Stray voltage in the tank.

Diogenes7 · Jul 29, 2020

So I have an old Eshopps s-200 whose Sicce motor might have gotten too old as it started leaking electricity into the sump. So I bought a replacement motor on June 30th, which did not leak any electricity. However today, less than 1 month after purchase, I noticed the cuts on my hand hurting as if I had put lemon on them. Unplugged everything, and plugged things back on one at a time. Leading me to find out the Sicce pump is leaking electricity again. I don't own a digital multimeter, however, I do have an outlet multimeter, and it accuses the water of having stray electricity. My question to you guys is if this is normal, and I just need to live with it? If it is not normal, is it possible I'm doing something incorrectly here to be having these issues? Thanks for your help in advance.

Peace River · Jul 29, 2020

There are several threads on R2R about stray voltage including this one:

Stray Voltage

So I tested my aquarium with a multimeter and got a reading of 0.2. I only have a heater and powerhead in my tank so i unplugged both and it was still reading 0.2, whats the deal here? Is .2 even dangerous?

www.reef2reef.com

Let's see if we can get some additional input from some experts:
@Brew12 @redfishbluefish @Flippers4pups #reefsquad

nereefpat · Jul 29, 2020

it is normal to have a couple volts, due to motors spinning and water moving.

You should not be able to feel it, though. And anything over about 3 volts between your water and the ground, then I would find the culprit and replace it.

I would get a volt meter from the hardware store. They are inexpensive and nice to have.

GFCIs, as always, are recommended, so you don't get shocked.

Diogenes7 · Jul 30, 2020

So in the water all I got is a heater, skimmer and a pump. I'll be going to the hardware store tomorrow and getting a multimeter. I want to find out how much exactly is being leaked and will be switching to gfcis as recommended. I'll keep you guys posted.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 30, 2020

Although this is an alternative and not a solution- Always use a ground probe in your tank or sump
I have a sicce in Two different tankS and no issues

Brew12 · Jul 30, 2020

Diogenes7 said:
So I have an old Eshopps s-200 whose Sicce motor might have gotten too old as it started leaking electricity into the sump. So I bought a replacement motor on June 30th, which did not leak any electricity. However today, less than 1 month after purchase, I noticed the cuts on my hand hurting as if I had put lemon on them. Unplugged everything, and plugged things back on one at a time. Leading me to find out the Sicce pump is leaking electricity again. I don't own a digital multimeter, however, I do have an outlet multimeter, and it accuses the water of having stray electricity. My question to you guys is if this is normal, and I just need to live with it? If it is not normal, is it possible I'm doing something incorrectly here to be having these issues? Thanks for your help in advance.

@Peace River Thanks for the invite!

You have two types of electricity in your tank. The least problematic is an induced voltage. If you take a 5g bucket of salt water, coil an extension cord around it, and run a large electrical load on that extension cord you can get over 50V inside that bucket. This also happens from having cords run alongside our tanks, the motors in our tanks, and any other source of alternating current. My tank runs at about 30 volts due to these induced voltages. A ground probe or 3 prong titanium heater can safely shunt this type of voltage to ground and remove it.
The bigger problem is if a pump housing or heater develops a crack or a seal leaks and there is energized copper touching the water. This can release copper and other contaminants into the system. To catch these failures immediately, I run everything on my tank split between 2 GFCI's. As soon as a pump fails, the ground probe or 3 prong titanium heater provides a path to ground for the fault current and immediately trips the GFCI. I split my loads between 2 GFCI's so a single trip wont take out everything in my system.

Hope that helps answer your question.

proxy001 · Jul 30, 2020

From someone who has zero understanding about electricity, like ZERO:
I installed a GFCI
I tested the GFCI (trip test button)
I checked voltage in water with a $10 amazon device
I installed a grounding probe. (thank you YouTube)

Diogenes7 · Jul 30, 2020

OK, got me a multimeter, and the skimmer is leaking around 19v into the sump. if I switch to DC, it goes crazy up and down. I don't think this is normal.

Pistondog · Jul 30, 2020

Diogenes7 said:
OK, got me a multimeter, and the skimmer is leaking around 19v into the sump. if I switch to DC, it goes crazy up and down. I don't think this is normal.

If your skimmer pump is ac, sicce, use AC.

Diogenes7 · Jul 30, 2020

So I was thinking about what @Peace River had said about coils, so I ran another test, where none of the wires from the skimmer came near any other wires on the floor, and also made sure to straighten it without making any loop on itself, got a 22v reading. Not sure if I should just accept this and move on, or not. PS. I have purchased 2 GFCI which I will be installing it tonight, and will be getting a probe soon.

Pistondog · Jul 30, 2020

Diogenes7 said:
So I was thinking about what @Peace River had said about coils, so I ran another test, where none of the wires from the skimmer came near any other wires on the floor, and also made sure to straighten it without making any loop on itself, got a 22v reading. Not sure if I should just accept this and move on, or not. PS. I have purchased 2 GFCI which I will be installing it tonight, and will be getting a probe soon.

OK, be careful, we want to hear from you tomorrow.

Brew12 · Jul 30, 2020

Diogenes7 said:
OK, got me a multimeter, and the skimmer is leaking around 19v into the sump. if I switch to DC, it goes crazy up and down. I don't think this is normal.

Don't worry about using the DC setting. Nothing in your tank actually runs on DC voltage. DC motors are only called DC because they convert AC from the wall into DC before turning it back into some form of AC at a lower voltage.
22V is pretty normal for a reef tank with a few pumps running in it. A ground probe should make that go away if it is an induced voltage.

Diogenes7 · Jul 30, 2020

its 22v with only the skimmer being on. Is it still acceptable?

Brew12 · Jul 30, 2020

Diogenes7 said:
its 22v with only the skimmer being on. Is it still acceptable?

It "could" be. If it doesn't trip a GFCI and goes to almost 0VAC when a ground probe is installed, it is fine. If it trips a GFCI then it is a fault voltage and not an induced voltage. That is a problem.