Wiring advice/help needed (voltage in tank)

[Wildechild_01]

I just read the post about the voltages on the power strip. They seem to be way out to lunch there. What were you measuring between to get those? Also could try plugging individual items into gfci see how it reacts with those power bar readings there could be an issue internally there that messes with stuff in the tank but the bar as a whole still shows balanced to the gfci hence the not tripping. I am just heading home will go through all this again and probably post some more ideas


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[Wildechild_01]

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Stray_current hopefully that link works its a fairly good write up actually. My guess is we are dealing with the Magnetic Induction my tank reads at 60 volts but i get no real current flow reading. As a point of interest though i am going to keep an eye on this phenomenon in my tank for a while mostly as an academic exercise for myself.

The strange voltages on your power bar are still baffling, did you have your equipment still plugged into it when you tested it? Was the reading hot to neutral, the 2 slots of the plug, or were the measurements to the ground spot?

[GoFish]

So just finished doing some tests. Followed THIS link checking my GFCI, and got the same results so it must be installed correctly.

Not sure what i was doing wrong last night but i tested the Coralife powerbar again with a lot less clutter around and was able to get proper readings, no issue with the powerbar. SORRY for the confusion, it puts out 120v 'ish. it has these turning child protectors on it and is real pain in the a$$ to get these little voltmeter probes in there/ got 40 a few more times and figured out the angle

First, with nothing plugged in. Positive probe in tank and negative probe of voltmeter in ground on socket still reads 2.7v, I put the ground probe in the water and it drops to 0, i figure with the probe it would release any stray voltage from the water, but nope, no matter how many times the rid-volt goes into the water it jumps back to 2.7, still with nothing plugged in. Tank water will not read 0 without Rid-volt

TEST #1
So + in tank, - in ground on GFCI (This time i plug in each device and then unplug and move to the next one)
2.7v w/nothing
T5 Lights = 4.6
Koralia = 15
Aquaclear = 9.5
Skimmer = 20.6
Heater = 22.0

Test #2
This time, same as above but the Rid-volt is now plugged in and in the tank.
0.0 w/ nothing
T5 Lights = 0.0
Koralia = 0.0
Aquaclear = 0.0
Skimmer = 0.0
Heater = 0.0

Now i try i different circuit from the kitchen via an extension cord

Test #3
So + in tank, - in ground on powerbar plugged into extension cord ( I only used the powerbar on this test cause i needed a ground from that circuit to use. Theres a 50 foot power cord being used now so that may explain the lower numbers from test #1
0.7v w/nothing
T5 Lights = 2.7
Koralia = 10.7
Aquaclear = 7.1
Skimmer = 18.2
Heater = 20.4

Test #4
Same as test #3 bu this time on the other circuit
0.0 w/ nothing
T5 Lights = 0.0
Koralia = 0.0
Aquaclear = 0.0
Skimmer = 0.0
Heater = 0.0

hmmm, all my equipment appears to be faulty now?? Is it at all possible that my un-grounded T5 issue from 2 weeks ago could have caused other equipment to slowly break down the ability to not release stray voltage?

[GoFish]

Going out for drinks with some friends pretty quick, just had a glance at that article and you may have discovered the issue with one of Cardinal fish! HLLE?! I posted a while ago about it but never figured it out

Seen HERE

And just tested for current, 0

Thanks again for help, i'll reply when i have more time later on

Cheers

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Going out for drinks with some friends pretty quick, just had a glance at that article and you may have discovered the issue with one of Cardinal fish! HLLE?! I posted a while ago about it but never figured it out

Seen HERE

And just tested for current, 0

Thanks again for help, i'll reply when i have more time later on

Cheers

Gather this post was meant for a different site ? ...

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Vancity

So just finished doing some tests

I'd say you're good to go now using the grounding probe, but only because your results are below 20VAC

As I posted previously, I have no voltage in my tank, so I'm comfortable using a grounding probe as I know my fish are not being subjected to a constant voltage

I've read (probably just in humor) that if your fish start swimming in one east/west or north/south direction you should check your voltage

So, again, I'd say you're good to go with the grounding probe, but it's too bad you can't get your numbers down to near single decimals

[gregzz4]

Oops, wait a minute ...

