Voltage in Sump!!

emessier · Jan 25, 2014

So I go to work on my Skimmer and get zapped!! Seriously!! So I test with the volt meter 120 volts...... I do the normal routine of unplugging one thing at a time. No change. After 3 or 4 attempts of going thru each pump, heater and lights, with no change I unplug everything. Still 120 volts. So now I start unplugging things upstairs in the DT. No voltage there.. Still no change in the sump. :squigglemouth: Next,, call Chriskid!! LOL He suggested to start flipping breakers one at a time. so I start doing that. After 3 or 4 breakers I get a reading of 156 volts!! Going the wrong way for some reason... Finally after about 10 or 12 breakers I get a reading of 1.4 volts...:angel: now to find what I turned off. After testing all the outlets around the tanks I find that one of my MH lights on the DT was plugged into a power strip on a lonely outlet on its own breaker. So I plug the power strip into the GFCI outlet and the power strip sparks and starts to smoke.!!!! NICE!! About an hour and a half of testing but at least I found it....

ReefKeeper09 · Jan 25, 2014

Glad to hear you found the problem. After you locate the source in question, let us know. I'm curious to find out myself. Do you have a grounding probe or anything? That might be a good idea next time. LOL. . . 120 volts packs a nice punch.

emessier · Jan 25, 2014

Yea I believe it was the old wiring in the house. I have replace most of the wiring but this circuit got away form me. 120 volts is quite a surprise!! LOL

ReefKeeper09 said:
Glad to hear you found the problem. After you locate the source in question, let us know. I'm curious to find out myself. Do you have a grounding probe or anything? That might be a good idea next time. LOL. . . 120 volts packs a nice punch.

Collinslice · Jan 25, 2014

Yikes! Sounds exciting

Reefing Madness · Jan 25, 2014

I get the old wiring of the house thing, but that doesn't explain how it got into your sump. That Halide had to be touching something on the tank to ground it there, it just doesn't jump into the tank from mid air. What did you find? Wiring ground on the tank somehow??

emessier · Jan 25, 2014

The MH was plugged into the power strip that went bad. I also had powerheads plugged into the same power strip. All I can tell you is that when I turned this breaker off the voltage in the sump went down to almost nothing. I removed the power strip that was in use and plugged the lights and powerheads into different outlets...

Reefing Madness said:
I get the old wiring of the house thing, but that doesn't explain how it got into your sump. That Halide had to be touching something on the tank to ground it there, it just doesn't jump into the tank from mid air. What did you find? Wiring ground on the tank somehow??