I know its not good to have voltage running through your water, but I seem to have at least a little bit in all of my tanks. I have pretty good equipment and Im thinking this has to be normal. Ive noticed alot of the voltage is comming from my heaters. One of them a visitherm stealth heater, and the another is a hydor theo. My fish have been living with the voltage for quite some time, and behave normally. I dont see how this would effect the fish considering they are not grounded. So, whats up ? Do you have voltage in your tanks ?
How many volts in your water ?
- Thread starter Nathane958
- Start date
In order to test the voltage running through your water youll need a multimeter or voltmeter. With meter on Voltage setting youll need one of the leads to sit in the water and youll need to bring the other to ground (Something big and metal works well).
Depends on what you have running. I've tested my FW setups, and they don't have any detectable voltage. The SW setups tend to have a bit--but SW is basically a battery, so that's not surprising. You can get grounds that will resolve the problem.
The problem with low levels of juice in the tank is that it can cause problems over the long haul. A few days, no problem. Years--problems.
The problem with low levels of juice in the tank is that it can cause problems over the long haul. A few days, no problem. Years--problems.
hmmm, anybody ever make a DIY probe ? I dont want to spend a small fortune on ground probes for 6 tanks.
ok, this is bad. I have 40v comming from my 250g. Question is, if i use a ground probe wont it trip my GCFI ? Im a little bit concerned about this .
You have problems! Your GFCI should have tripped! Thats it whole purpose! It seems you have a grounding problem somewhere! Check all your grounds(Green wire) and Neutrals (white Wire) in that circuit To make sure there is no loose connections, Check The Plug, Recpt, And Connections in your Breaker Box! If the GFCI is working properly it sould Trip in 1/40th of a second it senses a Short to ground! http://www.electrical-contractor.net/gfcipage.htm
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/electrical_incidents/gfci.html
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/electrical_incidents/gfci.html
i responded to your reply and it posted above yours ??????? how does that happen ????? Anyway, i dont think your right because nothings grounded yet.
Correct me if im wrong here.
Correct me if im wrong here.
Well, If you have Voltage in your water, Then Thats telling me that you have a problem with your grounding or Neutral, Because 120v comes in on the Hot side and returns on the Neutral, Hence AC. In your Breaker box The neutrals and the grounds are Bonded together! so if you have voltage in your water why is it not being returned before it gets to the water? Bad Heater? Powerhead? Filter? Please correct me if I am wrong.
I have a GCFI strip plugged into a non-GCFI outlet away from water. The GCFI adapter part of the strip plugs right into the outlet. I have normal strips plugged into that. Anything after the gcfi should be ok.
Im temporarly using a coat hanger as a ground probe and plugged the coat hanger right into the gound side of the non-gcfi outlet untill tommorow.
Im temporarly using a coat hanger as a ground probe and plugged the coat hanger right into the gound side of the non-gcfi outlet untill tommorow.