Reef Aquarium Fact #246 Using a ground fault interrupter to plug your equipment into can save
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G.F.C.I. or GLORIOUS FLAMES CAN IGNITE
JMSKI333
Valuable Member
Not disagreeing with people's opinion's above. I just though I would throw some questions in the mix to bring this thread back alive.
Has anyone ever heard of someone dieing from a shock from a fresh or saltwater tank?
I have been shocked by a 120v circuit countless amount of times (construction) and it sucks, but does not kill me or even burn my skin. How would the shock of a 120v line in your aquarium be any different?
For me, I used to have a GFCI on my circuit but it popped once for an unknown reason and left my tank without power for a few hours before my brother noticed it. I do likeAZDESERTRAT's Idea of having your equipment spread across two GFCI's. I am going to separate my power heads and my heaters across two gfci's to ensure a life system will be active at all times.https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/members/azdesertrat.html
Has anyone ever heard of someone dieing from a shock from a fresh or saltwater tank?
I have been shocked by a 120v circuit countless amount of times (construction) and it sucks, but does not kill me or even burn my skin. How would the shock of a 120v line in your aquarium be any different?
For me, I used to have a GFCI on my circuit but it popped once for an unknown reason and left my tank without power for a few hours before my brother noticed it. I do likeAZDESERTRAT's Idea of having your equipment spread across two GFCI's. I am going to separate my power heads and my heaters across two gfci's to ensure a life system will be active at all times.https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/members/azdesertrat.html
Saltwater is many many times more conductive than freshwater and no comparison to open air even if you were sweating profusely.
There really is no reason to even consider not having your tanks on GFCI protected circuits.
There really is no reason to even consider not having your tanks on GFCI protected circuits.
here is my first hand experience with electrocution by Aquarium:
It was about a year ago and I had a 55g in the basement that I was planning on breeding mollies for salt in. I had a no name pond pump that my electrician friend said was safe to use...I always bring him used electrical things so i do not die. I took it home and hooked it up to my over the tank sump and filled it with RO. Turned the pump on and everything was great. The flow was even good, I thought i found a great pump for my marine acclimating needs. I added the salt to the tank and begin to aid in the mixing process by using the pump and a hose the keep the salt off the bottom. WWWWELLLLLLLLL....Apparently there are certain metals that are conductive in salt that are not in fresh or at least not as much. When i put my hand in the fresh water i felt no stray voltage at all. The difference salt instantly made was incredible. I was getting zapped by the dry part of the glass right above the water on the back of my hand...it took a little while to realize it as I have a pretty high pain tolerance to electricity from testing ALOT of 9 volt batteries as a kid. When i did realize, it was pretty much the same pain of about 12x9volts at once on your tongue.
I immediately cut the power and stared at it for a while. I just spent all the money I had for this endeavor on this and would have to wait about 2 more weeks to get a replacement pump, i couldnt find a spare and the 20 bucks I had at the time was in my gas tank! sometimes its rough reefin. The water ended up stagnant and developed a film on top. I decided to siphon it out the next day but it ended up sitting there for 8 or 9 months and developed something I never wanted to see or smell again.
Point of the story...electricity can be varied under different circumstances and really we should all have meters for our tanks, which I do not, but saltwater and freshwater can kill you. In groundhogs day bill murray uses a toaster to off himself one of the times, as an example of freshwater death possibility...saltwater was the only way a water powered taser would work according to mythbusters, so I imagine an electric oven in a Saltwater swimming pool could end a party. Its not worth finding out though, so just be careful or you may have cooked hair
It was about a year ago and I had a 55g in the basement that I was planning on breeding mollies for salt in. I had a no name pond pump that my electrician friend said was safe to use...I always bring him used electrical things so i do not die. I took it home and hooked it up to my over the tank sump and filled it with RO. Turned the pump on and everything was great. The flow was even good, I thought i found a great pump for my marine acclimating needs. I added the salt to the tank and begin to aid in the mixing process by using the pump and a hose the keep the salt off the bottom. WWWWELLLLLLLLL....Apparently there are certain metals that are conductive in salt that are not in fresh or at least not as much. When i put my hand in the fresh water i felt no stray voltage at all. The difference salt instantly made was incredible. I was getting zapped by the dry part of the glass right above the water on the back of my hand...it took a little while to realize it as I have a pretty high pain tolerance to electricity from testing ALOT of 9 volt batteries as a kid. When i did realize, it was pretty much the same pain of about 12x9volts at once on your tongue.
