Getting electrical shock when everything is unplugged

[Creggers]

Hello DIY - not sure if this is the right place but I'm hoping you may be of some assistance :)

I'm in the process of setting up my 75 gallon tank and I've slowly been adding equipment. Today I sat down and ran a bunch of wires, topped off my sump, and installed a little stand for my protein skimmer. I also added an Inkbird and plugged in two titanium BRS 100watt heaters that I purchased used from a local reefer.

After running all the wires and plugging everything into my power strip, I continued to work in the sump (not with wires) and felt a small shock. I immediately unplugged everything and made sure that there was no water near any of the wires, nor plug. I left everything unplugged for a while hoping that this would allow the charge to dissipate, however I am still getting a shock when putting my hands into the sump (not display, that's why I believe I have stray current, possibly from the second hand heaters).

I'm going to make a ground plug, but I was curious if anyone had similar experiences - getting shocked after unplugging everything? Going to be pretty hard to identify what the issue is if I cannot put my hands back in the water.. I also have a voltmeter which I'll be using to check rather than using my hands..

 

[Ron Reefman]

Rather than just unplugging the heaters and anything else in the sump, try removing them all and putting them back in one at a time.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing what you find.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I'm suspicious of the heaters. Use the voltmeter with them on and then off. Is everything else new? Is everything plugged into a gfci outlet or power strip?

 

[Erick Armanii]

Rather than just unplugging the heaters and anything else in the sump, try removing them all and putting them back in one at a time.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing what you find.

Agreed..

 

[Biglew11]

use the volte meater to check for voltages, but if there no connection between the system and outlet then there is zero reason to get a shock. you have a connection between the system and outlet some where.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Used heaters are almost always the culprit.

 

[Biglew11]

After running all the wires and plugging everything into my power strip, I continued to work in the sump (not with wires) and felt a small shock. I immediately unplugged everything and made sure that there was no water near any of the wires, nor plug. I left everything unplugged for a while hoping that this would allow the charge to dissipate, however I am still getting a shock when putting my hands into the sump (not display, that's why I believe I have stray current, possibly from the second hand heaters).

are you getting shocked with the stuff unplugged it's not clear? electrical charges from faulty equipment disapears as soon as you unplug it and will reappear immediately when you plug it back in. i would start by checking the oldest equipment first.

 

[Creggers]

So just to clarify - I was getting shocked when I put my hand in EVEN with everything unplugged. Good news is heaters are out and I’m shockless. So now I just need to see if the gentlemen will refund me. Kinda frustrating as I’m sure he was aware they were faulty..

 

[Idoc]

Heaters are normally the first thing to cause electrical activity in a tank... then powerheads!

 

[LegendaryCG]

Heaters are normally the first thing to cause electrical activity in a tank... then powerheads!

Yea I think this an overlooked feature of vortech pumps.

 

[Creggers]

Yea I think this an overlooked feature of vortech pumps.

Unfortunate mine went missing in the mail then huh!

This is now solved.. So many setbacks in this build so far but at the end of the day it'll all be worth it

 

[MightyMO]

So just to clarify - I was getting shocked when I put my hand in EVEN with everything unplugged. Good news is heaters are out and I’m shockless. So now I just need to see if the gentlemen will refund me. Kinda frustrating as I’m sure he was aware they were faulty..

That just means something is still plugged in that's faulty, maybe your return pump or a power head???

 

[Biglew11]

So just to clarify - I was getting shocked when I put my hand in EVEN with everything unplugged. Good news is heaters are out and I’m shockless. So now I just need to see if the gentlemen will refund me. Kinda frustrating as I’m sure he was aware they were faulty..

if everything was unplugged you shouldn't have gotten shocked. something had to have been plugged in order to complete the path between power and ground. did you have lights on in the display?

 

[MightyMO]

Think he was saying his vortech pump was on a battery backup... ouch! Lol

 

[Creggers]

if everything was unplugged you shouldn't have gotten shocked. something had to have been plugged in order to complete the path between power and ground. did you have lights on in the display?

I can assure you that everything was unplugged from the wall and the power strip. I assume there was some residual charge in the heaters cause as soon as I removed them the shocking ceased. Lesson learned - never buy used heaters.

 

[bluprntguy]

Your BRS titanium heaters should also act as a grounding probe. Since they clearly aren’t, I’d check your outlet to make sure it’s grounded. If you live in an old house or apartment, there’s a good chance it isn’t grounded and is causing problems.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Your BRS titanium heaters should also act as a grounding probe. Since they clearly aren’t, I’d check your outlet to make sure it’s grounded. If you live in an old house or apartment, there’s a good chance it isn’t grounded and is causing problems.

I would think if the op is getting shocked just by putting his hand in the water then the heaters are working as grounding probes and he needs to get a gfci set up

 

[RCeiver]

I would think if the op is getting shocked just by putting his hand in the water then the heaters are working as grounding probes and he needs to get a gfci set up

If the heaters were working as grounding probes, any stray voltage should be going to the ground. Instead it’s traveling through the OP.

 

[Pistondog]

GFCI might save your fishes life.

 

[Biglew11]

If everything is unplugged there is no way of completing the circuit by putting your hand it the water. Something in the water has to conduct power from the wall and when you put your hand in it completes the path to ground.you can put every electrical device you own in the water and if it isn't plugged in you wont get shocked period. Something in the tank was connected to a power source if you were getting shocked.