Don't have a GFCI outlet? Get one! Almost died!

[Anthony Wood]

Well my tank almost killed me last night. First I'll start off by saying when I first had a dedicated breaker and outlets run to my fish room months ago. I specifically asked the electrician to install a GFCI/AFCI breaker so I didn't have to use multiple GFCI/AFCI outlets. There must of been some sort of miscommunication obviously because he just out a regular breaker in or I wouldn't be on here talking about it.

Well last night I was putting the finishing the final touches on a new isolated tank I had installed in the fish room for nudibranch breeding. The last step was taking one of the 200W Aqeon Pro heaters out of my RO/DI holding drum and putting it in the new tank. Well unknown to me and unseen to the eye the gasket where the cord goes into the heater had become bad, so once I plugged it in I had 2.27 amps running ungrounded in the new tank. The reason I know the amps being drawn is because that's what my Archon controller told me it was drawing. Now that I look back on it I should have tested the water with a multimeter to be safe but at this point I thought I had the proper breaker installed.

In the time between me plugging the heater in and give the tank a final look over. The air stone in the tank had become dislodged and was floating at the surface. So not thinking anything about the heater the moment I stuck my hand in the water considering ohm's law I had to of had well over 1 amp running threw my body. For those of you that don't know much about electricity 1 amp + stops your heart not mentioning all the other nasty things that type of power does like burning internal organs, bursting veins, stopping breathing etc.... Back to my story my hand is in the water and instantly I lose all control of my body. I straightened up flatter then a board. It must have looked like I got hit by a police tazer gun. Luckily I was leaning away from the tank, so when I lost control I was thrown through an open adjacent door and hit the ground faster the a sack of bricks.

The only reason I believe I'm still alive today or not in a hospital bed getting skin graphs needing new organs, is due to the fact that I had wet socks on wet carpet. This gave the electricity a path to follow which prevented it from doing severe damage elsewhere. Ok if you have gotten this far reading and still thinking this can't happen to me well I didn't come out of this without some wounds. Here's a picture for thought.

This is the aftermath and I'm lucky to have only this. After I left the ground the electricity it made its way up my arm towards my watch and stopped at my bicep when my hand finally left the water. Left a nasty electrical burn.

Moral of the story....make sure for certain you have a GFCI breaker or outlet that your aquariums are plugged into it may save your life someday!! I'm certainly lucky to still have mine. Think about it this way without a GFCI safety in place your putting your life in the hands of that $10-$100 heater you bought.

 

[Brew12]

I am so glad you are alright! Completely agree that aquariums should be on GFCI. I would actually recommend at least 2 separate GFCI circuits. One for heaters and "non critical pumps" and the other for critical components that are less likely to fail.

It is also important to remember to test your GFCI devices. All GFCI outlets should be tested monthly. A survey done a few years ago showed that over 20% of GFCI devices installed in the inspected homes had failed energized. Newer GFCI receptacles should fail off but if yours are over 3 years old that probably isn't the case. GFCI circuit breakers should typically be tested annually.

It is amazing that the path for current flow wasn't through your torso and didn't impact your heart. You are a lucky man!

 

[dakoop]

And don't wear wet socks on a wet floor either. Glad you're ok but shoes would have helped

 

[Anthony Wood]

I am so glad you are alright! Completely agree that aquariums should be on GFCI. I would actually recommend at least 2 separate GFCI circuits. One for heaters and "non critical pumps" and the other for critical components that are less likely to fail.

It is also important to remember to test your GFCI devices. All GFCI outlets should be tested monthly. A survey done a few years ago showed that over 20% of GFCI devices installed in the inspected homes had failed energized. Newer GFCI receptacles should fail off but if yours are over 3 years old that probably isn't the case. GFCI circuit breakers should typically be tested annually.

It is amazing that the path for current flow wasn't through your torso and didn't impact your heart. You are a lucky man!

Thank you someone or something was looking over me at that moment. It's a wonder how electricity follows a certain path. Since my right foot was wet it lowered the resistance enough to not get burnt only my leg is super sore today. But once I left the ground and the path went towards my watch on my left arm I'm assuming since there's not other explanation. I got a nasty electric burn where my skin was dry and resistance was high. Resistence also played a role on my right hand getting cuts and not very severe burns.

I also asked for two seperate GFCI/AFCI combo breakers. But I don't own the house my dad does so I only ended up getting one breaker that wasn't even the one I wanted/needed. I do know GFCI outlets do have a duty cycle and will eventually not work correctly. I also am not sure about a GFCI breaker. The reason I wanted the GFCI at the breaker was to avoid having to install 4 GFCI outlets. On top of that I do know that a GFCI breaker is a lot less likely to fail then a GFCI outlet. My educated guess on that would be that a breaker has a substantially longer duty cycle then an outlet. Thanks again for the input!

 

[Anthony Wood]

And don't wear wet socks on a wet floor either. Glad you're ok but shoes would have helped

Normally I would totally agree with you. But in my instance with the amount of current going through my body wet socks, dry socks shoes or no shoes wouldn't of mattered. In my case I firmly believe the wet socks helped save my life because it gave the current a path to follow. Without a path to follow 1+ amps go straight to the heart and instantly stops it from beating followed by burning your kidneys and other internal organs. Not to mention the severe burns I would have been left with that more then likely would have needed a skin graft.

