Is your power protected?!

Last night I had a hose break on my overflow, dumping about 4 gallons of water on the wall, carpet and wall outlet. Thank the Lord the first thing I did befor I even put the stand in place was to put a GFCI outlet on the wall. Everything shut down immediately until I could get it all cleaned up. This is a must have in my opinion. I put this here because for some people it will be a DIY, but if you don't have the skills, by all means have a pro do it.

 

Just for my info (and maybe others) what is a GFCI outlet?

Marc

 

Ground Fault Current Interuption. They sense a ground fault and trip once sensed. User typically has to retrip them once tripped.

 

Alternately, you could replace the breaker at the box with a GFI breaker. need to put that on my list of stuff to do...... Thanks for the reminder! Glad you are OK!

It protects you from being shocked to death!

 

Ah ok.... thanks... i know what they are but since i speek french i wasnt sure about the terminology.

Marc.

 

Your words sounded english enough to me
The gfci usually trips at about 5 1/2 milliamperes to ground. Right around the threshold of perception. Definitely keeps you from being electrocuted.

Jim

 

Well i did learn english at a very young age and with no accent at all you wouldnt even know i was french by just hearing me speek but im not familliar with all the terms for everything... i know what those oulet's are and i know the term in french, just not in english.

So what are we saying here, just a power bar for the tank isnt enough?

Marc.

 

I have a question. I bought a couple of these gfci awhile back and my husband said that they weren't needed because it would shut off at the box in the garage and that all the gfic did was to keep you from having to go out into the garage to reset the switch. Somehow I don't think this is correct. Wouldn't it shut off faster at the source with a gfic?

A couple of months ago while I was out of town my husband said there was a loud noise and a flame behind the fish tank. He took care of the situation and placed a gfic back there in a different wall outlet. I assume I can't use the other wall outlet anymore. I guess it had gotten a little salt water splashed on it. I guess he had a change of mind about the gfic.

Cindy

 

It is true that if a short circiut develops the breaker in the garage would trip. But, a GFCI breaker or receptacle will trip sooner and should also stop you from being electrocuted. All it takes is .1 amps of current through the heart for 1 second to stop it from beating. Would you rather a wait for 20 amp circuit breaker or a .005 ampere gfci receptacle? lol

Jim

For the technically inclined, the gfci also senses current flow from the neutral to the ground wire as well as the hot wire to ground.

 

I have them on all of my tanks now and I think my husband is now a believer after what he witnessed. What can I say....he never listens to me. It must be a man thing!;D

Cindy