Very true. A ground probe can actually cause fires if the breaker doesn't "pop" when they are used without gfci protection. It will complete the path of the hot lead if there is a leak of voltage. Almost like it's a load on the current...
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My bold - I disagree - you are grounded by your feet on the floor - and believe - that´s enough grounding to get a shock even with working shoes on. I have been doing the 50 Hz solo dance so many times that I for sure know that.NO GFCI and NO PROBE - The tank IS NOT grounded. You likely DO NOT get shocked.
True but it takes the part that exist in that specially moment. If you are grounded both by your hand in the water and your feet on the ground - most current will go through neck to hand for sure but if you not have your hand in the grounded water or if it's not is grounded - all will got the path from your neck to your feet and if that current is over 30 mA for a prolonged period - you will be hurt or even killedFist of all - electricity DOES NOT take the path of LEAST RESISTANCE. It takes ALL PATHS in proportion to their resistance.
GFCI Alone - The GFCI breaker may or may not have tripped, depending on the grounding status of the reflector itself. If it has not tripped when you contact the reflector and water (with shoes on) nothing changes. Bare Feet? The GFCI trips and protects you because the current leaks through you to the floor (not the tank). So still safe for the tank, and now safe for you.
Talk about it - Once my doctor ask me why I had 2 holes in my hand and I answer him that it was a new form of two holes in the wallGFCI - it works the same everywhere. GFCI measures current differential between hot and neutral. If you make contact with the hot and neutral and are not grounded, you will be shocked, as you become the load and the GFCI doesn’t know or care.
I have a terrible habit plugging things in blind, using my fingers to feel the receptacle blades and the slots in the receptacle... sometimes....Talk about it - Once my doctor ask me why I had 2 holes in my hand and I answer him that it was a new form of two holes in the wall
Sincerely Lasse
First you all need to explain what a GFCI really is. It's nothing but a circuit breaker in the breaker box
LOL, I actually am an expert on this as I was a master electrician in Manhattan for 50 years and the company that invented GFCIs sent me to school for them. But for me, I just added 2 electric eels to my tank and that confuses the circuit breaker into thinking it is a GFCI which caused the thing to trip any time I go near the tank or walk by it in my Speedo.All you experts are causing reefers to run out and buy circuit breakers that are built-in to the wall outlet once installed. I have obsoletely no electrical experience but I know the whole confusion is that the word, "circuit breaker" is slang for GFCI and that it can be put directly in the wall outlet but is better in the breaker box if setup properly.
Yes, as long as the surge protector earth connection is not faulty.I have a grounding probe plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into a GFCI outlet. My tank is several feet from the outlet, so I can’t plug the probe directly into the outlet. The instructions say to plug it directly into an outlet… why? Will it still help at all plugged into the surge protector?
GFCI works even in not grounded outletsOf course if the outlet earth is faulty it wont work even if plugged in directly
When you view a normal 120-volt outlet in the United States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot is slightly larger than the right. The left slot is called "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and the hole below them is called "ground." If an appliance is working properly, all electricity that the appliance uses will flow from hot to neutral. A GFCI monitors the amount of current flowing from hot to neutral. If there is any imbalance, it trips the circuit.
I'm sorry, but those are not the same thing and work entirely different. If anything your post is dangerous.
Sorry, problem between chair and keyboard.
I can end all this constant bickering of the so called experts here with a simple statement. First you all need to explain what a GFCI really is. It's nothing but a circuit breaker in the breaker box. All you experts are causing reefers to run out and buy circuit breakers that are built-in to the wall outlet once installed. I have obsoletely no electrical experience but I know the whole confusion is that the word, "circuit breaker" is slang for GFCI and that it can be put directly in the wall outlet but is better in the breaker box if setup properly. This post should be enshrined, set aside from the rest of the thread, and be agreed upon by all the electrical guru's.
I have references for electrical (below) but agree as to giving advice which may not end wellA GFCI and a circuit breaker are not the same thing.
A "Circuit Breaker" is traditionally an overcurrent device and is designed to protect the WIRING and NOT YOU!!!
A GFCI can break a circuit, but it has nothing to do with overcurrent or protecting the wire. It is designed to protect YOU.
A GFCI is a simple device. It measures the amount of current that passes through two wires (in this case the HOT and the NEUTRAL) and they if they are unequal DOWNSTREAM of the GFCI by more than (usually 20ma) they circuit is disconnected at the point if GFCI installation.
Some CIRCUIT BREAKERS also INCLUDE GFCI (ground fault) and AFCI (arc fault) protection.
I suggest (in the kindest manner) not giving electrical advice if you (by your own words) know nothing about electricity
Happy Reefing
Enshrined it shall be!I have obsoletely no electrical experience …
This post should be enshrined, set aside from the rest of the thread, and be agreed upon by all the electrical guru's.