 

[Anthony Wood]

I back that statement with the fact that my wet foot is perfectly fine and look at my arm where it was dry. That happened from the minuscule time I had left the ground to when my hand came out of the water. No path my heart stops and my entire body looks like my arm. But again like I said I totally agree with you on the wet socks, in my case though with that high of a current it certainly saved me from severe bodily harm that would have landed me in the hospital for months and/or my life.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Wow man I am so happy you're here to tell the story! Thank you for sharing with the community!

 

[Brew12]

Normally I would totally agree with you. But in my instance with the amount of current going through my body wet socks, dry socks shoes or no shoes wouldn't of mattered. In my case I firmly believe the wet socks helped save my life because it gave the current a path to follow. Without a path to follow 1+ amps go straight to the heart and instantly stops it from beating followed by burning your kidneys and other internal organs. Not to mention the severe burns I would have been left with that more then likely would have needed a skin graft.

Actually, dry shoes may have helped but it is hard to say in your case. Not knowing all the details I don't know how you are alive. Since you are familiar with ohms law you know that it only takes around 1200 ohms of resistance to reduce current to a non lethal value (under o.1A) and dry shoes would add several thousand ohms of resistance or more.
Normally, 2+ amps into the arm and out the feet would be fatal. The best path through your body is through your blood and the best path for your blood goes through your heart. That is why most high current shocks in the hand and out the feet result in fatalities.
Its possible that the burn on your bicep was the exit path for the current and the input was in your hand. The leg pain could have been caused by rapid involuntary muscle movement. That doesn't necessarily fit what you were doing so even that is just speculation.

Either way, a working GFCI would have saved you a significant amount of pain. I'm just glad you lived to tell your cautionary tale.

btw... I work as an electrical engineer (navy trained, not degreed) for a heavy industrial and I wrote and maintain our electrical safety policies.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Agreed no reason to argue over something that may not be able to be explained there was enough current to kill no matter what I had on my feet lol. I'm still here alive and kicking in the end. Like you said the moral/message of my story is that a GFCI is a necessity because someone else may not be as lucky as I was.

Actually, dry shoes may have helped but it is hard to say in your case. Not knowing all the details I don't know how you are alive. Since you are familiar with ohms law you know that it only takes around 1200 ohms of resistance to reduce current to a non lethal value (under o.1A) and dry shoes would add several thousand ohms of resistance or more.
Normally, 2+ amps into the arm and out the feet would be fatal. The best path through your body is through your blood and the best path for your blood goes through your heart. That is why most high current shocks in the hand and out the feet result in fatalities.
Its possible that the burn on your bicep was the exit path for the current and the input was in your hand. The leg pain could have been caused by rapid involuntary muscle movement. That doesn't necessarily fit what you were doing so even that is just speculation.

Either way, a working GFCI would have saved you a significant amount of pain. I'm just glad you lived to tell your cautionary tale.

btw... I work as an electrical engineer (navy trained, not degreed) for a heavy industrial and I wrote and maintain our electrical safety policies.

 

[Brew12]

Ok... the engineer in me has to know. Did you get shocked as soon as your hand touched the water or was it after you had your arm deep into the tank?

 

[shoelaceike]

Thanks for sharing and happy your ok. Would wearing thick rubber gloves have prevented this?

 

[Anthony Wood]

Ok... the engineer in me has to know. Did you get shocked as soon as your hand touched the water or was it after you had your arm deep into the tank?

Haha I got to just before my wrist, you can see in my picture where the deepest cut is. The area half way between my wrist and thumb socket. It happened so quick I'm most likely missing some details during the time I was getting electrocuted. But I put my right hand in like any other person would have, I lose all control of my body and stiffen up like a board. After I stiffen up straighten up like a board the last thing I remember is feeling the strongest muscle contraction in my right calf and foot. Then I blacked out because the next thing I remember is the split second before I land on my right shoulder smacking my head on the tile and thinking why in the heck is my and bleeding in 4 different spots and why is my left bicep burning like I touched a hot pot that's been on the stove. Idk if this helps buts the cuts go from my thumb joint all the way up past my wrist and seem to be just about equally spaced apart. Maybe you can shine some light on the situation which would be greatly appreciated because you clearly know more then I do lol

 

[rebekwl]

Wow that is crazy. I'm glad you're ok!

 

[Anthony Wood]

Thanks for sharing and happy your ok. Would wearing thick rubber gloves have prevented this?

No clue to be honest with you! I do know a GFCI outlet or GFCI break would have. That's what they are designed to do save your life.

 

[Anthony Wood]

@Brew12 here is a picture of the heater and the tank on the ground was the tank the heater was in. I was bent at my knees leaning over heavily to my right side when I put my hand in the tank because the outlets are to the left of the tank.

 

[jhoop]

WOW ! Glad you are OK !

 

[Brew12]

Anthony, go buy a lottery ticket!

 

[Anthony Wood]

Anthony, go buy a lottery ticket!

Hahahaha

 

[jasonrusso]

One of the first things I did was to install a GFCI on the main outlet to my tank. If wired correctly, you only need one per circuit if you don't mind the one GFCI tripping the entire circuit. I did this to protect myself and the livestock. For the record, 15mA AC is enough to kill you if it hits you right. DC is actually worse. a shock won't kill ypu right away but it builds up electrolytes in your blood and you die later. So, if you get a DC shock, GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!

 

[Bbaz123456]

I don't mean to doubt you or question the dangers of electricity, but are you sure that you didn't just scrape your arm and hand on the edge of the tank after feeling the shock?