Voltage leak from Nyos skimmer

[Blitzrunner83]

I have a NYOS 160 protein skimmer. Its a few years old but its throwing about 20v of electricity into my tank. Is there anything I can do to stop the pump from leaking volts into my tank or is the skimmer just done for.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I am not sure how you are testing, but 20V is likely induced voltage from the motor and not an electrical fault. Plug the skimmer into a GFCi and ground the water. If the GFCi trips, then the skimmer has an electrical fault, if not then it is just induced voltage.

 

[Blitzrunner83]

I was getting shocked, that's why I did the test using a multimeter on 200 AC volts (V~). Plugging the ground into a GFCI outlet and putting the probe into the water. Overall the meter read 65. I went 1 by 1 and the skimmer was adding 20v itself.

 

[spsick]

I’ve heard of this happening on a few occasions with the Nyos skimmer. Good reason to upgrade to the DC pump or go with a different brand.

 

[BeanAnimal]

The DVM is high impedance and does not constitute a path to ground that will allow enough current to flow for the GFCi to trip. That you get “shocked” and the GFCi does not trip points to induced voltage. But, as I said, grounding the water (ground probe) will help to better determine if it a fault current or induced voltage. All of the equipment should be GFCI protected.

 

[Blitzrunner83]

I have ordered a grounding probe. If it is induced voltage, what does that mean? The skimmer is fine and the voltage is not harmful or..?