BRS titanium heater shocking me

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

all of my Circuit breakers in my main breaker box are GFCI....my wall plugs are not. There was definitely "tingle" in the water (both sump and display). I started with the two gyre's in the display tank first, and unplugged items one at a time until I got to the heaters...I unplugged one and the "tingle" was weaker, but still there, so I unplugged the 2nd one, and ALL GONE, no more tingle at all. Both are Titanium 300 watt heaters. I replaced them with two old Ebo Jaeger's I had in a box, and no more tingle with those. Not sure what is going on with BOTH titanium heaters.

I would not be sure the effect is anything other than that titanium heaters grounding the tank. It might not be a defect at all. A true current leak should trip the GFCI.

Maybe Bean can better sort this.

@BeanAnimal

 

[reefmaster70]

I would not be sure the effect is anything other than that titanium heaters grounding the tank. It might not be a defect at all. A true current leak should trip the GFCI.

Maybe Bean can better sort this.

@BeanAnimal

so are you saying that it's NOT my titanium heater? I unplugged each and every piece of equipment one by one to find it, and I felt the tingle every time until I unplugged the heaters. I was also barefoot when doing it on cement floor, so was a good conductor. But I had absolutely no shocking sensation from the sump or display tank when I unplugged the heaters.

 

[Kooma]

all of my Circuit breakers in my main breaker box are GFCI....my wall plugs are not. There was definitely "tingle" in the water (both sump and display). I started with the two gyre's in the display tank first, and unplugged items one at a time until I got to the heaters...I unplugged one and the "tingle" was weaker, but still there, so I unplugged the 2nd one, and ALL GONE, no more tingle at all. Both are Titanium 300 watt heaters. I replaced them with two old Ebo Jaeger's I had in a box, and no more tingle with those. Not sure what is going on with BOTH titanium heaters.

On thing that is important to do is add a grounding probe. I know lots of people consider the titanium heaters to be a grounding probe, but in your instance they didn't do their job.

A grounding probe and GFCI will cause a trip the moment voltage leakage is detected. A gfci without a proper grounding probe will sit there supplying power until your body becomes the path to ground.

Id also suggest buying a GFCI tester and plugging it into your outlet, and tripping the GFCI. It should loose power instantly.

Once you have your volt meter, check each pin on the plug of your old heaters to the body of the heater itself and see if you have any continuity. Let us know what you find!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

so are you saying that it's NOT my titanium heater? I unplugged each and every piece of equipment one by one to find it, and I felt the tingle every time until I unplugged the heaters. I was also barefoot when doing it on cement floor, so was a good conductor. But I had absolutely no shocking sensation from the sump or display tank when I unplugged the heaters.

I said it may be the normal function of a titanium heater to act as a ground, and that could be the source of the tingle, rather than a current leak that should have tripped the GFCI.

. I asked Beananimal to comment as he understands these sorts of issues better than I do.