To Ground or Not To Ground

Yeah,

That was my thread!

I have my own DIY grounding probe, and glad I do.

I also have evertyhing related to my tank going thru at least two GFCI's also.

IMO, A GFCI would 'break' the current in the case of Mr. Bills scenario.

My fish, CUC, corals, etc. are loving it, and now stray shocks on small skin tears on my fingers when reaching in my DT.

I say Do it, with a GFCI

 

IMO, if it's a large elec. leak, it will trip the GFCI.

Everything including you, has some small elec. potential.

 

But when I hold my 3 month old, I don't shock her

Small mV potential, and feeling shocked are two very different things.

 

i was pondering this same question, this is one of those questions that many debate.
i now have a G probe on my tank. i have heard lights above your tank can create a small amount of voltage in your tank that the volt meter will read. also if the facts mentioned that the pumps are bad that leak a small amount are true, all my pumps leak a small amount of voltage. checked with a meter. all my pumps / heater are bad. i find this hard to believe each and every one of my pumps/ heater is bad. when checked with a volt meter i get a very small amount of volts showing with each item. thats adds up. with a probe in i now show zero volts in my tank. i believe each electrical device can send out a small field of electricity, and by adding a ground probe you allow it to escape

also im in an older 57 home and my third prong of my outlet is useless. i had to run the ground to my baseboard heat that runs around the room and into the ground in areas of my home. so check to see if the outlet you put your ground probe on is actually grounded threw the third wire.

 

Besides a GFCI the ground probe is one of the best things you can do for your safety.

 

Pink4, AzRat,

I totally agree with your posts.
Especially the part about a perfectly normal operating pump, heater, power head, etc. puts out some small amount of Electrical current, especially in a SW tank.

I've tested mine one by one as well. The aggregate of 10+ pieces of electrical equipment submerged in a SW display tank is never going to read 0 on a voltmeter without a grounding probe- easily made DIY btw

 

And people,
The AzRat spoke, and you'd doubt anything on any subject that is in some way involved in water? Then clearly you know his credentials in this regard.

 

And more seemingly stupid water tricks.

Pure H2O will NOT conduct electricity.

 

here is a thread i started on it when i was pondering the whole thing after a flood http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/ground-probes-whats-your-thoughts-132437.html as you can tell i was very confused as to what to do. wait! me confused? never! lol
seriously though thanks to some help from other members here i was able to choose what direction i was going to go and even learn how to use a volt meter.

 

hey heres a thought..if the electrical field only happens in salt and not pure water, i wonder if a pump that is truly leaking electricity would show on a volt meter in pure h2o? maybe thats a way to test pumps.