How did I NOT just fry my tank?

I dropped the Perfecto light hood into my 20L refugium last week while scraping salt creep off the edges of the tank. I started screaming and yelling - had my hand in the water when it fell in. I don't know why, but I left my hand in the water and gently grabbed the exposed parts that weren't wet and yanked it out of there with my dry arm - totally senseless.. My wife rushed over and yanked the entire 6-way power strip out of the wall. Disaster averted.

Thank goodness the light was off at the time - it's plugged into a timer so no voltage was traveling through it wen it got wet.

Cleaning my underwear was a total waste of time. I just chucked them in the trash can and put on a clean set. :pooh:
 
Sarah, you can put a GFCI in place of any standard outlet, however they need to be wired correctly with a ground wire in order to function properly. I will take a look at it and install it for you when I drop off your buckets and your frag if you like. Just pick up a 15A GFCI the next time you are at Lowes and I'll take care of it for you... and I won't even make you shut the power off :)
 
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mng777777 said:
Sarah, you can put a GFCI in place of any standard outlet, however they need to be wired correctly with a ground wire in order to function properly. I will take a look at it and install it for you when I drop off your buckets and your frag if you like. Just pick up a 15A GFCI the next time you are at Lowes and I'll take care of it for you... and I won't even make you shut the power off :)
Click to expand...

All these electrical things that you say you can do... I'm starting to think that you could come in handy!!!

I actually have 3 different places where tank stuff is plugged in. Two are in the same room (office) and are on the same circuit (or whatever it is you guys are talking about), but the equipment in the living room is on a different one.
 
ok, so get two GFCI's and I'll only charge you for the second :) seriously, it's no big deal. I'll help you the next time I'm there.
 
An old rio powerhead I was using in my sump room to move water into my fuge above was apparently going bad, and there was stray voltage in the sump area.....I waved my voltage meter all around the sump water, and it was beeping like crazy...but when I checked my main tank in the next room, no voltage. It didn't travel through the pipes :) So sounds like James was right. Good thing for you, biff! LOL
 
wontonflip said:
An old rio powerhead I was using in my sump room to move water into my fuge above was apparently going bad, and there was stray voltage in the sump area.....I waved my voltage meter all around the sump water, and it was beeping like crazy...but when I checked my main tank in the next room, no voltage. It didn't travel through the pipes :) So sounds like James was right. Good thing for you, biff! LOL
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Electricity will always take the easiest path to ground which by the way, is why if you are going to ground your tank, you need to ground you sump too. That way there is no reason for the current to leave the tank or sump to find a ground. If you think of electricity like water flowing, it's kind of the same thing, water will always take the path of least resistance just as electricity will
 
Sorry, Justin...I meant "Justin was right" not "James was right". LOL That's what happens when you're replying on a thread whilst starving Cuz DAMN You're last name is Daugherty, and Daugherty is James...LOL
 
It's all good! The whole point here is to get the best info out for others to benefit from it. It doesnt matter who provides it. Plus James is family!
 
If you go that route Sarah, don't get the OSHA approved jobsite cords. They reset everytime power goes out and you have to physically push the button to turn them back on so if the power ever goes out while you aren't home, even for a second, your tank will turn off till you get home and reset it.
 
mng777777 said:
If you go that route Sarah, don't get the OSHA approved jobsite cords. They reset everytime power goes out and you have to physically push the button to turn them back on so if the power ever goes out while you aren't home, even for a second, your tank will turn off till you get home and reset it.
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Thanks, good to know.
 
Hmm lucky! the return pump I was using in my sump aparently sprung a leak, stuck my hand in to adjust flow and got the living daylights shocked out of me. Very happy it didn't get my DT as well!
 
rwynn said:
Hmm lucky! the return pump I was using in my sump aparently sprung a leak, stuck my hand in to adjust flow and got the living daylights shocked out of me. Very happy it didn't get my DT as well!
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I had that happen Friday night ( actually closer to 2 Saturday morning )with the pump I use to mix my water.
Aint no wonder my hair is curly:shock:
 
