Where is the Shock coming from!?!

I've been using the same lights and powerheads for over a year and I just got shocked while touching the lights and my hand bumped the cord from a maxijet. I unplugged the maxi and it still shocks me when my hand is on the light and it touches that cord. That means the electricity is coming out of the lights right? I might get new lights anyway these are some old odyssea PCs. Should I stop using them right away? I don't have any lights to replace them right now. it seems like the shock only comes from touching the cord on the maxi and the light at the same time. THanks for any help.

 

Try using a ground probe. they run about $12-15

 

yeah. but does that really solve the problem? I would think I would have noticed if this was doing it before. If it's a new problem I would rather correct it than just adapt to it.

 

Before you go out and buy anything, look to see if the cord is stripped somewhere on both fixtures. I only suggested the ground probe b/c it sounded like your on a budget. The outlet that is being used for those unit, is it grounded?

 

and also look for salt creep around any metal parts on the lights Get a meter and check the water with everything on then unplug one at a time until you figure out what is giving you the stray voltage

 

Get a GFI outlet at lowes

HI,
I would seriously think about putting your saltwater on gfi extension cords , otherwise you may be a little shocked one day when you develope a real short.
Doug

 

Those lights are known for this kind of thing.
I had a PC fixture of theirs and didn't have any problems, but I've read numerous posts about those fixtures and fires, etc.

Like others are wondering, it is grounded right?

 

You might want to switch out the outlet to a gfi outlet. I did this as a safety measure in case of myself contacting any water and electrical at the same time. Thanks to the salt, things corrode and new connections are sometimes formed.

 

Well the plug from the lights is plugged into my timer and that is plugged into an extension cord which is of course plugged into the wall. All have the three pronged ground. So that's grounded right? I guess I could just buy new lights.

 

Try something first. Get a piece of wire( doesnt matter what gauge ) and install one end in the ground port of the wall jack and the other end of the wire to the sump. If you still get shocked, your outlet is not grounded.