I immediately cut the power and stared at it for a while. I just spent all the money I had for this endeavor on this and would have to wait about 2 more weeks to get a replacement pump, i couldnt find a spare and the 20 bucks I had at the time was in my gas tank! sometimes its rough reefin. The water ended up stagnant and developed a film on top. I decided to siphon it out the next day but it ended up sitting there for 8 or 9 months and developed something I never wanted to see or smell again.
Point of the story...electricity can be varied under different circumstances and really we should all have meters for our tanks, which I do not, but saltwater and freshwater can kill you. In groundhogs day bill murray uses a toaster to off himself one of the times, as an example of freshwater death possibility...saltwater was the only way a water powered taser would work according to mythbusters, so I imagine an electric oven in a Saltwater swimming pool could end a party. Its not worth finding out though, so just be careful or you may have cooked hair
To receive insurance money for a failed business...but thats playing dirty.:llama:
You wouldn't receive the insurance money, the heirs to your estate would. They would pay your funeral expenses with it. GFCI's save lives, breakers save wiring and structures.
True 0 TDS or 18.2 megaohm resistivity RO/DI or distilled water is non conductive meaning you could place bare 600 volt wires in it , stick you hand in and not feel anything. Tap water is very conductive and saltwater is super conductive. The 250 or so TDS is tap water will kill you in a matter of milliseconds so the 32,000+ TDS in saltwater could be instant death. Its not worth the risk when you consider a 415 GFCI will eliminate that risk. Its not only foolish, its plain stupid and my mother taught me o ver 50 years ago to never use that word! I just don't know how else to describe someone dumb enough to ignore life safety when its so easy and so inespensive. STUPID fits.
True 0 TDS or 18.2 megaohm resistivity RO/DI or distilled water is non conductive meaning you could place bare 600 volt wires in it , stick you hand in and not feel anything. Tap water is very conductive and saltwater is super conductive. The 250 or so TDS is tap water will kill you in a matter of milliseconds so the 32,000+ TDS in saltwater could be instant death. Its not worth the risk when you consider a 415 GFCI will eliminate that risk. Its not only foolish, its plain stupid and my mother taught me o ver 50 years ago to never use that word! I just don't know how else to describe someone dumb enough to ignore life safety when its so easy and so inespensive. STUPID fits.
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o2manyfish
Valuable Member
I'm a believer in GFI outlets.My System is spread out over 6 seperate circuits, and each one is protected with GFI. Some of the circuits have multiple GFI in different locations. I don't use one GFI to run additional outlets for the simple reason that for the cost of the GFI, not shutting off additional equipment when it trips is of a greater value to me.
With over a dozen GFI installed I have to replace 1 about every 18 months.
All of my filtration equipment is located outside. So when the rains come (which they do sometimes in Sunny So Cal) there a couple of GFI that will trip.
I have however, had several device short and catch fire over the years. And when a piece of equipment starts shorting out, it does NOT trip the GFI, and it does not trip the circuit breaker.
So in addition to GFI, make sure you have a good fire extinguisher that you keep near the tank.
Dave B
With over a dozen GFI installed I have to replace 1 about every 18 months.
All of my filtration equipment is located outside. So when the rains come (which they do sometimes in Sunny So Cal) there a couple of GFI that will trip.
I have however, had several device short and catch fire over the years. And when a piece of equipment starts shorting out, it does NOT trip the GFI, and it does not trip the circuit breaker.
So in addition to GFI, make sure you have a good fire extinguisher that you keep near the tank.
Dave B
Power strips are usually surge protectors not GFCI's. Different thing. Good, expensive ones protect sensitive electronic equipment from lightning strikes or power surges, less expensive ones look pretty but have little functionality. They do not replace having a GFCI. You can have GFCI's installed in older homes or you can buy plug in GFCI's at any hardware store.