I am not certain a GFCI will help with a 2 wire cord. I did something similar last year with my fuge light. knocked it into the sump, sparks smoke for about 15 secs before I thought to unplug the light. I am not sure of a good way to test if the item plugged in needs to have a ground. Maybe my GFCI is faulty. Seems I am in good company lots of clumsy people here.
 
as previously stated, GFCI looks for a difference in the current between the hot wire and the neutral wire. It is tripped only when there is a difference between the two. The idea is that if there is a difference in current between the hot and neutral wire, then it is assumed that the current, or at least a portion of it has found an alternate path to ground which means there is a hazardous situation. In these circumstances, the receptacle immediately grounds itself and breaks the circuit to remove the hazard. In your circumstances, it sounds like since the current was contained, and didn't find am alternate path to ground, it didn't trip the GFCI. Had the plug been grounded, it would have tripped the GFCI Receptacle, or if you had stuck your hand in the water, you would have become the path to ground and the receptacle would have tripped. This is one reason that I am an advocate for grounding our tanks. If the same thing had happened to you, but you had a grounding rod in your tank, the receptacle would have tripped right away without all the sparks and drama. The more important thing to take away from this is that if you had stuck your hand in the water, and the receptacle WASNT a GFCI, you would have become the ground in a direct short situation and you would have gotten shocked. In other words, even though it didnt trip under the circumstances you explained, doesn't mean that it malfunctioned in any way. It would have protected you if your hand had been in the water when all this happened, and that's really all it's designed to do.
 
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mng is right on the money just go pick up the GFIC receptacals they are a must any time your around water also you can have a GFIC circuit breaker put in and every receptacal on that circuit will act like a GFIC
 
That is how I thought it worked Justin. But without the ground wire The GFCI won't stop the sparks and smoke from the little utility light. Now I am thinking I should run a grounded wire to my lamp above the sump. If it should fall in when I'm not home I could have a melt down. I should get the ground probes hooked up to the tank
 
mng777777 said:
as previously stated, GFCI looks for a difference in the current between the hot wire and the neutral wire. It is tripped only when there is a difference between the two. The idea is that if there is a difference in current between the hot and neutral wire, then it is assumed that the current, or at least a portion of it has found an alternate path to ground which means there is a hazardous situation. In these circumstances, the receptacle immediately grounds itself and breaks the circuit to remove the hazard. In your circumstances, it sounds like since the current was contained, and didn't find am alternate path to ground, it didn't trip the GFCI. Had the plug been grounded, it would have tripped the GFCI Receptacle, or if you had stuck your hand in the water, you would have become the path to ground and the receptacle would have tripped. This is one reason that I am an advocate for grounding our tanks. If the same thing had happened to you, but you had a grounding rod in your tank, the receptacle would have tripped right away without all the sparks and drama. The more important thing to take away from this is that if you had stuck your hand in the water, and the receptacle WASNT a GFCI, you would have become the ground in a direct short situation and you would have gotten shocked. In other words, even though it didnt trip under the circumstances you explained, doesn't mean that it malfunctioned in any way. It would have protected you if your hand had been in the water when all this happened, and that's really all it's designed to do.
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+1 Justin. Another thing to remember is that GFCI's are personel protection not equipment protection.

Holby_cat said:
mng is right on the money just go pick up the GFIC receptacals they are a must any time your around water also you can have a GFIC circuit breaker put in and every receptacal on that circuit will act like a GFIC
Click to expand...

Remember that in order to do this, the circuit needs its own neutral. Two circuits can share the same neutral if they are on different phases in your electric panel.

puttycat said:
That is how I thought it worked Justin. But without the ground wire The GFCI won't stop the sparks and smoke from the little utility light. Now I am thinking I should run a grounded wire to my lamp above the sump. If it should fall in when I'm not home I could have a melt down. I should get the ground probes hooked up to the tank
Click to expand...

You could also instal a ground probe in your tank. That will trip the GFCI ifanythigfis inside your tank. Like a pump or heater. Not just your lights
 
Bj's Got ya! Just ground your tank. That's what I do, both the tank and the sump. I recommend finding a bike shop that still sells titanium spokes and grab a couple. They are the cheapest way to ground your tank that I have found. Titanium doesn't corrode or leach so you are ok just putting it directly into the water.
 
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