Maxi-Jet 1200 gave me a nice shock and now dead

[Salts001]

Has anyone experiences this before… I’ve had the Maxi-Jet 1200 sitting in the sump feeding to my chiller. Last night I was doing the usual cleaning and moving stuff around in the sump. I had everything disconnected from the outlet. I went to go plug in the Maxi-Jet 1200, everything was working…about 10 seconds later I went to go stick my hand in the water to reposition the pump and got a HUGE shock. I was sitting on the floor not touching anything else, only one hand in the water. My hand was stinging and tingling sensation for about 10 mins – it HURT a lot!! I check the Mai-Jet and it was no longer working. I removed the pump and continued to connect the reset of the pumps (return, skimmer, chiller, and power head in the display). Everything else was working fine.

Questions - What the heck happen? Did water seep into the pump and short it out? Why doesn’t these pumps and heaters come with a third prong to ground it?

 

[Bluesaltwater87]

i have had the samething happin to me. I put mine back in the water and it gave me my wake up call.
the powerhead is "waterproof" but if there is a tear or a gap in the wiring or in the seals than boom shock city.
if it is not working than yep it is burned out. you can also get a Grounding rod than you can put in the tank and that will cetch the stray voltage in you system.

 

[Salts001]

alright so im not the first to experience this...not that its a reassuring thing but im not alone. Now im wondering if the pump had a thrid prong...would it have help at all given that the voltage would have flown throught the ground versus me.

 

[Bluesaltwater87]

well it all depends. when it happend to me i didnt have a grounding rod in the tank. and ya i think a third prong would be a great plus for the pump. idk if there really is a way to stop it but there is a way to have a chance not to get shocked.

 

[Bifferwine]

Unfortunately it happens a lot. Not necessarily with Maxi Jets, but any electrical equipment (powerheads, heaters) that are submerged.

 

[Bluesaltwater87]

true. vary true. but i have only been shocked by maxijet powerheads is all.

 

[Salts001]

so this is more common than I thought...I didn't know.

 

[Bifferwine]

You are fortunate you caught it right away. A lot of times, people come home to a tank full of dead or dying animals, and they don't know what the problem is until they stick their hand in the water.

 

[dixiegirl21191]

Great now I'm terrified haha