You can get GFCI breakers but they may be hard to find for older breaker boxes. They can also be a pain as you have to go out to the box to reset them versus an outlet in the house.
-Logzor
2500 Club Member
Same goes with my T5 fixture, trips GFCI's.
WillKatt
Active Member
Just to be safe on my system I installed a separate 8 circuit sub panel. Everthing is GFCI protected and evething is redundant. No two heaters run off the same circuit or GFCI nor do any of my return pumps or any piece of my system that is considered "critical". I know this not an option for everone but if you can do it I truly belive it worth ever penny.
For the statement above about the LEDs. I too have experienced the same. The balasts for a couple manufactures of Led fixtures seem to trip the GFI
. Unfortunatly I did move those to an uprotected circuit but at least they hang securly high above any water and I always unplug them if they need to be moved or adjusted.
For the statement above about the LEDs. I too have experienced the same. The balasts for a couple manufactures of Led fixtures seem to trip the GFI
. Unfortunatly I did move those to an uprotected circuit but at least they hang securly high above any water and I always unplug them if they need to be moved or adjusted.
swayd
Well-Known Member
Wow all this time reefing and this completely slipped my mind.
You guys just might have saved a life or two!
Going to homedepot tomorrow to get some gfci strips....
Question! Can I plug in two seperate GFCI strips into one power outlet?
You guys just might have saved a life or two!
Going to homedepot tomorrow to get some gfci strips....
Question! Can I plug in two seperate GFCI strips into one power outlet?
Sacohen
Valuable Member
I had one on my last tank, but set this one up really fast and didn't have time to install one.
Now that the tank is set up I can't get to the outlet to replace it with a GFCI.
I also had a grounding probe on my last tank. It was basically an electric cord that only had the ground wire in it.
the hot and neutral spades where plastic and the other end of the ground wire sat in the sump and pulled out any stray electricity.
Now that the tank is set up I can't get to the outlet to replace it with a GFCI.
I also had a grounding probe on my last tank. It was basically an electric cord that only had the ground wire in it.
the hot and neutral spades where plastic and the other end of the ground wire sat in the sump and pulled out any stray electricity.
Bootstrap
Active Member
I had one on my last tank, but set this one up really fast and didn't have time to install one.
Now that the tank is set up I can't get to the outlet to replace it with a GFCI.
I also had a grounding probe on my last tank. It was basically an electric cord that only had the ground wire in it.
the hot and neutral spades where plastic and the other end of the ground wire sat in the sump and pulled out any stray electricity.
I like the grounding plug idea! Is a power strip s replace for a gfci?
Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD
WillKatt
Active Member
No a power strip in not a replacement for a GFCI. Best case scenario a power strip will have surge protection which is not the same thing as a ground fault interrupt. I personally have never seen a power strip that has a GFCI, that's not to say that someone doesn't make them but they are certainly not common if they do exist.
You should not assume ANY power strip or surge protector provides a ground fault circuit interrupt unless it specifically states that it does on the packaging.
Bootstrap
Active Member
Home Depot and Lowes sell portable GFCI's that plug into the outlet and have two protected outlets to use.
You don't have to intsall a permanent GFCI on that particular outlet which is blocked by the tank, you can go to the first outlet on that circuit and install a GFCI to protect every outlet on that breaker circuit or you can go to the outlet immediately upstream of that particular outlet and instal one so it protects everything downstream of that point, the tank included, but nothing upstream of the installed GFCI. Many options and I prefer a permanent installation to a portable but have had my nano on a portable for over 15 years now. The only nuisance is it trips in a power outage while my permanent ones do not.
You don't have to intsall a permanent GFCI on that particular outlet which is blocked by the tank, you can go to the first outlet on that circuit and install a GFCI to protect every outlet on that breaker circuit or you can go to the outlet immediately upstream of that particular outlet and instal one so it protects everything downstream of that point, the tank included, but nothing upstream of the installed GFCI. Many options and I prefer a permanent installation to a portable but have had my nano on a portable for over 15 years now. The only nuisance is it trips in a power outage while my permanent ones do not.
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