electric shock

[ninhsavestheday]

i was moving stuff in my tank.. i took my hand out.. then put it back in and then i got shocked! ... wth? what could it be? what should i do? waterchange?! errr... i hope my corals will be ok

[ninhsavestheday]

errr omg its my freakin heater. perfect season for your heater to break down on...

[MrKrispy]

is it cracked or what? In the last week I have noticed that if I touch the metal screws on my 96W quad light I get a buzz. Cheaper than beer!

I figured it was salt creep that had gotten in.

[pk-sd]

Get a grounding probe. Its only $10, but it might save your life and its great for the fish and coral.....

[JeromeBaker]

I got electrocuted by a 150w HQI ballast. Good thing I got a good enough shock to drop the ballast or else I'd still be on the ground convulsing.

[ninhsavestheday]

whats a ground probe?

i just threw the heater away.. i put in a 50 w but thats not enough for a 40g.

[SDRotary]

Ebo Jagger (the bomb heater) (http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=30603;category_id=1733;pcid 1=3231;pcid2=) 200w @ Big Als for $17.99. I have a 175w in my sump on my 40g and it works fine.

EDIT: Grounding probe (http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19267;category_id=2349) is there also and explains what they do too.

It wont let me link to the heater so here is the page just scroll down:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/category.xml?pcid1=3231;category_id=1733

[brahm]

I've had very bad luck with ebos, they always seem to Stick on me after a few months, I switched over to the Titatums with the extnal control and haven't looked back! No glass in your tank. it's great.

[PonE619]

Check this out, M.Parkis has some Titaniums for a pretty good price
http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2964

[kaisersoza]

I have a 300w titanium via aqua if you are interested $15 or a 250 watt ebo-jager for $10

[pk-sd]

This grounding probe is easier to install....just plug it in.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TA1111

Got mine at AW.

[brahm]

i've never used one of those on any of my tanks...something about plugging your tank into the wall always freaked me out lol.

[pk-sd]

Originally posted by brahm
i've never used one of those on any of my tanks...something about plugging your tank into the wall always freaked me out lol.

I case of a short, the current is going to travel thru the least resistant path. Its up to you if its going be a human body or a grounding probe. And if add GFI to the same circuit, you will NEVER(I mean never) get shocked(unless they both fail; not likley).

[pk-sd]

http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/wmasSeaStarJan02.pdf

A salt-water aquarium is an especially dangerous thing with electricity. Because salt water is such an excellent conductor, and because we tend to have electrical devices such as powerheads and heaters submerged in the water, we run a much higher risk than is typical with home wiring. Over time, the power cords may wear out, get eaten, become brittle, or just crack, exposing the aquarium water to the wires beneath. Once the aquarium water contacts a wire, the highly-conductive salt water becomes an extension of the wire itself with voltage potential rising and falling 60 times per second. If there is any connection to common (or to ground), current will start to flow through the tank water, including your coral and fish. Trust me, they don’t like this! If the current is small enough, you may not notice it at first. Leaky heaters and powerheads tend to start with very small current leaks, which gradually get bigger, until one day, when you stick your hands into the water -- ZZZZAAP!

[shmitr]

Um, GFI that is.


I had a buddy put in a FGI outlet for me... only $20 and if there's ever any built up current it trips before you do any real damage to yourself.

I've got a grounding probe if anyone wants it.

[brahm]

yea i've got gfi on all my tanks, I run diffrent gfi's for diffrent things so hopefully if say my heater freaks my power heads won't turn off.