Stray voltage on brand new jebao dcp3000 pump

Garydm · Oct 7, 2017

so old pump quit, bought a new jebao pump and week later snails started dying. Couldn't figure it out. Checked water quality and at last checked voltage in water. I have 37 volts in the system. Is this a cause? How much is considered ok? It's brand new do I take it back? Is it faulty?
Do grounding rods help?

Big G · Oct 7, 2017

Welcome to R2R! Wow! That doesn't sound good. In an earlier post, Humblefish stated that anything greater than 50 volts is a problem. You are getting pretty close to that amount of voltage. Perhaps a grounding rod would take care of that amount. I'd consider replacing that pump. If it's leaking 37 when new . . . .

Garydm · Oct 7, 2017

May go with a grounding rod until I can get a new pump in. Sucks that it's brand new

Cherub · Oct 7, 2017

sorry to hear. It is a chinese knock off company so don't be too surprised. It's like going to the flea market and buying Orkley instead of Oakley sunglasses and acting surprised when the lens pops out.

Big G · Oct 7, 2017

Well, you could disconnect the pump and retest your tank to make sure it's the pump before going through a return.

Big G · Oct 7, 2017

I bought a brand new Jebao DCS-4000 and ended up taking it off of my dt because it whined at all speed levels. Too noisy for the living room. So I use it on my mixing station out in the garage. Plenty of power. Zero customer service. Replace it, with much wallet pain, with a Varios 2. Extremely quiet. Plenty of power for my 90. Lesson learned.

Garydm · Oct 7, 2017

Mine is extremely quite that's what I love about it. I will start saving and ground the system until I get one bought. This was recommended by a lfs so I didn't realize it wasn't a good pump. What is a good quite pump? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 7, 2017

Garydm said:
Mine is extremely quite that's what I love about it. I will start saving and ground the system until I get one bought. This was recommended by a lfs so I didn't realize it wasn't a good pump. What is a good quite pump? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Is it an AC or D.C. Pump?

We test for ac leakage in general.
If Its a D.C. Pump. It won't leak ac and you need to look for a differnent source.

ksed · Oct 7, 2017

Perhaps @Brew12 can help !

Brew12 · Oct 7, 2017

ksed said:
Perhaps @Brew12 can help !

Thanks for the invite!

saltyfilmfolks said:
If Its a D.C. Pump. It won't leak ac and you need to look for a differnent source.

DC aquarium pumps aren't actually DC so a problem with them can cause AC voltage in the tank. They only call them DC because they have an intermediate DC bus. It goes from 60hz AC to DC and then to either variable frequency AC or Pulse Width Modulation. Both will show up as AC on a typical voltmeter.

I strongly recommend getting a ground probe and GFCI. With the ground probe in the tank you can plug one device at a time into the GFCI and if it trips you know the device is bad. Quick and easy.

BTW... odds are it is not the voltage killing your snails. If you have failed electrical equipment it is likely leaching copper from the wiring into your tank.

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 8, 2017

Brew12 said:
Thanks for the invite!

DC aquarium pumps aren't actually DC so a problem with them can cause AC voltage in the tank. They only call them DC because they have an intermediate DC bus. It goes from 60hz AC to DC and then to either variable frequency AC or Pulse Width Modulation. Both will show up as AC on a typical voltmeter.

I strongly recommend getting a ground probe and GFCI. With the ground probe in the tank you can plug one device at a time into the GFCI and if it trips you know the device is bad. Quick and easy.

BTW... odds are it is not the voltage killing your snails. If you have failed electrical equipment it is likely leaching copper from the wiring into your tank.

It won't induce voltage like an ac powerhead , pump or fluorescent into the tank.

ksed · Oct 8, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
It won't induce voltage like an ac powerhead , pump or fluorescent into the tank.

You may have to tag him. @Brew12

Brew12 · Oct 9, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
It won't induce voltage like an ac powerhead , pump or fluorescent into the tank.

You are correct in that it is a little different. You end up with a little more capacitive coupling and less inductive voltage. Cheaper meters will read this all sorts of different ways. Another difference is that smaller DC powerheads will induce almost no voltage into a tank. The magnetic field needed is a function of many things, including voltage and current. DC pumps use a lower voltage at the tank and smaller motors don't draw enough current to make up the difference. Larger DC motors will likely induce less voltage than an AC equivalent but "may" read higher on cheaper meters depending on how it calculates the displayed RMS value.

As an example, I cannot read any AC voltage in my tank from my MP40's running at 50% but at 100% on the pair I can read around 5VAC using a high quality volt meter. This impact is slightly increased for pumps with the motor itself in the water.

drblakjak55 · Oct 9, 2017

Can you feel anything.... I had a Hydor which I finally figured out was leaking electricity into the tank but none of the creatures seemed bothered. I literally put up with pain into any open cut every time I put my hand in the tank for a month before finding unplugging the pump cured the pain. Lol