Strange current issue in tank

[Creggers]

Good evening R2R,

I had a bit of a RODI mishap last night and accidentally partially flooded my basement. Luckily I caught it this morning and was able to wet-vac everything up. Nothing of value was lost however I'm encountering a strange issue now that I can't seem to figure out.

When I put my hand in the tank, I get a mild yet startling shock. I normally do not feel any shock when touching the water so this is a new experience since my flood. I triple checked all of my equipment, and none of the wiring got wet during the episode.

• I grabbed my voltmeter, grounded it in a plug and put the red side in the tank - got a reading of less than 1 volts (which to my understanding isn't what I should be seeing)
• I put my voltmeter on the wet carpet and got a reading of 50v
• I turned all the equipment off and got the same reading on the carpet

Is it possible that that there is some stray currant / exposed wires / something putting current into the room thus I'm shocking myself when touching water? The strange thing is I put my hand into freshly mixed saltwater and got no shock...

Something must be electrifying my tank in some way, which could explain the lack of polyp extension I've noticed over the past week or so... The problem is there is nothing touching the tank from outside that shouldn't be I'm at a complete loss for why I am getting shocked when touching the DT but not when touching the fresh saltwater.

I run an Apex, which everything is powered through, so to de-power my setup I just unplug the apex - so there's absolutely no way that any of my equipment is contributing to the issue.

I'm at a complete loss - something is obviously causing the shocks, and possibly the decline in my coral that I've noticed over the past week or so.

 

[BlennyTime]

Did any of your baseboards get soaked? Sometimes there are wires stapled to the bottom of the inside of the walls, which if they were accidentally punctured could be producing a current.

If that’s the case, then it should clear up once the carpet dries out. A dehumidifier would help, or at least put fans out blowing on the carpet.

 

[Creggers]

Did any of your baseboards get soaked? Sometimes there are wires stapled to the bottom of the inside of the walls, which if they were accidentally punctured could be producing a current.

If that’s the case, then it should clear up once the carpet dries out. A dehumidifier would help, or at least put fans out blowing on the carpet.

Yeah I’ve already started drying things out the best I can. I find it strange that the voltage in my tank is zero - is that a cause for concern?

 

[Cory]

Check for amperage volts dont really matter without amps

 

[Jonify]

Good evening R2R,

I had a bit of a RODI mishap last night and accidentally partially flooded my basement. Luckily I caught it this morning and was able to wet-vac everything up. Nothing of value was lost however I'm encountering a strange issue now that I can't seem to figure out.

When I put my hand in the tank, I get a mild yet startling shock. I normally do not feel any shock when touching the water so this is a new experience since my flood. I triple checked all of my equipment, and none of the wiring got wet during the episode.

• I grabbed my voltmeter, grounded it in a plug and put the red side in the tank - got a reading of less than 1 volts (which to my understanding isn't what I should be seeing)
• I put my voltmeter on the wet carpet and got a reading of 50v
• I turned all the equipment off and got the same reading on the carpet

Is it possible that that there is some stray currant / exposed wires / something putting current into the room thus I'm shocking myself when touching water? The strange thing is I put my hand into freshly mixed saltwater and got no shock...

Something must be electrifying my tank in some way, which could explain the lack of polyp extension I've noticed over the past week or so... The problem is there is nothing touching the tank from outside that shouldn't be I'm at a complete loss for why I am getting shocked when touching the DT but not when touching the fresh saltwater.

I run an Apex, which everything is powered through, so to de-power my setup I just unplug the apex - so there's absolutely no way that any of my equipment is contributing to the issue.

I'm at a complete loss - something is obviously causing the shocks, and possibly the decline in my coral that I've noticed over the past week or so.

You will always see voltage in a tank, it's just the way it is, with electrical equipment in the tank, you'll see electromagnetic fields with every piece of equipment that sits in your tank. That said, stray voltage is very, very rare, and hard to observe. And lots of times, using power adapters that bypass ground plugs (the bottom, circular probe at the bottom of your plug/outlet) can induce more stray voltage. If you're using a GFI outlet, it will trip should your equipment short out via water. But if you don't have that, you can turn your multimeter to DC and see some big fluctuations with the offending device, if you turn it off and on and wait for about a minute (make sure you switch your multimeter to DC), but even that isn't a for sure way. BUT. The easiest way to detect [and take this at your own risk--because putting your hand into any electrical current is dangerous!] is to turn equipment off one by one, and then put your finger in the tank after each time, and once you don't get shocked, you'll know that was the offending device.

That said, most times, stray voltage is a result of equipment not being grounded. If you've bypassed a 3-prong plug and used a 2-plug adapter instead, that can cause of lot of electrical issues. Never, EVER use a 2-prong adapter to fit a 3-prong plug into a 2-prong plug. Always use 3-prong plugs as your power bank, and always plug 3-prong devices into 3-prong power outlets.

 

[Joe31415]

I think I'd try two things. Run a run a copper wire from the tank (or the carpet) to a known ground.* Now, I'm not 100% sure what I'd expect from that since grounding it would/should necessarily bring it to the tank to the same potential voltage as the ground reference. However, if you did ground the tank water (or the carpet where you said you're getting 50v, blows a breaker, that would give you something to go on.
Second, I'd try flipping breakers and see if you can get rid of the voltage.
You said you turned off all your equipment. Did you simply turn it off or did you unplug it? To really check this properly, it'll need to be unplugged. It doesn't take much (Especially when salt water is involved) to bridge a switch or a relay on a PCB.
As the poster above me mentioned, all your equipment should be on a GFCI. That will catch problems like this long, long long before they're noticeable to you. They'll cut power as soon as the smallest amount of power goes rogue.

