I need help!!!!

pheasant29

pheasant29

Reefing newb
All right guys I am at a loss. Some of you might remember me having a volt problem that killed my star fish. Well i still have it!
I have read and reread all the past forums and still dont have a clue. I read between 20 and 36 volts!! Thats on 2 differnt meters. I have a total of 11 things plugged up. Three are for the lights and do not affect the volts. I have ran a new house wire to the plug in the wall. Making sure all was grounded good. I have cleaned every plug. My volts will still read the same.
Here is the problem. I have tested each and every device. There is no one culprit. As i unplug each device the volts drop a little each time. There are no volts reading if i only run the lights. As i plug each device back in . The volts jump by 3 to 5 volts.
So i need someone to tell me how to fix this. I can install a grounding rod I guess, but will that only cover up the problem? Thanks in adavance. I hope someone has a magical fix!!!
 
I had the same problem. Each of my powerheads, my skimmer pump, my fuge pump and my return pump were putting out a little voltage -- which added up to a lot all together.

Get a grounding probe. Every tank should have one. They are cheap!
 
korali powerheads are know to leak voltage, or maybe a crack heater might be starting to leak voltage. i just replace my older model korali powerheads cause there know for leaking stray voltage.
 
Bifferwine said:
I had the same problem. Each of my powerheads, my skimmer pump, my fuge pump and my return pump were putting out a little voltage -- which added up to a lot all together.

Get a grounding probe. Every tank should have one. They are cheap!
Click to expand...
So I take that fixed your problem?? Thanks Biff.
 
Yeah. It reads zero now. My problem was, I had a grounding probe. And I was still reading voltage. We figured out the grounding probe was old and broken somehow. When I got a new one, it went back down to zero.
 
Biff, did you run the probe all the way outside or did you just run it into your house's grounding?
 
You can run it to a copper cold water pipe. To get a proper ground outside of a home, you have to go deep 3-6' into the ground depending on what part of the country you live in. You can get a cold water pipe ground clamp at HD or Lowe's for a couple of bucks.
 
PRC said:
You can run it to a copper cold water pipe. To get a proper ground outside of a home, you have to go deep 3-6' into the ground depending on what part of the country you live in. You can get a cold water pipe ground clamp at HD or Lowe's for a couple of bucks.
Click to expand...

The house wireing should already be grounded to the cold water pipe. If the wiring is up to code, the outlets should be grounded and just need to be plugged into the outlet.
 
bjohanson1234 said:
The house wireing should already be grounded to the cold water pipe. If the wiring is up to code, the outlets should be grounded and just need to be plugged into the outlet.
Click to expand...

That's true. But you're also making assumptions about another electricians or technicians or homeowners work...We go to alot of homes old and new that things aren't grounded properly. Rather than trying to figure out if it is, especially for someone who's not familiar with how it's done, just do it properly.

Easiest way to explain it is, if you've ever seen an old TV "flicker"or get a hum in it when you turn on the vacuum. 99% of the time that's a grounding problem. Everybody on the planet has had an experience like this. Those are grounding issues.

Technician Rule of Thumb- Don't ever tap on to someone elses work..He might have been a moron. Do it right the first time.

It's easy to tap onto the clamp onto the cold water pipe, it's up to code and it works.
 
But what if the cold water pipe is very far away from your tank? That wouldn't be a possibility in my house -- it's super far from my tank.

Instead, you can plug it into an outlet (hoping that it's grounded properly) and test for stray voltage again. If the outlet is properly grounded, it will go to zero. If not, try another outlet or try the cold water pipe. It seems to me that going straight for the cold water pipe is going a bit overboard.
 
PRC said:
That's true. But you're also making assumptions about another electricians or technicians or homeowners work...We go to alot of homes old and new that things aren't grounded properly. Rather than trying to figure out if it is, especially for someone who's not familiar with how it's done, just do it properly.

Easiest way to explain it is, if you've ever seen an old TV "flicker"or get a hum in it when you turn on the vacuum. 99% of the time that's a grounding problem. Everybody on the planet has had an experience like this. Those are grounding issues.

Technician Rule of Thumb- Don't ever tap on to someone elses work..He might have been a moron. Do it right the first time.

It's easy to tap onto the clamp onto the cold water pipe, it's up to code and it works.
Click to expand...

Thats why I said if it was up to code:mrgreen: Being an electrician, I have run into many things like that also.
 
Bifferwine said:
It could be, especially if your water tests fine. Haven't you bought a grounding rod yet? Any LFS should carry them. :)
Click to expand...
It will be here in the morning. I hope its not to late! I live in town of 8000 people.Its an hour and a half to any pet store that would carry something like that.It was to late to head out yesterday and i am working today. I want it and need it bad tho. Thanks for all the help! I just read an article and it seems my corals are suffering from the volts. It stated that all corals can suffer pretty bad. Mainly loosing the algae they host!!
 
Oh awesome! I'm glad you got it ordered. Chain pet stores like Petco and Petsmart do not carry them, from what I've seen.

When mine broke, Christian rigged one up out of a coat hanger and some wire until I could buy a new one.

Once you plug it in, your voltage reading should go down to zero again.
 

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