Vincerama2
Guest
So randomly (it seems) the GFI trips on my tank like once every 6 months after some agressive splashing from the fish. And a few times I've shocked myself.
This is because there is 110 VAC potential between the water and my lights ... yeah.
I thought it was my old halide fixture so I replaced them, but my new LED's are still showing this. Now I have an idea why.
I've actually shut off all the electrical system except the lights and the potential was still there. NONE of my house outlets have any ground at all (tube and knob wiring, everything is GFCI protected instead).
BUT the lights have a ground plug and the powerstrip (I've replaced it, it's not the power strip) also has a "ground".
I bought the tank/stand many years ago and the stand has an electrical "panel" Which is many outlets with three plugs... basically DIY power strips with switches to turn the outlets on and off individually. Quite convenient ... however ... I think the guy who built it didn't do a good job and the neutral or hot line of one of the outlets is shorting to the "ground" wire... so the only "grounded" piece of equipment (the lights) is actually somehow charged.
Now ... I'm not sure and maybe you guys can help me here but here's some facts;
1) I can touch the water without any trouble or shock at all, I'm standing in bare feet on my hardwood floor
2) I can touch the lights without any trouble or shock at all, I'm standing in bare feet on my hardwood floor
3) If I and cleaning the tank with my hand in the water and my elbow brushes the lights (the housing of the lights) then I get shocked and the GFCI shuts down everything.
4) Since the housing of the lights is "grounded" (tied to the ground pin of the electrical plug), it is most likely a miswiring of that "ground" somewhere. If it were miswired to the "hot" side, I think the lights would not work or they would have blown a fuse. The lights are LED with a controller, so it's not just a bulb.
The outlets on the wall were installed by some handyman, but he used Romex wiring with a ground wire, I'm not sure if he connected the ground wire to the ground at the panel, but even if he did, I don't thing that the main panel, due to age had any proper grounding. I think it's half-a**ed and there is a copper wire running to a water line. Not proper NEC.
Typically the neutral line is connected to the ground line AT the panel ONLY.
One theory I have is that the guy at some point made a mistake and cross wired the hot/neutral lines, but I think this would have blown a fuse but I'm not sure.
My current solution ... Get some power strips to replace the in-stand electrical "system" as it turns out I never use the switches anyway, and now I'm scared of it.
Also ... test the lights by plugging the light-power-strip to an actual wall outlet elsewhere and again test the potential between water and lights.
I'm wondering though, how I can get a full house AC voltage between water and light though as ... I can imagine that the water itself is only connected to anything electical via that panel and the heaters/pumps (the pumps are actually not submerged as they are MP-40s).
If the outlets were actually grounded I could at least test the water and the lights against ground to see which of the two is "hot" and which is actual ground.
V
This is because there is 110 VAC potential between the water and my lights ... yeah.
I thought it was my old halide fixture so I replaced them, but my new LED's are still showing this. Now I have an idea why.
I've actually shut off all the electrical system except the lights and the potential was still there. NONE of my house outlets have any ground at all (tube and knob wiring, everything is GFCI protected instead).
BUT the lights have a ground plug and the powerstrip (I've replaced it, it's not the power strip) also has a "ground".
I bought the tank/stand many years ago and the stand has an electrical "panel" Which is many outlets with three plugs... basically DIY power strips with switches to turn the outlets on and off individually. Quite convenient ... however ... I think the guy who built it didn't do a good job and the neutral or hot line of one of the outlets is shorting to the "ground" wire... so the only "grounded" piece of equipment (the lights) is actually somehow charged.
Now ... I'm not sure and maybe you guys can help me here but here's some facts;
1) I can touch the water without any trouble or shock at all, I'm standing in bare feet on my hardwood floor
2) I can touch the lights without any trouble or shock at all, I'm standing in bare feet on my hardwood floor
3) If I and cleaning the tank with my hand in the water and my elbow brushes the lights (the housing of the lights) then I get shocked and the GFCI shuts down everything.
4) Since the housing of the lights is "grounded" (tied to the ground pin of the electrical plug), it is most likely a miswiring of that "ground" somewhere. If it were miswired to the "hot" side, I think the lights would not work or they would have blown a fuse. The lights are LED with a controller, so it's not just a bulb.
The outlets on the wall were installed by some handyman, but he used Romex wiring with a ground wire, I'm not sure if he connected the ground wire to the ground at the panel, but even if he did, I don't thing that the main panel, due to age had any proper grounding. I think it's half-a**ed and there is a copper wire running to a water line. Not proper NEC.
Typically the neutral line is connected to the ground line AT the panel ONLY.
One theory I have is that the guy at some point made a mistake and cross wired the hot/neutral lines, but I think this would have blown a fuse but I'm not sure.
My current solution ... Get some power strips to replace the in-stand electrical "system" as it turns out I never use the switches anyway, and now I'm scared of it.
Also ... test the lights by plugging the light-power-strip to an actual wall outlet elsewhere and again test the potential between water and lights.
I'm wondering though, how I can get a full house AC voltage between water and light though as ... I can imagine that the water itself is only connected to anything electical via that panel and the heaters/pumps (the pumps are actually not submerged as they are MP-40s).
If the outlets were actually grounded I could at least test the water and the lights against ground to see which of the two is "hot" and which is actual ground.
V