Morbid...but do you worry about getting shocked?

[salty joe]

I am not too concerned because my pumps and lights are all low voltage DC except for the calcium reactor pump and it's plugged into a GFI. But I voted sometimes just because it is saltwater and electricity...

 

[ShepherdReefer]

My vote was other...I know this will sound strange, but most of the time when we make RO water for either the TO or in the Brute container for a water change, the only items in the tank are RO water and 1/4 tube from the RO machine. When we place our hand into the water, we get shocked. One time, it was so loud, the wife heard it 15 feet away. Crazy.

 

[K7BMG]

I am also an electrician. Been shocked more than most ever will because of the trade.
I have had people cut lock out's and energize circuits while I was working on them.
I have had two people think there being funny and turn on the switch when I was changing out a light fixture.

I voted sometimes.
Here in the USA and having 120V systems is literally a lifesaver.
It is possible to be killed by 120V but! perfect conditions would be needed to do so.
In todays world 120V is the safest voltage.

208/240V and up well that's a whole different set of rules.

The deadliest voltage an ELECTRICIAN deals with on a daily basis is 277/480V
277 volts will lock your muscles, 480 will normally blow up and send you into deadly objects on the other side of the room.
Neither is your friend, when I work with these voltages now, and because of past events, I use an extra level of safety. I remove the wiring from the breaker and still use a lock out tag out system. This way a person who removes the the lockouts and turns on the breaker I will still be ok. (Lock outs have failed me in the past)

 

[K7BMG]

In fact, I have been shocked several times over the years. It's usually just a tingling, so I'm still around obviously, but yeah, it's pretty scary. Usually a pump or heather of something with a leaking cable.

I will no longer use any AC equipment in my new build. With the possible exception of a heater, which I'm looking into, all the pumps that are in the water are low voltage.

I am not trying to put fear in you but.

Just because the device is low voltage is no guarantee that 120V cant get through.
Please understand that all the equipment we use is plugged into 120V or 240Vs
There are STEPDOWN transformers that convert it to 12-24 volts.
If this cheaply made transformer fails it can allow 120V to the low voltage device.

 

[K7BMG]

My vote was other...I know this will sound strange, but most of the time when we make RO water for either the TO or in the Brute container for a water change, the only items in the tank are RO water and 1/4 tube from the RO machine. When we place our hand into the water, we get shocked. One time, it was so loud, the wife heard it 15 feet away. Crazy.

That is strange, there has to be something electrical in contact with the water somewhere.
The pressure pump, heater, something. Time to do some investigating.

 

[ThomC]

After a glass heater broke in the sump and I got a tingle, I switched heaters. Have plastic plexiglass barrier between sump and electric and installed GFI outlet. Never think about it now.

 

[SkiCatTX]

I am not trying to put fear in you but.

Just because the device is low voltage is no guarantee that 120V cant get through.
Please understand that all the equipment we use is plugged into 120V or 240Vs
There are STEPDOWN transformers that convert it to 12-24 volts.
If this cheaply made transformer fails it can allow 120V to the low voltage device.

Of course. We can never be completely safe, but we do what we can...

 

[bdehlin]

I don't worry about it, but probably should

 

[Buckster]

Getting ready to set up my 180. Today I installed a 20 amp GFCI which I split into 2. I will run some of the system on one GFCI and the rest on the other GFCI. GFCI is a must when dealing with water

 

[Scott Stapels]

I’m an electrician by trade so when I set things up it’s always safety first and foremost, gfci is your friend!

I’m an engineer in the electric transmission industry (>69kV). I stared an aquarium maintenance business a lifetime ago - now gone. But you would not believe stuff I saw. Also people removing gfci as faulty pumps and lights would trip. Alway fun to use a multimeter and show people the stray voltage

 

[LRT]

I did get quite the scare a couple months ago as one of my heaters cracked and I had no idea until I was holding the side of the stand(metal) and stuck my hand in my sump. I'm surprised I didnt get shocked. Just a nice decent almost when you stick your tongue on a battery but much bigger jolt.
Have take every precaution at this point with gfci receptacles and such and even then I like to look around at things and make sure it's safe.
Cant imagine what would have happened but I can tell you I would have ended up with 90 gallons of water and 100 lbs of live rock on my head had I pulled it over.
Be safe all

 

[Crotalus]

You can use a grounder around your wrist the same as you would when working on a pc and not worry

No, That's a good way to guarantee that if you do get a shock it will be serious.

 

[samnaz]

Shame you even have to say this isn’t a fear mongering post. (Who would think that?)

I had a gfci outlet installed pretty early on in my reefing days. But when I was starting out electrical safety didn’t even occur to me. It’s not spoken about or mentioned a lot, certainly less than a lot of other beginner topics.

 

[Perthegallon]

No, That's a good way to guarantee that if you do get a shock it will be serious.

Why is that it works for PCs when stray voyage hits you

 

[damselindistress]

When we moved to our current house two years ago my husband - against my better judgment - let his brother rewire part of the house prior to our moving in. As I was setting up my freshwater tank I had my arm in it past my elbow making some adjustments and the other elbow made contact with THE LIVE WIRE STICKING OUT OF THE WALL waiting to have the light switch wired onto it.

I can confirm for you with 100% confidence that touching a live wire with your arm in a 40 gallon tank of water will result in an effluent stream of very unladylike words jetting forth from your mouth with zero input from your brain, which is desperately trying to send the signal to your arms to either a) move away from the wire or b) yank your arm out of the tank.

Moral of this story is do not let your brother in law rewire your house. Especially if you keep fish.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

It's been said that under the right conditions one amp will kill a human. That means it doesn't take much for us to go bye-bye. GFI and AFCI, have prolonged my life. With them in place, I fear not. Just have to test, per manufacturers recommendations.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

2 months ago a client of ours, mention like 10 years ago he was electrocuted so badly they had to put him in that chamber that pumps oxygen and he was in that chamber for who knows how long. He recuperate but he could have lost his life. It was that bad. He was electrocuted on the job some commercial job

 

[Spieg]

You can use a grounder around your wrist the same as you would when working on a pc and not worry

Poppycock! The purpose of the grounding bracelet is not to protect the wearer, it's to protect the delicate computer circuit from static electricity that the wearer my have on their body. Grounding your body with the bracelet discharges the static before it can damage electrical components. Grounding bracelets are only for minor static charge that you might get from walking across a carpeted floor... would not harm a person at all, but can fry a silicon chip.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...F578E0A603648AFBDDF8F578E0A603648&FORM=VDQVAP

 

[BryanJ]

Voted other. Got shockEd pretty good wiring my first retrofit ballast. And I stuck my hand in a tank with a power head that was leaking electricity. So I have been shocked both ways the dry shock was way worse than the one in the water.

 

[K7BMG]

Why is that it works for PCs when stray voyage hits you

Those straps prevent static electricity from dammaging the circuit boards.
They are tied to the chassis to make everything the same ground potential.
Has nothing to do with life safety.