voltage going in my tank

jamesthero

jamesthero

Member
i went to remove my crab today and had a stinging around my finger nail felt like licking a nine volt so i kill the main power to my tank and it stoped i cant find any shorts in the wires and i had 2 new clowns die this week and my readings are good how do i stop this from kill more fish
 
kdfrosty

kdfrosty

Active Member
Grounding probe.
Around $15 on the popular auction site. You plug it in and use provided suction cup to hold it in the tank. Gets rid of stray voltage.
 
chipmaker

chipmaker

Active Member
I would not rely on the ground probe alone. I wold be looking over each and everything very closely. Salt creep into electrical components can cause stray voltage. I had stray voltage occur from a salt creep build up on my florescent tubes...I would unplug or disconnect each item and turn them on one at a time and check after power is appllied to each individual item, and that should at least put you in the ball park with the faulty item.
 
mermaiden7

mermaiden7

Member
Just a *hint* that i do is tie a knot in all of my power cords to keep the creep where it belongs ( well it belongs in the tank but it keeps it from running down the whole cord).
Just a loose knot dont tie it tight.
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
Originally Posted by mermaiden7
Just a *hint* that i do is tie a knot in all of my power cords to keep the creep where it belongs ( well it belongs in the tank but it keeps it from running down the whole cord).
Just a loose knot dont tie it tight.

Bad idea.... could lead to your breaker tripping.... careful!!
 
chipmaker

chipmaker

Active Member
HOw does a knot in a cord cause a breaker to pop? I can see if a cord has a lot of amerage draw on it, and there may be a multitude of knots and tangles and it gets hot, but just a knot in a cord should not make a breaker pop. Its common practice to tie a knot in a cord for use as a strain relief.......its called a figure eight knot thats used, and odds are a lot of appliances without the plastic grommit type strain relievers will have a figure 8 knot tied in it. Some places call it an underwriters knot.
 
jamesthero

jamesthero

Member
Originally Posted by PFitz44
You heard wrong
i ran a cord to my bathroom to a gfi and it did not shut down i have three plugs in there and they all work, so i would have to say that the stray power going in the tank in not strong enough to trip the gfi
 
lepete

lepete

Member
GCFI will never ever trip because of *stray* voltage. Stray voltage is generated when the magnet in your internal pump spins around saltwater (a conductor). However, GCFI will trip on *leak* voltage. Leak voltage occurs because there is a path (ie, broken heater glass) from the home wiring to your aquarium.
GCFI works like this:
You have black (hot) and white (neutral) wires coming to your pump. The current will come into your device via the hot wire. Normally, 100% of that incoming current will be leaving the device via the neutral wire. The GCFI will trip when less than 100% of the incoming is seen leaving the neutral wire.
Let say 1 amp comes into a pump, then 1 amp will leave the pump via the common wire. The GFCI will be fat and happy because incoming current (hot wire) equals to outgoing current (white wire).
However, while the magnetic impeller spins, it generate 1 V around the water. You then touch the water. There will be a current that go through your body. The GCFI will never see this current.
Grounding probe is never good idea. By adding a grounding probe, you are making a complete path and ver low resistance from the high voltage aquarium water to low voltage ground. Thus, creating a large current (Current = Voltage / Resistance).
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
Originally Posted by chipmaker
HOw does a knot in a cord cause a breaker to pop? I can see if a cord has a lot of amerage draw on it, and there may be a multitude of knots and tangles and it gets hot, but just a knot in a cord should not make a breaker pop. Its common practice to tie a knot in a cord for use as a strain relief.......its called a figure eight knot thats used, and odds are a lot of appliances without the plastic grommit type strain relievers will have a figure 8 knot tied in it. Some places call it an underwriters knot.

1st off, breakers dont pop, fuses pop, and breakers trip. Yes, if there is a lot af amperage drawn, it will trip the breaker do to the induced emectromagnetic field. But would you want to take the chance with the amount of money invested into the fishtank to come home, see the breaker tripped, and takemates dead??? I wouldnt....
Better safe than sorry....
Originally Posted by lepete
GCFI works like this:
You have black (hot) and white (neutral) wires coming to your pump. The current will come into your device via the hot wire. Normally, 100% of that incoming current will be leaving the device via the neutral wire. The GCFI will trip when less than 100% of the incoming is seen leaving the neutral wire.
Let say 1 amp comes into a pump, then 1 amp will leave the pump via the common wire. The GFCI will be fat and happy because incoming current (hot wire) equals to outgoing current (white wire).
However, while the magnetic impeller spins, it generate 1 V around the water. You then touch the water. There will be a current that go through your body. The GCFI will never see this current.
Grounding probe is never good idea. By adding a grounding probe, you are making a complete path and ver low resistance from the high voltage aquarium water to low voltage ground. Thus, creating a large current (Current = Voltage / Resistance).
How is the magnetic impeller creating voltage in the tank??? It needs some sort of magnetic field.......?
Originally Posted by jamesthero
i ran a cord to my bathroom to a gfi and it did not shut down i have three plugs in there and they all work, so i would have to say that the stray power going in the tank in not strong enough to trip the gfi
Is it the plug in type, or an acutal breaker??? the breaker type are the best... the plugs are known to malfunction
 
lepete

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by PFitz44
How is the magnetic impeller creating voltage in the tank??? It needs some sort of magnetic field.......?
Yes, the impeller unit has a magnet attached to it. When this spins, voltage is generated.
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
right.. but it needs a magnet in contact with the water......
your explination violates the conservation of energy law....
 
lepete

lepete

Member
PFitz44,
Take any motor/pump and spin the gear/impeller with your fingers. You'll detect a voltage between the 2 electrical inputs. Yet, the magnet is never in physical, conductive contact of the electrical coil (conductor). Usually, something slippery (like plastic or teflon) separates the magnet to the housing of the motor. In a saltwater aquarium, the salt acts as a conductor.
The energy input is that of the current going from the hot to the common wire. The energy output is the spinning of the motor, water movement, heat, friction, vibration, and stray voltage.
 
pfitz44

pfitz44

Active Member
What causes the voltage across the motor/pump is an induced magnetic field.... If anything were to go into the aquarium, it would be current, which would trip the gfcb....
 
drea

drea

Active Member
wtf, too complicated for me.. should i canotinue to use the grounding probe or ditch it?
 
lepete

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by jamesthero
i went to remove my crab today and had a stinging around my finger nail felt like licking a nine volt so i kill the main power to my tank and it stoped i cant find any shorts in the wires and i had 2 new clowns die this week and my readings are good how do i stop this from kill more fish
A different view ...
If your body is charged with static electricity (ie, drag feet on carpet), touching the water will create a path for the high static charge (you) to a low voltage charge (aquarium water). Salt water is a conductor similar to a metal door knob. This current should not be enough current to kill your Clowns though.
 
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