Electrical "Leakage" in a tank??

[mark]

It doesn't take much current to kill (fractions of an amp) and getting a tingle isn't normal.

Should get a GFI and a ground probe as you found all can basically look normal but still have the potential to cause harm. That way in the future when something does start to fail the indicator will be the GFI tripping rather than you flopping on the floor.

To find the device causing the problem, suggest with a GFI and ground probe, unplug everything, then start plugging back in one at a time. What trips will be the device that's leaking the current.

As for the argument that what if I'm away and the GFI trips and the tank crashes. Well, in my case believe (at least pretty sure) the wife would rather the tank crash than me dead.

I've got multi GFI circuits with the idea if I get something like a little salt creep on the lights, it won't take out all the pumps, if the sump return fails, the CL is on another etc.

[deep6er]

I had this problem a long time ago too. . Trying to find what was causing the short was very painfull. And it just so happened that it was the last one i checked. It was my CL skimmer. My suggestion to you is to find what is causing it.

[Static]

You can use a voltmeter to test your equipment. One probe in the tank, and the other in the ground of your wall socket. Simply unplug each piece of equipment until you see 0 volts.

[andsoitgoes]

Having ANYTHING plugged in will cause the voltage to go up, even an incremental amount. I found a few good articles on that here:

http://www.reefs.org/library/aquariu...996/996_5.html

however - the biggest factor is that the ONLY time I feel it is when I stand on the "wet spot" on the floor. I move off of that, and nothing.

I had the + wire of the voltmeter in the tank, I took the ground and stood on the spot, the needle moved to a VERY small amount, but it moved. I took my foot off that spot, and all was hunky dory.

How does this make sense?

[Static]

It makes sense because the dry spots on your floor are better insulators than the wet spots. Voltage is the difference of electrons between 2 parts of a circuit. In this case you are making yourself and the wet spot on the floor part of the circuit. When you move off the wet spot you are opening the circuit, like flipping a switch. In other words, when you are standing on dry ground you are no longer grounded, and the voltage is not attracted to you. Is it a wood floor under the carpet or concrete?

Did you check the voltage between the tank water and the ground on your electrical outlet? You should just be able to touch the voltmeter probe to the screw that holds the faceplate onto your outlet.

[andsoitgoes]

I did - I used the 3rd ground hole on the plug to test it. I would get readings that would barely show up when having the meter set to 10V, putting it to 50 would show even less, and then nothing at 250.

The floor under the carpet in that area is straight on plywood.

So is that a GOOD thing that I'm completing the circuit? Should I just stop messing around and leave my gimpy hands out of the tank?

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the direction the electrictal wiring runs, or maybe something got a bit damp under my breeding setup that's in front of the "wet spot"?

[Static]

are you testing for alternating current or direct current? ac or dc on your voltmeter. Any stray voltage will likely be alternating current.

I'm guessing that you were testing for dc, because if there was enough voltage there for you to feel a zap it would likely show up more significantly on your voltmeter. Also if it is simply induced voltage, like the article you posted suggested then it will be ac.

if you haven't already, then try testing for ac, both at the ground on the wall, and maybe the wet spot on the floor. If you get a reading, unplug your equipment 1 piece at a time to find the faulty piece.

And maybe where rubber soled shoes while you're testing.