much experience with anything but fluke meters but It doesn't matter what setting I have it on I don't get a reading unless there is voltage present maybe cheapo meters won't read correctly when you set them to a high range but my flukes will the only difference it will make is whether or not I would read 29V or 29.1 volts