This is shocking.

[Bono]

For the last few days, whenever I move a heater or clean my skimmer I'm getting a shock from my sump. Sometimes it's a slight tingle but today, when I accidently touched the return water from my skimmer, I got the zap of my life and the GFCI tripped.

Does anyone know if there is a meter or some kind of testing device to tell which piece of equipment is doing this? I would really rather not have to plug each piece in seperately and then stick my hand in sump to see which one stops my heart.

[moe_k]

I'm willing to bet it's a heater.
The only thing I can think of is using a voltmeter instead of your hand as a test when you unplug/replug each individual piece of equipment.

[Sea Serpent]

Are your fish OK? They must be feeling some effect from the stray voltage . . are they glowing?

[Typhon]

Do you have a grounding probe?? That will help with the stray voltage..

[Bono]

Is a voltmeter something that you can plug each piece into or is it one of those things with a probe that you. LOL oh forget it. What is a voltmeter and how does it work? As you can tell I am electrically challenged

The fish seem fine, although my yellow tang looks like rudolph. Seriously though, I don't feel the voltage in the tank itself as the sump is in my basement on the floor and a good 15 ft from the tank.

[RobboT]

Use a voltage meter rather than your hand. Radio Shack has em pretty cheap. One end in the water one end to ground.
You are probably still resigned to unplugging things one by one though. I'd agree with the heater assessment, they seem to be the most frequent culprits. Do you have any Rio Powerheads?

[NHreefer]

You don't need a voltmeter, if you can feel any current you have a problem. Also check pumps inside the tank, I have seen the coating on the powercords crack if they dried out and then were reused. It has to be something in the water, tank or sump, so start unplugging and when the tiggling stops u got it.!!! j/k
Goodluck
Chris

[Bono]

Thanks everybody, I will check out radioshack and see what they have for voltmeters. I don't think it's the heaters as my tank is at 82 and the heaters are set at 80, although I don't know if the current still flows when they are off. And I don't have any Rio's, I learned that lesson a few years ago.

[ScavDog]

I had my hands in my tank last evening and felt the same thing...at first I though I had a cut on my finger...I soon realized it was stray voltage.

Started pull ing one plug at a time, even going so far as to trip the breakers on the GFI's. Nothing seemed to stop it. I left a couple suspects uplugged for the evening and this AM found no electricity in the tank. Wierd...

My Tank(s) have grounding probes fwiw.

Joe

[beeda]

I'd like to get this straight. To check for stray voltage in a tank one of the voltmeter probes should go in the tank water the other should go to a known ground like a coldwater pipe or the ground on a wall socket. Correct?

A ground probe works in conjuction with the ground fault interupter by giving the voltage a path to ground so that the GFI can sense the ground and trip. In this case scubby became the ground probe and if the GFI wasn't present something much worse could have happened. Correct?

[JBrown2197]

You could try the old fashioned method of unplugging everything, then plug things in one at a time until you get jazzed again!
It's cheap and effective. If you can stand it.
:idea: :blown:

[ReeferMJP]

Try shutting your pump off, I have gotten shocked xxxx many times and it is always my pumps (RIO's most of all) but I found out that some of my pumps were hanging from the cord and this was sending stray voltasge into the tank.
Just my thoughts. Good luck

[hydra_25]

I wouldn't try getting zapped any more times to find problem since a GFI isn't fool proof and it takes very little current through your heart to kill you. You should try the volt meter to see if it will read stray voltage between the water and the ground.

[Heavydc2]

if its a glass heater I would put my money on it... I know from experience.

If it is the heater, I suggest you bite the bullet and get yourself a titanium heater. That will save your a$$ from that happening again.

Dave

[Bono]

ReeferMJP, what do you mean that your pumps were hanging by the cords? My sump is on the floor and the power supply is hanging above the sump, not directly over it but still above it. Could this be causing my problem?

As for heaters I have 2 250 watt Ebo's that I haven't had any problems with and are fairly new. I tried the Won Brothers heaters and sent 2 back as they would stick on or would just continually click and not heat up at all.

I really don't feel like being an electrical test pilot as the last jolt when the GFCI tripped wasn't much fun.

[Ken2001]

If you got "the shock of your life", then it ain't "stray voltage." Get a grounding probe, yank the heater (I'm with Heavy, if it's glass tube, particularly if it's more then a year old, then junk it). Water and electricity aren't things to be played with.

Ken

[jimmyj7090]

I have three tanks. I only sense shocks from my 75. The 75 is the only one with a ground probe.

I only sense the shock when I have spilled H2O on the rug.

I wonder, am I giving the stray current in the tank a better ground, or am I giving the stray current (static or other) in the rug a ground through the tank and the ground probe?

Am I grounding the tank to the rug or the rug to the tank?

jk