Poll: Grounding Probe Placement

[P-Dub]

I have a titanium grounding probe that I always placed in my sump. Seeing as I am rebooting my 125 gal, I am wondering where everyone places their probes. My reasoning for placing the grounding probe in the sump is my hands are mostly in the sump during maintenance and so long as the main pump is pumping to the DT I will receive the benefit of having my DT grounded as well. What are your thoughts on this and where do you place your grounding probe and more importantly your reasoning?

 

[Brew12]

I have a titanium grounding probe that I always placed in my sump. Seeing as I am rebooting my 125 gal, I am wondering where everyone places their probes. My reasoning for placing the grounding probe in the sump is my hands are mostly in the sump during maintenance and so long as the main pump is pumping to the DT I will receive the benefit of having my DT grounded as well. What are your thoughts on this and where do you place your grounding probe and more importantly your reasoning?

That is exactly my reasoning, also. If used with a GFCI, the only thing it doesn't protect you from is if your return pump is off and your the pump fails while you have your hands in the DT. Not a very likely scenario. Even then, the GFCI will protect you.

 

[P-Dub]

That is exactly my reasoning, also. If used with a GFCI, the only thing it doesn't protect you from is if your return pump is off and your the pump fails while you have your hands in the DT. Not a very likely scenario. Even then, the GFCI will protect you.

This is true. BUT, I will have two Gyres and two Jebao pumps in the DT. These are the only concern I have. Maybe ground both the display and the sump?

 

[Brew12]

This is true. BUT, I will have two Gyres and two Jebao pumps in the DT. These are the only concern I have. Maybe ground both the display and the sump?

I feel that is excessive. Nothing wrong with doing it though. How many minutes a week are your hands in the DT with the return pump off? What are the odds a pump will fail and leak voltage during that time? To me, it is very low.

 

[P-Dub]

I feel that is excessive. Nothing wrong with doing it though. How many minutes a week are your hands in the DT with the return pump off? What are the odds a pump will fail and leak voltage during that time? To me, it is very low.

Precisely why I shall stick to one placed in the sump... until I experience my first zap from the DT...

 

[Waters]

It doesn't matter where it goes, as long as it is in the water somewhere (it is all connected obviously)......at least that is what I have always been told.

 

[ZaneTer]

Precisely why I shall stick to one placed in the sump... until I experience my first zap from the DT...

I have to laugh, I got the s*** shocked out of me just couple days ago. An electrician on site left a side cover to a light off........I was searching for light switch in the dark........it didn’t end well for me.

 

[P-Dub]

I have to laugh, I got the s*** shocked out of me just couple days ago. An electrician on site left a side cover to a light off........I was searching for light switch in the dark........it didn’t end well for me.

That, I'm sure, was no fun at all. 120 or 240?

 

[ZaneTer]

240v, aren’t you starting your holiday today?

 

[P-Dub]

240v, aren’t you starting your holiday today?

OUCH!
25th.

 

[Crabby48]

If you have two separate circuits do you have to use 2 ground probes?
I don’t see how only one would work but maybe I’m missing something

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you have two separate circuits do you have to use 2 ground probes?
I don’t see how only one would work but maybe I’m missing something

One ground probe protects any number of circuits.

That said, I used two, one in my display and one in the sump since they are on different floors and in an emergency, there may be no electrical contact between the two.

 

[Flexin]

I have it in my display. I generally don’t have my hands in the sump or display but with feeding will touch water in the DT more often. I’ve gone to feed and got shocked from what I assumed was static electricity ( long winters sometimes the house gets dry if the humidifier is not working). For that reason I have them in my overflows (more than one tank).

Someone can correct me but if the return pump is running you will have a connection from the sump back up to the DT where my ground is.

 

[Chrishvacman]

I have one in the sump and one in the display.

 

[Crabby48]

One ground probe protects any number of circuits.

That said, I used two, one in my display and one in the sump since they are on different floors and in an emergency, there may be no electrical contact between the two.

Maybe my bad wording in the previous post. I run half of my stuff on one gfi and breaker and the other half on a separate gfi and breaker.
How would one probe work with two separate gfi?
Won’t it only trip the gfi the probe is plugged into?
I don’t have any electrical inside my display so not concerned about if the return pump fails not being grounded. Would rather stick one in the sump and one in the return. If the return pump fails water won’t flow so the return pump area is not connected to the sump.
Please correct me if wrong

 

[Brew12]

Maybe my bad wording in the previous post. I run half of my stuff on one gfi and breaker and the other half on a separate gfi and breaker.
How would one probe work with two separate gfi?
Won’t it only trip the gfi the probe is plugged into?
I don’t have any electrical inside my display so not concerned about if the return pump fails not being grounded. Would rather stick one in the sump and one in the return. If the return pump fails water won’t flow so the return pump area is not connected to the sump.
Please correct me if wrong

The GFCI will trip when the current in the hot leg doesn't match the current in the neutral leg. This works independent of any grounding. In fact, you can use a GFCI on old homes without grounds.

All of the grounds in the home are connected together. The neutral in your panel is also connected to ground. Since the grounds are all interconnected anyway, it doesn't matter where you plug in your ground probe. In fact, if your probe had a very long cord, you could plug it in at your neighbors house and it would work just fine.

 

[Brew12]

Someone can correct me but if the return pump is running you will have a connection from the sump back up to the DT where my ground is.

That is correct. The conductive sea water bonds your sump to your DT when the return pump is running.

 

[theMeat]

A grounding probe plugged into a gfci protected circuit is the only way to go. Otherwise if you have small amounts of stray voltage you’re only completing the circuit and electrocuting your fish. If you don’t plug it into a gfci you’re better off without it.

And yes, when the return pump is running it doesn’t matter whether the probe is in the display or the sump because the water connects it all together

 

[rkpetersen]

I have mine in the sump. I frequently work in both the DT and the sump, but my DT contains no 120V wiring or equipment, while the sump does. Also I almost never have the return pump completely off, so there's always electrical contact between the two bodies of water anyway.

 

[Brew12]

Otherwise if you have small amounts of stray voltage you’re only completing the circuit and electrocuting your fish. If you don’t plug it into a gfci you’re better off without it.

I would say this is open for debate. It is definitely better to use it with a GFCI but it still does help most situations even without one.

You can't electrocute a salt water fish. The water is more conductive than they are so the vast majority of current will go around them anyway. If it is an induced voltage, current through the ground prove would only be fractions of an amp (and it doesn't matter if it is on a GFCI or not). If it is a fault voltage, current through the probe could hit 20 amps but current through the fish would still be almost nothing.

This concept is why electrofishing only works in fresh water.