Water Electrified by Hood Somehow?

[LisaJean]

Hi all,

This is my first post. I am most confused. I recently refilled my freshwater tank, after it was empty for some time. After filling it, and plugging everything back in, I was using my scrubber to clean residue off the sides of the tank.

When my hand touched the water briefly, I felt an odd tingle. I tried it again, and felt the same thing, and realized I was being shocked by the water!

Through the process of elimination, I realized that it was the hood causing the "short." The water level was not high enough to touch the hood, and I couldn't see any frayed wires.

Has anyone else had this experience, and what did you do to fix it?

Lisa

 

[Reframer]

If you can't find the reason, don't mess around with it and just buy a new or used one.

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Actually it could be any one of the 110V sources you have near or inside the aquarium water, especially a power head or filter. In the interim the fish are ok because they are not grounded but you are very close to ground and the electricity is trying to make it past your shoes to the floor. Before doing anything I would immediately unplug everything and then plug in each item starting with the least likely, like the air pump and take a reading of the water to ground with your volt meter probes. Do this foe each item standing on a dry rubber mat until you find the culprit and toss it in the trash unless you are an electrician, then just isolate and repair.

 

[thesixis]

Hi
I have also had this happen to me. It was on a 125 saltwater tank. Salt crept into the end of the light. If I were you I would get a new light, plug it into a GFCI outlet and then buy a grounding probe.
Be careful with electricity.

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Hi
I have also had this happen to me. It was on a 125 saltwater tank. Salt crept into the end of the light. If I were you I would get a new light, plug it into a GFCI outlet and then buy a grounding probe.
Be careful with electricity.

Concur, it is better to test each component separately without power checking with a Ohm meter for a short. With a salt water tank all it takes is a trail of salt water from a hot contact. Just make sure until you know that the floor doesn't get wet around the tank and someone with bare feet reaches inside.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

My guess is the heater.

 

[jpappy789]

:iagree:

I've had a heater short out and the exact same thing happened.

Some heaters don't have an auto shutoff when they aren't fully submerged. I assume you unplugged everything though.

 

[vampie]

Thread hijack (sorry).

Is there a device that actually lets you test if there's a leakage? Sometimes I swear one of my wall outlets is just spraying electricity into the air..

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

Thread hijack (sorry).

Is there a device that actually lets you test if there's a leakage? Sometimes I swear one of my wall outlets is just spraying electricity into the air..

http://www.totalcomputing.net/index...tm_medium=paidfeeds&utm_campaign=productfeeds

 

[mott]

Most likely it'll be the heater, I have had a few that do this.