Electric Current in tank

Rubymoon286 · Jul 12, 2023

Today when I reached into the tank to do some maintenance, I received a pretty hefty shock from the water. I can't figure out what's causing the current, and I unplugged the two Neros that are in the display, though the current is present despite that. Any advice on how to check what's causing it? This just started today and the system has been up since the beginning of the year. Is it possibly traveling up from the sump?

Only change between yesterday and today is that I screwed my control cabinet into the stand since the command strips I was using failed. The stand is aluminum, and I don't get shocks when touching the stand, only in the water.

Any help is appreciated.

Hallowhead · Jul 12, 2023

Could be a heater, try temporarily unplugging that.

blaxsun · Jul 12, 2023

If you do a quick search on R2R there are a few threads that outline how to troubleshoot this scenario.

Asm481 · Jul 12, 2023

What you're feeling is very little electricity. Myself, I would shut everything off and touch the water and turn one thin on at a time to see what is the culprit. Then put in a ground probe if you don't like the jolts!

Rubymoon286 · Jul 12, 2023

Hallowhead said:
Could be a heater, try temporarily unplugging that.

Will try that next, but first I'm going to run out and get a meter to be able to test stuff instead of using my hand as the shock is causing my entire arm to go numb.

blaxsun said:
If you do a quick search on R2R there are a few threads that outline how to troubleshoot this scenario.

I did do a search, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for specific advice as well

Asm481 said:
What you're feeling is very little electricity. Myself, I would shut everything off and touch the water and turn one thin on at a time to see what is the culprit. Then put in a ground probe if you don't like the jolts!

I will look into a ground probe - the shock feels quite strong and caused my entire arm to go numb, so I will be getting a meter to be able to be the guinea pig instead of using myself. I imagine it isn't actually a lot - but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Rubymoon286 · Jul 12, 2023

It does seem to be the heaters - which in the long run I'm glad it's simple, though a little miffed since I got titanium ones to be hardier this time around and didn't realize the stack of rock in my sump fell over and damaged one. I did go ahead and order a grounding probe to be on the safe side in the future, along with two new heaters. I seem to have damaged one of them. Weirdly I got a lower reading in the chamber with the heaters than I did in the display before unplugging it.

Thank you all for your responses and help

Reefer Matt · Jul 12, 2023

I would get the tank on a gfci, and use a ground probe to protect you and your home after you fix the short.

Hallowhead · Jul 12, 2023

Rubymoon286 said:
It does seem to be the heaters - which in the long run I'm glad it's simple, though a little miffed since I got titanium ones to be hardier this time around and didn't realize the stack of rock in my sump fell over and damaged one. I did go ahead and order a grounding probe to be on the safe side in the future, along with two new heaters. I seem to have damaged one of them. Weirdly I got a lower reading in the chamber with the heaters than I did in the display before unplugging it.

Thank you all for your responses and help

Glad you got it sorted out !

andrewj1212 · Jul 13, 2023

FYI titanium heaters work as grounding probes. Also make sure you have a three prong extnetion cord if using one. Had my apex on an extension cord that was only two pronged. Was running a bit of current as you could imagine

Rubymoon286 · Jul 13, 2023

andrewjjones1212 said:
FYI titanium heaters work as grounding probes. Also make sure you have a three prong extnetion cord if using one. Had my apex on an extension cord that was only two pronged. Was running a bit of current as you could imagine

I do have 3 prong cords on everything including the extension cord - but I didn't realize the heaters worked as grounds. I am swapping the outlet itself to a gfci and swapping out the extension cord for a new one as well just to be sure

andrewj1212 · Jul 13, 2023

Rubymoon286 said:
I do have 3 prong cords on everything including the extension cord - but I didn't realize the heaters worked as grounds. I am swapping the outlet itself to a gfci and swapping out the extension cord for a new one as well just to be sure

Nice, yeah I didn’t either but a grounding rod is just a titanium rod, which so is a titanium heater. Learned from BRS and now my tank how no current

Reefer Reboot · Jul 13, 2023

The next question that needs to be asked, is the ground lead of the wall socket actually hooked up to a grounding rod somewhere? (Like outdoors buried in the dirt.)

Rubymoon286 · Jul 17, 2023

Reefer Reboot said:
The next question that needs to be asked, is the ground lead of the wall socket actually hooked up to a grounding rod somewhere? (Like outdoors buried in the dirt.)

That I don't know - but it wasn't something I'd thought about - so I will look into that next - the new heaters haven't caused any issue so far thankfully but I definitely would like to know if all of my outlets are properly grounded. Will post what I find in case it can help someone else in the future

Rubymoon286 · Jul 18, 2023

So it turns out that none of the outlets in our living room where this tank is are grounded. Electrician is coming out in a few days to fix that, and bring the rest of the electrical in the house up to code. The joys of living in historic homes I guess.