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

[sp1187]

some times I get sticker shock.

 

[K7BMG]

some times I get sticker shock.

Sometimes??? LoL

 

[Copingwithpods]

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)

^this! Sooo much this!

Unless your are a suicidal maniac doing water changes barefoot in your concrete slab basement, a 120v energized body of water like your tank will only give you a strong jolt. In most cases it feels like those shocker pen pranks.

I saw on another thread a warning that if your tank isn't grounded it will in fact kill you one day, well yeah it might if you are being wreckless. If you're wearing shoes on a dry floor the circuit cannot complete and all you'll get is an uncomfortable jolt. Anybody with an old fridge or stove already knows the feeling.

 

[725196]

I have been shocked before and although not pleasant I am not worried. That being said I take precautions to make sure it won’t happen again. I use a ground wire for stray electric. I think that is all the care I need to “worry” about.

 

[JonoB]

Well I wasn't worried about it until I read this thread...

 

[Val Shebeko]

Yesterday , I grounded the tank and almost killed everybody in it. Still trying to understand what happened.

Attached a grounding probe, the kind that plugs into a grounded wall socket and the 15 amp breaker jumped out and the fish floated to the top.

Still trying to understand what happened. I have my hands in the tank water often enough and have gotten mild jolts so I thought I would ground the tank. And WOW !

Any body have an explanation for this ?

 

[boacvh]

I am concerned and that's why I have gfci and ground probes. On both my tank and mixing station. Thanks to @Brew12 .
Frankly I don't know why this isn't a a chapter in the supreme guide to setting up a tank nor is it included in any of the brs videos for all us newbies to know.

 

[Brew12]

I am concerned and that's why I have gfci and ground probes. On both my tank and mixing station. Thanks to @Brew12 .
Frankly I don't know why this isn't a a chapter in the supreme guide to setting up a tank nor is it included in any of the brs videos for all us newbies to know.

This thread does my heart good! I was "shocked" by the opposition to using ground probes and GFCI when I first got into the hobby. One major reason was that someone put together a video trying to prove that ground probes didn't actually do anything. What they didn't tell people is they were not doing their testing in salt water. Big difference. There was also a very highly respected EE that wrote a blog post about ground probes/GFCI that was very misleading. I have reached out to them multiple times asking for a correction with no luck. I even tried finding them at IEEE conferences that I thought they would be at... ah well.
Based on this thread it looks like progress is being made!

 

[Brew12]

Yesterday , I grounded the tank and almost killed everybody in it. Still trying to understand what happened.

Attached a grounding probe, the kind that plugs into a grounded wall socket and the 15 amp breaker jumped out and the fish floated to the top.

Still trying to understand what happened. I have my hands in the tank water often enough and have gotten mild jolts so I thought I would ground the tank. And WOW !

Any body have an explanation for this ?

I'm not sure how to explain the fish floating. Something like that should only happen in fresh water. You can't electrofish in salt water, the water is more conductive than the fish.

You could have any number of things happening. The most likely is that you have a piece of failed equipment in your tank but you don't make a good enough path to ground to get a severe shock. Not only is this potentially a safety issue, but it is also likely leaching copper into your system.

I would get something like this

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Tower-Manufacturing-Shock-Buster-15-Amp-3-Wire-Grounding-Single-to-Single-Yellow-Gfci-Adapter/1000492081

Turn everything on your tank off, install the ground probe, and plug each device into this one at a time and see if one trips it.
If everything in the tank is off and the ground probe still causes a trip, reach out to me and we can try to figure that out.

 

[Crotalus]

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

A ground strap is to prevent you from building up static electricity that would then zap any electronics you touch. If there is voltage in the tank it isn't static. It must be continuously drained. With a ground on you then your body becomes part of the circuit. This is the MOST dangerous scenario for a serious electrocution. This is why they teach you to only reach into a panel with one hand.

 

[codycolina707]

old tank with hob skimmer overflow and got a powerstrip wet and my dumb self instead of unpluging it turned it off by the switch needless to say i felt it

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I've been shocked numerous times. When I was a kid I worked for a few different pet stores and got shocked at each at least a few times cleaning tanks. I shocked myself a few times with my tanks at home when I was younger, but it's probably been 30 years since my last shock. As I got older and smarter I started using GFI outlets and grounding probes. I don't think the shocks have caused any long term damage though...wait...what were we talking about again?

 

[Rockit]

I think about it because I've had two equipment issues before that caused a pretty good jolt. It took forever to trouble shoot because one was a titanium heater that would only shock after it had been on for a few minutes... the other was a wavemaker that for weeks would only shock when the cord was jostled. Don't really worry about it.... just cognizant of the issue.

Does anyone make a "Stray current alarm"? My electrical background is weak, but I would think a stray current alarm/grounding probe would be simple to make.

 

[Wampatom]

I believe you ground your wrist to protect your pc from static from you.

 

[t5Nitro]

I'm not sure how to explain the fish floating. Something like that should only happen in fresh water. You can't electrofish in salt water, the water is more conductive than the fish.

You could have any number of things happening. The most likely is that you have a piece of failed equipment in your tank but you don't make a good enough path to ground to get a severe shock. Not only is this potentially a safety issue, but it is also likely leaching copper into your system.

I would get something like this

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Tower-Manufacturing-Shock-Buster-15-Amp-3-Wire-Grounding-Single-to-Single-Yellow-Gfci-Adapter/1000492081

Turn everything on your tank off, install the ground probe, and plug each device into this one at a time and see if one trips it.
If everything in the tank is off and the ground probe still causes a trip, reach out to me and we can try to figure that out.

After a quick read of this thread I feel like I should add this piece of equipment to my normal outlet to convert to safety outlet.

 

[Brew12]

After a quick read of this thread I feel like I should add this piece of equipment to my normal outlet to convert to safety outlet.

If you only have one outlet that feeds your system you may want to consider something like this so you can divide your loads.

DIY GFCI installation

I have a reputation for having a passion for safety, especially electrical safety. I want to share how I will be implementing GFCI on my new system. First, I made a big box store run and picked up a 2 gang, new construction style electrical box. I also picked up 2 heavy duty cords, 2 gfci...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[t5Nitro]

Any decent gfci power strips?

 

[goldslinger]

I’m scared to death of gfci or whatever they’re called. I’ve heard stories of them tripping and killing tank with hours of no circulation. I do have a probe, though.

 

[Young@Heart]

No I don't worry about getting shocked, but I do think about what might happen if a piece of Equipment Shorts or Water gets to a electrical outlet. Actually had this happen once. Everything worked as it should - Water got to electrical connection for RO Res pump (shorted and electrical surge hit the power strip (spark I guess - Found Burn marks) the electric for the Tank went out, the UPS held the Pump. The breaker for that section of the house tripped. All was ok, - Checked UPS and Replaced Power Strip and RO Res Pump. I am more careful. Oh, I also checked my homeowners insurance. Tank and its components are not covered, but any damage from the tank would be.

 

[Jay Tosi]

It’s bound to happen, just wear sneakers , it doesn’t hurt the fish or anything in my experience