Aquarium and electrical safety

[BZOFIQ]

to understand about ground probes or anything grounded, "ground" means earth, so your ground probe is also connected to everything on earth that is connected to ground. so the guy in Tunisia, the Himalayas, coos bay Oregon or my tank are all connected together. So you could theoretically run a wire from your tank to Antarctica, stick it in the ground. or ice, and the tank will be grounded just the same as if it is in the gfci next to your tank.

outside your house there is a metal stake stuck in the ground (or to a metal pipe) that connects your house to every other house on earth. all the ground wires in your panel go to that stake.

so you can add one, two or 500 ground probes and they will all do the same thing, but one should be enough.

Asking for a friend - what if you live in Brooklyn?

 

[carol3]

Thank you ALL for this important information, at this very moment my husband is installing GFCI outlets on the two outlets I use for my tanks! Special thanks to you BeanAnimal, clear and concise as usual!

 

[Paul B]

Asking for a friend - what if you live in Brooklyn?

i was born in Brooklyn so that may be exempt.

 

[Jarob]

My dad (electrician) installed a 15amp AF/GF outlet today and we threw on a weather box for the hell of it. This is for my new 180g I'm setting up and taking down my 80g. Luckily the outlet 6ft to the left of the tank is on a seperate breaker so I'll run the vortechs and dc pump off that.

 

[RobertK]

Nice! I got one of these plug-in GFCI adapters for my RODI/mixing station, which did not have a GFCI at all. I will have an electrician install a proper GFCI outlet soon.

Amazon product ASIN B00YPBITXU

 

[BZOFIQ]

My dad (electrician) installed a 15amp AF/GF outlet today and we threw on a weather box for the hell of it. This is for my new 180g I'm setting up and taking down my 80g. Luckily the outlet 6ft to the left of the tank is on a seperate breaker so I'll run the vortechs and dc pump off that.

You got the cover installed upside down. Cables need to enter the box from the bottom.

 

[Idech]

You got the cover installed upside down. Cables need to enter the box from the bottom.

Or the photo is just upside down.

 

[Jarob]

You got the cover installed upside down. Cables need to enter the box from the bottom.

We installed it that way, if the other way the door wouldn't open with the stand leg in the way. Not ideal but better than nothing IMO. more for splashes and damp air then say rainfall.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Or the photo is just upside down.

...or im standing on my head. anything is possible.

We installed it that way, if the other way the door wouldn't open with the stand leg in the way. Not ideal but better than nothing IMO. more for splashes and damp air then say rainfall.

Not better, worse! Your cable will carry saltwater drips straight into the outlet.

 

[UncommonSense]

We installed it that way, if the other way the door wouldn't open with the stand leg in the way. Not ideal but better than nothing IMO. more for splashes and damp air then say rainfall.

There are options which hinge from the top, that may be a better choice here!

 

[Jarob]

...or im standing on my head. anything is possible.


Not better, worse! Your cable will carry saltwater drips straight into the outlet.

Good point, ill swap with the top hinge door. Good looking out

 

[cruzersmith]

I have hesitated in responding to this thread due to the death of your friend whom I unfortunately did not know. Also not knowing the exact circumstances of exactly what happened I did not wish to diminish the tragic passing of one so young. Let me first start by saying anyone who truly wants to be protected from the dangers in this life should absolutely come to know Jesus Christ as their savior. For we are all going to pass from this life to the next sooner or later and it will indeed be a tragedy if you leave without knowing Him.

However with many of you wanting to at least delay that inevitability there needs to be some corrections and clarification of some things I’ve read here. There are on average 1000 electrocution deaths a year in the US. The large majority of them are from high voltage systems and not from the residential voltages in our homes. Compare that to the 40k plus that occur on our highways. I say this not to make light of anyone’s feelings on the subject but to just say it is a very, very rare occurrence and the measures being taken will make it even more rare.

So let me get into it. AFCI’s are fire protection devices and will not pro vide direct electric shock protection. Think of extreme heat when thinking of electrical arcing. Like using electricity to melt and
weld metal. GFCI’s are designed to prevent electrocution not shock. You basically die from residential voltage electrocution by getting stuck on fault current (electricity running through a fault in the wiring) until your heart stops. This usually takes some time unless you have a heart condition or you are dealing with voltages higher than the 120-240 volts in your house. As one who has been shocked more times than I bother to count it takes more than a zap to kill you. This is how GFCI’s protect you. You will get a shock but the device will shut off faster than harm will come to you. I personally prefer outlets over breakers as they are closer to the point of use, are cheaper to purchase and should be more convenient for testing. Some understanding of outlets is important though. Outlets listed as auto resetting does not mean they automatically reset after they trip. It means they will come back on after power is lost and comes back on. There are some that immediately trip whenever they receive power. Make sure you get the auto resetting type or you will not get things running after a power outage unless you manually press the reset button. I will end here, but will continue if there are questions.

 

[BeanAnimal]

However with many of you wanting to at least delay that inevitability there needs to be some corrections and clarification of some things I’ve read here.

I think most if what you wrote has been covered several times, but thank you for posting. I do want to add some clarification and context to your clarifications...

There are on average 1000 electrocution deaths a year in the US.

