Checking voltage and reading 0

[cowlesdc]

Hi all,

I had an event that cause 3 shrimp in my main system to flip over and twitch. I got them out and moved them to a second system I have, and 2 of the 3 recovered. So, I have been on a wild goose chase trying to find the cause of the incident.

In doing so, I went to check the voltage to see if there was any crazy stray voltage that could have caused this. When I test my main system I get nothing. When I test my smaller system I get a reading of 30v. How is it possible that my main system is not reading any voltage? I don’t have an intentional ground or anything that I know of that would be. Does anyone have any idea how this is possible and is it an issue that i am not getting any measurement?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all,

I had an event that cause 3 shrimp in my main system to flip over and twitch. I got them out and moved them to a second system I have, and 2 of the 3 recovered. So, I have been on a wild goose chase trying to find the cause of the incident.

In doing so, I went to check the voltage to see if there was any crazy stray voltage that could have caused this. When I test my main system I get nothing. When I test my smaller system I get a reading of 30v. How is it possible that my main system is not reading any voltage? I don’t have an intentional ground or anything that I know of that would be. Does anyone have any idea how this is possible and is it an issue that i am not getting any measurement?

Thanks in advance

I wonder if the shrimp issue has anything to do with stray voltage or a short circuit. Only the latter would cause symptoms in animals. Stray (induced) voltage can be found in many/most aquariums and does not cause in harm to animals as there is no current flow. Short circuits can be dangerous to you and possibly the animals. Is the tank an all equipment on a GFI circuit?

One thing I've seen to be a problem are electrical items that have thermostats on them and only operate intermittently - wavemakers, heaters and chillers for example. These will only show stray voltage when they are energized.

You weren't dosing hydrogen peroxide were you? That will cause shrimp to go into shock and die.

Jay

 

[cowlesdc]

everything is plugged into power strips, which are plugged into GFI outlets. I understand the concern with voltage vs current and know that current is what the danger is. What I’m confused by is that I am getting 0v when I test. For comparison my smaller system test at 30v with everything running and 12v with every off but plugged in. When I do the same test on my big system I get 0v. I just don’t know how that is possible with the amount of equipment I have in the sump.

 

[Dburr1014]

everything is plugged into power strips, which are plugged into GFI outlets. I understand the concern with voltage vs current and know that current is what the danger is. What I’m confused by is that I am getting 0v when I test. For comparison my smaller system test at 30v with everything running and 12v with every off but plugged in. When I do the same test on my big system I get 0v. I just don’t know how that is possible with the amount of equipment I have in the sump.

No water splashing on power strips?
Check all of your equipment, unplugged, from the plug to the part. Smell for any burnt plastic smell. Check for anything burnt.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

everything is plugged into power strips, which are plugged into GFI outlets. I understand the concern with voltage vs current and know that current is what the danger is. What I’m confused by is that I am getting 0v when I test. For comparison my smaller system test at 30v with everything running and 12v with every off but plugged in. When I do the same test on my big system I get 0v. I just don’t know how that is possible with the amount of equipment I have in the sump.

Are you using the same ground for your probe between the two tanks? If the ground you are using for the larger tank is in fact not a ground, you will of course read zero volts.

Jay

 

[cowlesdc]

Using a different ground but I have checked it on the outlet and get 120v like I should. My next step is to unplug each item and check to see if something is acting as an extra ground. I do use an apex system. Could one of the probes(ph, salinity and temp)be grounding the tank?