One thing that's worth doing, IMO, is to get your DMM probes in a place where they're showing a voltage potential that they shouldn't be showing (tank to ground or carpet to ground) and start unplugging things one at a time. Hopefully, one of the things you unplug will drop the DMM to 0V and you'll know what to replace. Replace it and get a GFCI outlet. Personally, I just use one that plugs into the outlet and I plug a power strip into that. But you can get a GFCI outlet (though they're a PITA to wire since they're so big), a GFCI power strip or a GFCI breaker for that circuit. Also, since you have an active problem, you could look into an alarm if power is lost so you know if it happens in the middle of the night and you can find a way to get your pumps back up and running, at least until you deal with the problem.


*Also check the ground on the outlet to make sure it's good, I'm sure you know, but just probe the ground and the hot side of the outlet to make sure you get 120v

 

[Joe31415]

You will always see voltage in a tank, it's just the way it is, with electrical equipment in the tank, you'll see electromagnetic fields with every piece of equipment that sits in your tank.

Are you just talking about induction/phantom voltage? If that's the case, adding a load should bring it to zero. Some voltage meters, like a solenoid voltage tester, will do exactly that. They put a load on the circuit and then test it. I've had wires that would read 50ish volts that should be 0. Adding something like a light bulb or other resistance will bring the voltage down to zero. The 50v was just due to the wires being run near some other high current circuits but there's no amperage behind it, you couldn't power anything larger than maybe an LED. However, while I didn't test this myself, I'm guessing if I grabbed the wires I wouldn't feel anything. OP noticed this problem due to getting a small shock.

 

[Creggers]

So quick update - really appreciate the replies. I’ve narrowed the issue down to voltage going through the carpet not the tank. There must be a wire somewhere that has its shielding off.

the good news is when I cut the breaker and run a extension cord from upstairs, there’s no voltage in the carpet and the tank runs fine. Just gotta sort out what wire is the culprit and fix it!

 

[Cory]

So quick update - really appreciate the replies. I’ve narrowed the issue down to voltage going through the carpet not the tank. There must be a wire somewhere that has its shielding off.

the good news is when I cut the breaker and run a extension cord from upstairs, there’s no voltage in the carpet and the tank runs fine. Just gotta sort out what wire is the culprit and fix it!

Interesting. What came to my mind was when you rub your feet on a carpet and touch something you can get a spark from static electricity. Maybe thats causing the voltage? Did you check amps? uA

 

[Joe31415]

there’s no voltage in the carpet

That's nearly always good news. Aquarium related or otherwise.

 

[Creggers]

So I finally sorted out where the shocks were coming from - my inkbird unit has some kind of short. Pulling it out now and running a shock free tank for 2021!!

 

[bcardoro]

The exact same thing is happening to me since I set up my reef tank (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/electric-issues-result-in-chemical-issues.795144/). Still have not found the culprit or what is going on... Super poor (or none-existent) growth over the last year and a half, and have lost a few nice corals. I am dreaming with the day I move the corals to a new location.

Glad you found a solution!

 

[bcardoro]

So quick update - really appreciate the replies. I’ve narrowed the issue down to voltage going through the carpet not the tank. There must be a wire somewhere that has its shielding off.

the good news is when I cut the breaker and run a extension cord from upstairs, there’s no voltage in the carpet and the tank runs fine. Just gotta sort out what wire is the culprit and fix it!

So you are saying that when plugged the equipment to an extension cord from another location, the issue disappeared?

 

[Cory]

Just a thought, salt creep can create circuit boards for electricity to follow and you wouldn't notice it easily.

 

[Creggers]

So you are saying that when plugged the equipment to an extension cord from another location, the issue disappeared?

Yes and no - the heater turned out to be the issue. When I swapped outlets the heater didn’t kick on right away so that’s be the issue there.

There is still measurable voltage in the carpet, but I do not believe it is is impacting th tank in any way.

i have had nonstop issues since the heater was throwing voltage. I lost nearly all my corals and have a Dino outbreak that I haven’t been able to completely resolve. My tank was on a great path until the heater threw everything off. Really hope you find a solution!

 

[bcardoro]

Yes and no - the heater turned out to be the issue. When I swapped outlets the heater didn’t kick on right away so that’s be the issue there.

There is still measurable voltage in the carpet, but I do not believe it is is impacting th tank in any way.

i have had nonstop issues since the heater was throwing voltage. I lost nearly all my corals and have a Dino outbreak that I haven’t been able to completely resolve. My tank was on a great path until the heater threw everything off. Really hope you find a solution!

I see... when you say heater you mean reef tank heater or ambient heater in your room? I do not see how the tank heater may have something to do with your carpet.

I have lost many corals too, in a way I never saw in the past. Parameters in check, ICP's in check, and when I take corals to another reefer, they change radically in a matter of days or weeks, so I truly believe the current makes a huge impact in the negative sense.

I have not tried yet to bring the electric power from outlets in other rooms, I will do today and will post the results here.