With 100-200 of those being residential and as many or more work related at the same ~120/220 volt threshold. But add in fatalities related to injury caused by electrical (knocked off of a ladder, fire, etc.) and you can add another 500-700.

But more to the point, the hobby that we participate in raises the risk of shock and fire vs somebody who regularly uses a sewing machine or a jigsaw as part of their hobby.

While AFCIs do not protect us from shock hazards, they do come into play with our power strips and other equipment. While they may not prevent a power strip fire (salt creep, drips, etc.) they offer a layer of protection.

You basically die from residential voltage electrocution by getting stuck on fault current (electricity running through a fault in the wiring) until your heart stops....

it takes more than a zap to kill you.

Partially true. You don’t have to be stuck on mains voltage to die. Just a few AC cycles can cause ventricular fibrillation if current crosses the heart. GFCIs are designed to trip before that threshold. So, typically 25 ms, worst-case around 100 ms to trip. Human reflex time to pull away is ~250 ms, several times slower than both the lethal window and the GFCI trip response.

 

[RobertK]

I say this not to make light of anyone’s feelings on the subject but to just say it is a very, very rare occurrence and the measures being taken will make it even more rare.

This is true indeed. I did an AI search (using OpenEvidence) of the medical and engineering literature, forensic records and consumer safety agency reports and could not find a single prior documented case of fatal or non-fatal electrical injury from a home aquarium. That doesn't mean this has never happened before and doesn't make it any less tragic, but it is very rare.

 

[JusMeJim]

This thread is a bit ironic (for me). I've just started the planning stages to set up a saltwater aquarium, and had an electrician out yesterday to see about installing a dedicated line with GFCI outlets. I spent the whole evening reading through this thread and have a few other "ideas" to talk to him about now.

My plan was too have a total of 12 new "plug-ins". He suggested 8 and then to use a power strip if more were needed. Which would be best?

I read where I should also have a grounding plug, which I'll be getting.

I was also wondering would it be beneficial to tie all of the plug-ins into an on/off switch, and anytime you plan on putting your hands into the tank, just turn everything off with the on/off switch?

 

[Paul B]

electricity is a much more complicated subject then we can discuss here. But I will say that I have seen quite a few people die from electricity, some right in front of me. But the majority of them were not directly from the electricity but from the person receiving the shock falling off a ladder or in one case, the building.

The buildings in Manhattan are tall and quite easy to fall off as they are being constructed

Sometimes we have a crew holding up a heavy transformer, or switch and one gets a shock, causing everyone to drop the load and unfortunately, if it falls on you,
you are in trouble.

Typically, all the office buildings use 277/480 volts and before that kills you, it burns a big hole in you where you touch it.

My friend was up in the ceiling on an 8' ladder and he screamed so I immediately kicked out the ladder from under him. He hit the floor but the fall didn't hurt him too much. He ended up with a big burnt out part of his hand that took years to heal.

In a home the electricity is considered low voltage and we normally work on that live. But electricians know what they are doing so we normally don't get shocked. But if you are in a position where you can't pull away from the shock. You will die as we have unfortunately seen in the last few days.

to die from it depends greatly on where the electricity enters and exits your body which is why sometimes we just get shocked and sometimes die.

A GFI will prevent that in the vast majority of cases.

 

[BlueTide]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but we often think of GFCI by our main tanks and forget (at least I do) about all the other areas we operate in, like mixing tanks, RO reservoirs, even temporary hospital tanks, etc.

I just refilled my ATO reservoir using a DC pump and after reading about MiamiReef I realize that for years I haven't thought twice about safety outside of the area of my main DT.

Another interesting point that someone mentioned on a different thread was that backup batteries don't have the protection of GFCI.

Not sure about how much power they put out....maybe some of the electricians on here can weigh in.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

If the return is off and you loose water flow connecting sump to DT then the path is broken. So they become separate. I don’t ever access DT with return pump off so I’m not too worried about it. I do water changes from the basement sump. But normal people doing water changes from DT would be good to have a ground probe in DT or add one before sticking hands into the tank.

Certainly not going to argue, as ianan electrical professional. However, this seems like a good place to point out that a titanium ground probe goes for less than $15. You can't get much in this hobby for so little, much less something potentially (no pun intended) so critically important!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Certainly not going to argue, as ianan electrical professional. However, this seems like a good place to point out that a titanium ground probe goes for less than $15. You can't get much in this hobby for so little, much less something potentially (no pun intended) so critically important!

I recently bought 7 titanium probes for my system, which includes 4 parts of my sump that are not necessarily in electrical contact all the time, the AWC reservoir, that ATO reservoir, and the display.

 

[Paul B]

Another interesting point that someone mentioned on a different thread was that backup batteries don't have the protection of GFCI.

Not sure about how much power they put out....maybe some of the electricians on here can weigh in.

Normally, battery voltage won't hurt you. You can touch both terminals on a 12 volt battery in your car, and you won't get a shock (contrary to TV movies where they torture someone by shocking them with a car battery, even though it could put out potentially 400 amps)

But a "battery backup" will convert that battery voltage to 110 volts AC just like the outlet in your wall, and it can still kill you.