Shocking discovery

[AquaticLifeProducts]

Just a thought/suggestion, turn all the items off in the aquarium, pumps heater etc... You may find that you have voltage from a piece of equipment that is not grounded in the aquarium but when you create the link from the aquarium to the light its grounded and you are the wire.

I've tested this stray voltage by taking a volt meter and having one probe of the meter in the water and the other probe touching the center screw on the outlet plate. This should be ground. If you have no voltage with the aquarium off, good base line. As you turn items back on test again until you find the item causing the stray voltage. Likely you have an item leaking stray voltage into the aquarium.

 

[Evan West]

Would using a ground probe from one of my outlets to the sump fix this issue?

While this might solve the problem because it could complete any circuit that is being made instead of you completing it, this does not solve to root issue. Stray electricity in the aquarium can cause a lot of issues and it really needs to be eliminated not just grounded to avoid shock to you for the health and safety of you and your fish IMO.

 

[themcnertney]

I think that a ground probe would help but I don't think I have stray voltage in my tank. As mentioned I think the screws are bottoming out on the pucks energizing the all thread rods. It's only noticeable when I touch the lights with my hand in the tank. My friend is coming over with a multimeter to put this to rest.

 

[themcnertney]

Well my friend hasn't made it over with his multimeter but now I'm getting shocked just my putting my hand in the water.

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Go grab a $7 multimeter from Harbor Freight, they actually work very good for the occasional user like myself.

 

[themcnertney]

I think I may just do that. I did buy a ground probe. Will be here in a couple days.

 

[Brew12]

I'm not an aquarium expert but I do power distribution for a living. Odds are you are not being shocked by your LED lighting.

It looks like your LED lights use an external power supply that reduces voltage and rectifies it to DC before it gets fed into your light fixtures. Odds are this is a fairly low DC voltage that would be unlikely to deliver a significant shock. It also looks like it is a grounded system but I can't verify it because the specs aren't posted on the manufacturers website.
Remember, in order to be shocked you need a path for current flow from a live source, through you, to ground. If the all thread is being grounded by the LED power supply (as it should be) it makes more sense that this is the path to ground, not the source. These seems especially likely since you are getting shocked just by the tank.
A quick check with a meter could verify this if you get one.
Remember, if you are wearing rubber sole shoes and put your hand in the tank you will not get shocked if you are touching nothing else. If you are barefoot, standing in a puddle, or touch something that is conductive than you will get shocked if the source is from the tank.

 

[themcnertney]

Problem solved. Was a bad heater. I have one main heater with three smaller backups. It was a backup heater. My lights had nothing do with it other then I was ground out when touching them.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Salty1962]

That will do it, I had a titanium heater go bad on me one day. When I was isolated ,by wearing rubber soled shoes, I had no trouble but one day I was bare foot and put my hand in the sump and it knocked me on my ***. GFI and grounding probes should be in every tank, IMHO.

 

[themcnertney]

Installed my ground probe in my sump last night. I am thinking I may get another one for my display tank.

 

[Salty1962]

Installed my ground probe in my sump last night. I am thinking I may get another one for my display tank.

Your water has continuity through your sump, so if you put it in your sump you're go for your system.

 

[patsheridan]

Question. If my home wiring is old , two-prong style (with un-grounded outlets I assume) then the ground probe is useless, correct?

 

[Brew12]

Question. If my home wiring is old , two-prong style (with un-grounded outlets I assume) then the ground probe is useless, correct?

That is correct, the ground probe would be useless. A GFCI device would still work for you though. They don't require sensing ground current to trip only a difference between the hot and neutral connections.

 

[patsheridan]

Does a GFCI-style power strip suffice?

 

[Brew12]

Does a GFCI-style power strip suffice?

I would prefer to install a GFCI outlet and just not connect the ground (since there is none). That said, a GFCI power strip is not a bad option if you aren't comfortable changing the outlet.

It almost hurts me to type this but you are going to have to break the ground pin off of whatever GFCI power strip you find. If it is worth buying, it will have a ground plug on it. Otherwise I would never recommend breaking the ground plug off of anything. I think this is the one exception.

 

[KStatefan]

Why would you remove the ground prong?

 

[Brew12]

Why would you remove the ground prong?

The wiring in old houses only uses 2 prong outlets. There is no way to plug in anything with a ground plug.