Getting shocked when touching my tanks water!??!

[matt62950]

Hello, so when I was setting back up my tank(no fish in it so not worried about that)and I got the heater, one of the canister filters, an internal uv filter and 2 wave makers plugged in, I get shocked when I touch the water, not super bad but definitely there any ideas what I can do right now?

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

Best bet would probably be to unplug everything and then plug in one piece of equipment at a time to figure out which one is faulty.

 

[MoeStachio]

Unplug everything and remove it

Inspect everything manually while unplugged

 

[littlefoxx]

Do you have a glass heater? When this happened to me it was cause my heater exploded.

 

[matt62950]

Best bet would probably be to unplug everything and then plug in one piece of equipment at a time to figure out which one is faulty.

Is this safe? Like it didn’t feel very strong but is it safe for me to do that and not get severely shocked?

 

[matt62950]

Do you have a glass heater? When this happened to me it was cause my heater exploded.

I do, but it hasn’t exploded

 

[matt62950]

Unplug everything and remove it

Inspect everything manually while unplugged

What should I be looking for, I don’t see any exposed wires

 

[littlefoxx]

I do, but it hasn’t exploded

Is it hot at all? There has to be something thats giving it a current

 

[littlefoxx]

What should I be looking for, I don’t see any exposed wires

How are the outlets and extensions?

 

[matt62950]

Is it hot at all? There has to be something thats giving it a current

I believe it may of stared once I plugged in a wave maker, cause I had the heater, canister filter and internal uv filter on with no issue until that one wave maker I will see if this is the issue

 

[matt62950]

How are the outlets and extensions?

Pretty great actually, I’m sort of new to this room and no one rly used it previously so all the outlets are nice

 

[Fish Fan]

You can feel that "buzz" when you put your hand in the water? I've experienced that, and for me it has always been faulty heaters, but pumps too can cause this.

I'm not going to try to advise you on something like this, which is at this point is a safety issue for you and anyone else in your home.

Best bet would probably be to unplug everything and then plug in one piece of equipment at a time to figure out which one is faulty.

This is sound practice, but unless the OP has a multimeter and knows how to use it, the only way to "know" what piece of equipment is faulty is to stick their finger in the tank (not advised, in my opinion).

Is this safe? Like it didn’t feel very strong but is it safe for me to do that and not get severely shocked?

No, don't use your finger for a test. Although rare, there could be real current in your tank, and your finger is not the test for that!

I do, but it hasn’t exploded

Heaters can leak and may not need to "explode" to cause an electrical problem.

@BeanAnimal - you're active tonight, can you help the OP here?

 

[littlefoxx]

Pretty great actually, I’m sort of new to this room and no one rly used it previously so all the outlets are nice

Hum. If it were me I would unplug one thing at a time and see if the current stops, that way you know what was causing it

 

[littlefoxx]

You can feel that "buzz" when you put your hand in the water? I've experienced that, and for me it has always been faulty heaters, but pumps too can cause this.

I'm not going to try to advise you on something like this, which is at this point is a safety issue for you and anyone ales in your home.


This is sound practice, but unless the OP has a multimeter and knows how to use it, the only way to "know" what piece of equipment is faulty is to stick their finger in the tank (not advised, in my opinion).


No, don't use your finger for a test. Although rare, there could be real current in your tank, and your finger is not the test for that!


Heaters can leak and may not need to "explode" to cause an electrical problem.

@BeanAnimal - you're active tonight, can you help the OP here?

LOL ever the voice of reason! now that you point it out it probably isnt a great idea to test it with a finger, but not going to lie thats how I found out my issue was a heater that was actually really stupid now that I think about it…

 

[littlefoxx]

Im also in law enforcement, we tend to bum rush danger to solve a problem never even stopped to be like oh maybe I shouldnt be sticking my finger in the water to test it! My thought was my fish are in here and something is wrong Im going to find out what it is now!

 

[Fish Fan]

LOL ever the voice of reason! now that you point it out it probably isnt a great idea to test it with a finger, but not going to lie thats how I found out my issue was a heater that was actually really stupid now that I think about it

Friend, I was just trying to reply to your post and struggling to politely say, PLEASE don't stick your finger in the tank to determine if there's possibly current in the water

I'm trying to think: I know Bean Animal, but there's a few members that are legit electricians or trusted experts here, let me search for them, and I'll try to tag them in here.

I'm not an expert, please don't believe me, but let's all be safe with saltwater and electricity

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

Yeah, I realized after I posted that while plugging in one piece of equipment at a time helps to isolate the issue, you probably don't want to be using your hand as the tester.

Inspecting everything really well is a good idea. Things to look for that I can think of would be nicks/cuts in the wire and loose connections/spots where cables are sealed to equipment that could leak if underwater (e.g. where the wire goes into your powerhead or heater element).

For heaters, I saw someone recently with a failing heater and you could see condensation inside the glass tube.

 

[Fish Fan]

Im also in law enforcement, we tend to bum rush danger to solve a problem

I remembered that about you miss Thank you for what you do!

Edit: OFFICER @littlefoxx, not 'miss', my apologies

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

la

Friend, I was just trying to reply to your post and struggling to politely say, PLEASE don't stick your finger in the tank to determine if there's possibly current in the water

I'm trying to think: I know Bean Animal, but there's a few members that are legit electricians or trusted experts here, let me search for them, and I'll try to tag them in here.

I'm not an expert, please don't believe me, but let's all be safe with saltwater and electricity

I appreciate you chiming in, I should of known better too considering I work as a generator technician :P

 

[littlefoxx]

la

Friend, I was just trying to reply to your post and struggling to politely say, PLEASE don't stick your finger in the tank to determine if there's possibly current in the water

I'm trying to think: I know Bean Animal, but there's a few members that are legit electricians or trusted experts here, let me search for them, and I'll try to tag them in here.

I'm not an expert, please don't believe me, but let's all be safe with saltwater and electricity

yeah but the “dont stick your finger in the water to test for a current” is actually a very valid point and great advice this is where my BF always tells me my Taurus way of going about a problem can actually be a problem