Grounding probe caused my pumps to die?

[bubblemytip]

Even though he is correct, I wouldn't worry about changing breakers. We are still talking such small currents that it won't have a meaningful impact.

This is what I would do next. Take an extension cord and run it to an outlet in a different part of the house. Take a voltage reading between the ground on the extension cord and the ground on the EB8. I would also take a voltage reading between the tank and the extension cord ground.

This is exactly what I am struggling with. A ground probe cannot impact a properly functioning motor. Well, unless you jam it into the impeller. The only way they can interact is if part of the motor winding is exposed to the salt water. The issue with this is that it would trips your RCD immediately.


I like the precipitation thought. Do you have dosing lines that discharge near the ground probe?

Thanks. I’ll try all that tonight when I get home from work. Only 8.22am here now.

The dosing lines are in a different sump chamber, downstream of the probe. The calcium reactor’s sump empties near the ground probe, though.

Dosing kalk, iodine, iron and potassium. I keep my potassium >550ppm. Alk 8dKH, calcium 425ppm

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You can soak the probe in vinegar or diluted muriatic acid. If it bubbles or the coating is gone overnight, it is not corrosion (although there may also be corrosion under precipitated calcium carbonate).

 

[bubblemytip]

You can soak the probe in vinegar or diluted muriatic acid. If it bubbles or the coating is gone overnight, it is not corrosion (although there may also be corrosion under precipitated calcium carbonate).

Thanks, Randy. I'll do that too.

 

[bubblemytip]

Even though he is correct, I wouldn't worry about changing breakers. We are still talking such small currents that it won't have a meaningful impact.

This is what I would do next. Take an extension cord and run it to an outlet in a different part of the house. Take a voltage reading between the ground on the extension cord and the ground on the EB8. I would also take a voltage reading between the tank and the extension cord ground.

This is exactly what I am struggling with. A ground probe cannot impact a properly functioning motor. Well, unless you jam it into the impeller. The only way they can interact is if part of the motor winding is exposed to the salt water. The issue with this is that it would trips your RCD immediately.


I like the precipitation thought. Do you have dosing lines that discharge near the ground probe?

Reading from extension cord ground to the tank: 5-7v
Reading from extension cord ground to the EB6 ground: 0v (Does this mean it is OK to plug the probe into my apex? If not, I can move a bookshelf out from the wall and try to route the probe to the tank)

Reading on the power cord to my tunze calcium reactor pump (out of the water): approx 2.2v
Reading on the power cord to my eheim return pump (which was not in operation when vectra failed): approx 5v

Reading next to my MP10s (one at a time, with everything else in the tank turned off): approx 2.2v

Baseline reading for the tank with everything turned off and grounded to the extension cord: 0-0.4V

We run on 220-240v here in New Zealand.

You can soak the probe in vinegar or diluted muriatic acid. If it bubbles or the coating is gone overnight, it is not corrosion (although there may also be corrosion under precipitated calcium carbonate).

It bubbled immediately, so precipitation. Doesn't look like there is corrosion underneath, it wipes clean now.

Thoughts? Thanks again.

 

[rockskimmerflow]

It bubbled immediately, so precipitation. Doesn't look like there is corrosion underneath, it wipes clean now.

Thoughts? Thanks again.

My primary thought to the precipitation would be that the stray voltage observed in the tank was drawn to the grounding probe and caused accretion to occur on the surface at an elevated rate. As far as the pumps dying being correlative or causative in relation to the grounding probe's presence, I'd have to say there's no real cause I could pinpoint based on the circumstances. May have simply been one of those weird coincidences that seems to plague us reefers to no end.

 

[Forsaken77]

I have seen where if you have the hardwired smoke detectors on that circuit, and they are linked together, you can get current on the ground because of all the detectors being linked and all sending voltage to the ground. If that outlet is on that circuit, downstream of the detectors, it may have dumped the current into your tank.

Or possible your ground is no good. Use the multimeter to check the ground. A LOT of electricians and plumbers don't always do things by code. They cut corners because it's easier for them and these things get sealed up in the walls. So who's gonna notice?

I was a senior lead technician for a cable company in the Hamptons in NY (where all the multi-million dollar celebrity estates are) and I have seen things wired ***-backwards and I had to fix someone else's laziness so the next person wouldn't have to spend hours figuring out a problem because you assumed somebody did their job right.

 

[Brew12]

Does this mean it is OK to plug the probe into my apex?

Odds are very good you are ok plugging it in there. You can do one more test to be sure.

Reading from extension cord ground to the EB6 ground: 0v

If your meter allows for it, try doing this test again set for resistance in ohms. If it is less than 0.2 ohms your ground probe is fine to be plugged in there.

I'd have to say there's no real cause I could pinpoint based on the circumstances. May have simply been one of those weird coincidences that seems to plague us reefers to no end.

Agreed. At this point I am leaning to crazy coincidence. Right down to the fact that something about the calcium reactor effluent is causing crazy fast preciptiation. You may want to find a different place to install the ground probe so you don't have to clean it often.

I have seen where if you have the hardwired smoke detectors on that circuit, and they are linked together, you can get current on the ground because of all the detectors being linked and all sending voltage to the ground

And here I thought it was a unique problem when I found this! Normally these problems show up almost immediately if you have a GFCI breaker. That can really cause confusion if the GFCI is in the receptacle itself.

 

[bubblemytip]

I measured the Ohms, and the multimeter reading didn't change between measuring the ground on the EB6 and measuring nothing.

And with the grounding probe installed, and then measuring with the meter grounded on the extension cord, voltage in the tank reads 0.

Also, when measuring the voltage, I would notice that if I touched the glass of the tank, then the reading on the multimeter would change (go from, say, 2v to 6v).

Instead of the grounding probe, could I used a grounded titanium heater like a schego?

Many thanks again for all your help, guys!

Super weird re the pumps, then...

 

[Brew12]

I measured the Ohms, and the multimeter reading didn't change between measuring the ground on the EB6 and measuring nothing.

And with the grounding probe installed, and then measuring with the meter grounded on the extension cord, voltage in the tank reads 0.

Also, when measuring the voltage, I would notice that if I touched the glass of the tank, then the reading on the multimeter would change (go from, say, 2v to 6v).

Instead of the grounding probe, could I used a grounded titanium heater like a schego?

Many thanks again for all your help, guys!

Super weird re the pumps, then...

Yup, if the titanium heater uses a 3 prong plug it should be fine to use instead of the grounding probe.

 

[bubblemytip]

Yup, if the titanium heater uses a 3 prong plug it should be fine to use instead of the grounding probe.

Awesome. That'll give me a spare outlet on the EB6.

Thanks again for all the help. Better to ask and try to problem-solve and be safe than to risk an accident. ;Bookworm

 

[bbgobie]

To be clear, what lights were flashing on the pumps? And what does the manual say about that combination of lights. My vortechs shutdown when I had stray voltage in the tank. You're a 100% sure they are dead and not just shutdown for safety?

 

[bubblemytip]

To be clear, what lights were flashing on the pumps? And what does the manual say about that combination of lights. My vortechs shutdown when I had stray voltage in the tank. You're a 100% sure they are dead and not just shutdown for safety?

It’s the vectra that failed and then the tunze 6040. The vortechs are fine.

Vectra doesn’t work even in a separate bucket.

It flashes red, white then goes back to green but will interrupt with the red and white. Re-setting, re-calibrating does nothing.