Electric current felt in water!

[Idoc]

Uh oh, suspect I may have a big problem on my hands. I put my finger in the display tank water and can feel a tingling sensation from an electric current...confirmed by another person touching the water!

Any ideas on troubleshooting this?

 

[Hemmdog]

Uh oh, suspect I may have a big problem on my hands. I put my finger in the display tank water and can feel a tingling sensation from an electric current...confirmed by another person touching the water!

Any ideas on troubleshooting this?

Unplug heaters first and try again. They are usually the first thing to go bad.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Process of elimination

 

[Saltyreef]

Multimeter the water to a ground on an outlet recepticle and start unplugging things one by one as said above.

 

[Idoc]

Unplug heaters first and try again. They are usually the first thing to go bad.

Process of elimination

Found it!!! It was a bad powerhead!

 

[Mike.P]

Once you solve the issue (as others have said, unplug one thing at a time until you know what's doing it), add grounding probes to your system. I use one in the display tank, and one in the sump. They'll keep stray current out of the water in general and, in the case of an issue, they'll give the electricity a path out of the tank.

 

[Idoc]

Wow, feeling electrical current in your tank water is one way to really elevate your "pucker factor"... lol

 

[Mike.P]

Oh, yay! Glad you solved it... =) You must've typed that as I was typing. lol.

 

[Mike.P]

Wow, feeling electrical current in your tank water is one way to really elevate your "pucker factor"... lol

Oh I know all about that pucker... Standing in a giant puddle of water from a spill, then reaching over to unplug a power strip with wet hands. ;Dead

I use this in the display tank:

https://www.aquacave.com/titanium-grounding-probe.html

And this in the sump:

https://www.marinedepot.com/Ultralife_Titanium_Grounding_Probe-UL1711-FIMIGF-vi.html

Just run the wire for the one in the sump, to the plug from the one in the display tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unplug one component at a time starting with heater, then powerhead, then return pump until you isolate the culprit. Consider buying a grounding probe also to prevent this in the future

 

[SandJ]

Glad you found the cause @Idoc ...

But I would like to know how you got the other person to stick their hands in the tank lol

 

[Brad Miller]

I’m so glad you kept sticking your hand in the tank as you unplugged each device till you found it

 

[Idoc]

Glad you found the cause @Idoc ...

But I would like to know how you got the other person to stick their hands in the tank lol

It was my kid, lol. A 13yo boy will do anything. My wife wouldn't do it.

 

[Idoc]

I just ordered grounding probes!!!

 

[Orm Embar]

Strongly agree with having a grounding probe; also a GCFI for the entire tank (they make plug-in models)