Stray Voltage, ~54
- Thread starter Akadios
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WVNed
The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
That meter has 3 ranges for amp reading. The highest is 10 amps and uses the left plug. It should read 0. The 2 lower ranges use the right plug. You are hopefully going to see something less than 4 mA.
WVNed
The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
Those are normal readings. A GFI would not trip and there is no danger. I would periodically test again or if you ever get a tingle again.
You have moved all the cords doing the testing. There is a small chance one is damaged but is no longer contacting the water or conducting surface. If you inspected them while unplugged I wouldn't even worry about that.
What does a ground probe do?
There are 2 prong and 3 prong plugs on electric cords. The 3rd prong is an additional ground connected to the case or body of an appliance. if something goes wrong inside and the case becomes energized this path to ground lets a GFI trip immediately since it can sense the abnormal current flow in the third prong. The GFI activates when this current is 4-6 mA.
Adding a ground probe to the tank acts to add this third path to all the 2 prong cord devices in the tank.
You have moved all the cords doing the testing. There is a small chance one is damaged but is no longer contacting the water or conducting surface. If you inspected them while unplugged I wouldn't even worry about that.
What does a ground probe do?
There are 2 prong and 3 prong plugs on electric cords. The 3rd prong is an additional ground connected to the case or body of an appliance. if something goes wrong inside and the case becomes energized this path to ground lets a GFI trip immediately since it can sense the abnormal current flow in the third prong. The GFI activates when this current is 4-6 mA.
Adding a ground probe to the tank acts to add this third path to all the 2 prong cord devices in the tank.
Okay, I haven't gotten to inspecting the wires in the sump, I'll do that today. Thanks for the input, I will install the grounding wire today.
Question about the GFCI and power strip, if I have the ground in the power strip will it work?
Question about the GFCI and power strip, if I have the ground in the power strip will it work?
WVNed
The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
As long as the power strip is always plugged into the GFI I don't see why not.
and dont get me wrong. The nano tank crashed after it was energized and I lost about 50 % of the stuff in it. One of my dogs had chewed the cord. That was how it got damaged. I do not use a ground probe.
and dont get me wrong. The nano tank crashed after it was energized and I lost about 50 % of the stuff in it. One of my dogs had chewed the cord. That was how it got damaged. I do not use a ground probe.
WVNed
The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
A ground probe makes your tank safer for you. But if something happens it could shut down the power to the tank until you fix it, perhaps hours later.
It's a judgement call.
It's a judgement call.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
This means it is an induced voltage, so nothing to worry about.
The only think you could do to reduce voltage is to make sure you don't have any cords coiled up against or in your sump. But it really isn't necessary.
It is a judgement call. I'm a big believer in running ground probes but I also wouldn't run my tank on a single GFCI. I have my powerheads on one GFCI and my return pump on another. That way I always have some flow if something trips.
The down side, as you mention, is that a faulted component may trip out your GFCI when it might not have without a ground probe.
The upside is that if you have a faulted component with current still going through it, you will speed up the corrosion and release more toxins into the tank. A GFCI and ground probe will trip it offline which will let you know you have a problem faster and reduce the rate toxins (especially copper) are added to the tank.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
This is what I did if you would like a multiple GFCI option.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-gfci-installation.342874/
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Nope. A GFCI actually has little to do with ground. You can even install them in older homes with no ground plug available. As long as the ground probes are connected to any ground, they will work. You can even plug the ground probe into your neighbors house and everything will function as it should.
A GFCI looks at current in the hot and neutral plugs. If they don't match within around 5mA, the GFCI senses the unbalance and trips.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Nice video!
Thanks so much for all the help. I installed a new gfci multioutlet, I am going to build the one you made it looks good. I also installed a ground probe and a power loss alarm.
0 volts
everything running good
0 volts
everything running good
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