Titanium heater vs probe or both?

MichaelClark55 · Jan 19, 2019

I have been reading alot of conflicting information on this subject. Some of the more experienced guys have written great articles on this subject but then some of it gets alittle too heady for some of us.

I am Architect and a Builder so I do understand the basics of house wiring but this probe business has gotten me worried a bit.

I would like to make it simple and follow the "if you have a titanium heater" theory that sounds like a probe is not neccessary. Is it truely that simple? The issue I have is I have one outlet close enough to run 2 power strips that runs all the equipment. The labels on the probes state not to plug into a power strip.

I have done some basic calculations to make sure that I am not overloading the circuit that the one outlet runs on. I also have made sure the power strips that I use are rated to carry more than what I have plugged into them.

The other issue is that outlet is NOT GFI. I assume that I can change that breaker at the panel and that will take care of that part. That's straight forward enough, but the probe haunts me a bit since it seems that probes and GFI are not the same issue.

So if I am on a GFI circuit that is NOT overloaded and run at least one ti heater through a power strip rated to handle, have I covered my bases? I have not had any issues with current in the first year of this setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

EmdeReef · Jan 19, 2019

@Brew12?

Brew12 · Jan 19, 2019

MichaelClark55 said:
I have been reading alot of conflicting information on this subject. Some of the more experienced guys have written great articles on this subject but then some of it gets alittle too heady for some of us.

I am Architect and a Builder so I do understand the basics of house wiring but this probe business has gotten me worried a bit.

I would like to make it simple and follow the "if you have a titanium heater" theory that sounds like a probe is not neccessary. Is it truely that simple? The issue I have is I have one outlet close enough to run 2 power strips that runs all the equipment. The labels on the probes state not to plug into a power strip.

I have done some basic calculations to make sure that I am not overloading the circuit that the one outlet runs on. I also have made sure the power strips that I use are rated to carry more than what I have plugged into them.

The other issue is that outlet is NOT GFI. I assume that I can change that breaker at the panel and that will take care of that part. That's straight forward enough, but the probe haunts me a bit since it seems that probes and GFI are not the same issue.

So if I am on a GFI circuit that is NOT overloaded and run at least one ti heater through a power strip rated to handle, have I covered my bases? I have not had any issues with current in the first year of this setup.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

If your titanium heater has a 3 prong plug then the titanium housing acts just like a ground probe. Some titanium heaters only have a 2 prong plug. If yours fits this category then you would want a separate ground probe.

As for the warning about the ground probe on a power strip, that shouldn't be an issue. A decent UL listed power strip will carry the ground through to the wall. There have been cases where cheap imported power strips didn't have a ground bar in them. That is where the warning comes from. This is a very dangerous situation, with or without a ground probe.

MichaelClark55 · Jan 19, 2019

Brew12 said:
If your titanium heater has a 3 prong plug then the titanium housing acts just like a ground probe. Some titanium heaters only have a 2 prong plug. If yours fits this category then you would want a separate ground probe.

As for the warning about the ground probe on a power strip, that shouldn't be an issue. A decent UL listed power strip will carry the ground through to the wall. There have been cases where cheap imported power strips didn't have a ground bar in them. That is where the warning comes from. This is a very dangerous situation, with or without a ground probe.

Awesome, that gives me a lot of confindence coming from you. Thank you for responding.

MichaelClark55 · Jan 19, 2019

EmdeReef said:
@Brew12?

thank you

ReefBrownie · Jan 17, 2025

Brew12 said:
If your titanium heater has a 3 prong plug then the titanium housing acts just like a ground probe. Some titanium heaters only have a 2 prong plug. If yours fits this category then you would want a separate ground probe.

As for the warning about the ground probe on a power strip, that shouldn't be an issue. A decent UL listed power strip will carry the ground through to the wall. There have been cases where cheap imported power strips didn't have a ground bar in them. That is where the warning comes from. This is a very dangerous situation, with or without a ground probe.

I know this tread is old, but I haven't found the answer to my question yet. I hope that someone can give me some peace of mind.
I run two BRS titanium heaters using an Inkbird dual heater controller. Does the Inkbird have to be plugged directly into the GFCI outlet in order to ground, or can it be plugged into a powerstrip/battery backup? I bought a ground probe, should I use in the the display tank as a just in case?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 17, 2025

CaBrowne said:
I know this tread is old, but I haven't found the answer to my question yet. I hope that someone can give me some peace of mind.
I run two BRS titanium heaters using an Inkbird dual heater controller. Does the Inkbird have to be plugged directly into the GFCI outlet in order to ground, or can it be plugged into a powerstrip/battery backup? I bought a ground probe, should I use in the the display tank as a just in case?

I’ll just give a comment on battery backups and GFCI. Unless the device is low voltage, having a battery backup without a GFCI between the battery and the device is dangerous, just like having no GFCI at all.

ReefBrownie · Jan 17, 2025

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I’ll just give a comment on battery backups and GFCI. Unless the device is low voltage, having a battery backup without a GFCI between the battery and the device is dangerous, just like having no GFCI at all.

I don't currently have a battery backup, just a heavy duty powerstrip. I considered getting an APC for tank essentials. So that wouldn't be a good idea?

Steve Zee · Jan 18, 2025

Do yourself a favor and forget about the ground probe. "Stray voltage" is not a real thing. A GFCI will protect you and is the only real solution for shock protection. If people here convince you to use a ground probe, it's imperative you use a GFCI since you purposefully installed a direct path to ground within reach.

And to Randy's point, Battery backups are my nightmare when trouble shooting live broadcasts or any entertainment venue or show where multiple components are used... which is all of them!

ReefBrownie · Jan 18, 2025

Steve Zee said:
Do yourself a favor and forget about the ground probe. "Stray voltage" is not a real thing. A GFCI will protect you and is the only real solution for shock protection. If people here convince you to use a ground probe, it's imperative you use a GFCI since you purposefully installed a direct path to ground within reach.

And to Randy's point, Battery backups are my nightmare when trouble shooting live broadcasts or any entertainment venue or show where multiple components are used... which is all of them!

Yes I have commercial grade gfci plugs for my tank. When I remodeled my house to put the tank through the wall, I made sure that the tank has two dedicated breakers with GFCI plugs. Just didn't know if ai also should have the ground probe.