Stray voltage help

Fredrxn

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I am pretty sure that I have electricity running through my water... Because everytime my hands are wet and I touch the water in my tank I get pain running threw my finger... I am pretty sure it's electricity because my new tank does not do it I know salt water burns cuts... And I do have cuts on my fingers.. But I also wet my fingers with tap water and the same thing happens.. my hands just have to be wet and I can touch the screen top of my fish tank or the filter floss or media baskets I get pain... Only on certain fingers. I have this power meter how do I use it heres a pics of it... They might be why fish dart at times for. No reason

16543036593768135136267901309089.jpg
 

redfishbluefish

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Set the meter to AC volts....that's the V with the squiggly line....200 range is good.

Now take one probe....and it doesn't matter if it's the red or black one, and put the end in the water. The other probe goes to a ground. I usually use the ground hole on a three prong outlet or you could actually use the screw in the plate cover.

Expect to see some voltage because you have induced voltage from all the spinning motors in your tank.

EDIT TO ADD: I left out one thing..... you want one probe plugged in V and the other into COM. Again, for AC volts, color doesn't matter.
 
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Fredrxn

Fredrxn

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Set the meter to AC volts....that's the V with the squiggly line....200 range is good.

Now take one probe....and it doesn't matter if it's the red or black one, and put the end in the water. The other probe goes to a ground. I usually use the ground hole on a three prong outlet or you could actually use the screw in the plate cover.

Expect to see some voltage because you have induced voltage from all the spinning motors in your tank.

EDIT TO ADD: I left out one thing..... you want one probe plugged in V and the other into COM. Again, for AC volts, color doesn't matter.
Is says 28.2
 

redfishbluefish

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That could be induced. Start unplugging anything that's in the water....DT and Sump....one at a time while still looking at voltage. See if one piece of equipment is the cause.
 
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Fredrxn

Fredrxn

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That could be induced. Start unplugging anything that's in the water....DT and Sump....one at a time while still looking at voltage. See if one piece of equipment is the cause.
I Unplugged my Apex energy bar... And the volts go away..... So I plug in back in volts return.... And I start unplugging stuff one by one and the volts stay about the same don't change I can't figure it out... Tank is not plugged into gfi outlet.. Might pick up a ground probe...... Could it be the wall outlet?
 

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It looks like your meter will read amps. Turn the dial to the A section 200M position on the right side and take a reading the same way you did before with the probes in the same places
It should read less than 5 which would be 5 milliamps. It will probably read 0.1 or less.
3-5 Milliamps is what a GFI trips at.

If so just put in a ground probe and forget about it. It is induced voltage.

As for your pain, different people have more or less sensitivity to the induced voltage in a tank. I feel none in my system but my daughter says she gets shocked if she touches it.
Wearing rubber soled shoes while working in the tank will help so you aren't grounded to the floor.

A tank energized by an electric cord will read 110 volts or whatever value you read in a wall outlet in your house.
 

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