Sorry, I'm reading too fast and not absorbing your info
I forgot to add up all your numbers

If it were me, I'd like to see the total voltage below 20ish

Inspect all your hardware cords for damage/salt intrusion etc and go from there

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by Vancity

TEST #1
So + in tank, - in ground on GFCI (This time i plug in each device and then unplug and move to the next one)
2.7v w/nothing
T5 Lights = 4.6
Koralia = 15
Aquaclear = 9.5
Skimmer = 20.6
Heater = 22.0

w/nothing = salt water is an electrolyte it gets used in batteries to generate electricity, depending on what else is physically in your tank this could be what is happening and would explain why as soon as you remove the rid-volt you read the small voltage being generated by the system itself

T5 Lights = Magnetic Ballasts and fluorescent lamps - generate magnetic fields, this will create an electrical charge when the magnetic fields interact with the salt water. Voltage is created but it is not "leaking" from the fixture into the water. Smallest offender (now that you have properly grounded the ballasts and fixture) because magnetic field needs to cross air gap before getting to water so weaker fields interacting with water. When the fixture was not properly grounded all metal parts of the fixture would have had some induced voltage in them as well now those induced voltages can go to ground safely rather than messing with the tank even more.

Koralia = Motor = spinning magnets. Spinning Magnets + salt water = more generated electrical charge again without actually leaking voltage from the equipment.

The above applies to everything with a motor so skipping to....

Heaters - This is probably the most likely to actually be leaking voltage, if it was actually leaking voltage though i would expect the GFCI to trip when you use the rid-volt. Heaters however operate by running electricity through a coil of wire designed to conduct a little poorly and heat up. Now you have a coil of wire with alternating current running through it, without getting too technical this also results in magnetic fields being generated they expand and contract moving across the conductor that is the salt water, again voltage will be generated.

Checking my tank I sit around 60v, a little higher than yours but if i remember correctly you said your set up is 90G, the water can only hold a certain amount of charge (like a battery) my 125G would then be able to hold a little more. adding a ground probe to my tank also drops the voltage to zero with no measurable current ... okay full disclosure i managed to get a 5 microAmp reading with my "i don't want to talk about what i paid for it" volt meter. with no measurable current flowing probably safe for fish to leave probe in.

Originally Posted by Vancity

hmmm, all my equipment appears to be faulty now?? Is it at all possible that my un-grounded T5 issue from 2 weeks ago could have caused other equipment to slowly break down the ability to not release stray voltage?
[/color]

Nope.....

My Guess is that there is nothing wrong with any of your equipment. The voltages you are reading are a result of Magnetic Induction. If you are getting a zero on current measurements then i say toss the probe in and be done with it. If anything does break in anyway and starts to leak any power the probe will then let the GFCI trip.

Aaandd... Bed Time gotta go play electrician super early tomorrow.... at least its almost the weekend

[gregzz4]

I'm just going to throw this out there, and it's my opinion only, but I'll stand by it ....

My tank has no voltage in it at all (OK 0.07)
O volts with no probes tells me my equipment is good

Being told someone has 60volts and is OK with it is wrong

No offence to whoever has this situation, but that's just messed up and will never be me

[Wheelman76]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I'm just going to throw this out there, and it's my opinion only, but I'll stand by it ....



My tank has no voltage in it at all (OK 0.07)

O volts with no probes tells me my equipment is good



Being told someone has 60volts and is OK with it is wrong



No offence to whoever has this situation, but that's just messed up and will never be me

This doesn't make sense to me , I think every tank has some voltage in it , even with brand new equipment. What setting are you using on the multi meter ?

For example if you had the multi meter set to 2V and had 28 volts in your tank it would read 0.07volts. If you had it set at 200V then obviously it would read the 28 volts.