16 replies to this topic

[malawiman85]

Hi all,

I have a problem.
I stuck my hand in a tank today and felt a tingle next thing i did was touch a piece of earthed steel and i got a minor shock.
There is only one electrical item in the tank, a power filter. I dont have any spares.
A few perhaps silly questions:
1. Shouldnt this have tripped the circuit?
2. Can i leave it running without deepfrying my fish until tomorrow?
3. What the hell? Cant see any visable damage to chord.

[silverscreen]

it would of tripped the circuit if you have a rcd...?

are you running a heater...could it be that...?

to be on the safe side i would unplug everything and check them out..if it is the filter it will most likely fail soon...just set up a sponge filter to get you thru the night.

[TheTexasCichlidMasacre]

that happened to me once and after taking everything out i realised it musta been my heater...but cant be sure..

[Cawdor]

I stuck my hand in a tank today and felt a tingle next thing i did was touch a piece of earthed steel and i got a minor shock.

 

Buy a new power filter tomorrow. Unplug the old one now and take it out. You should NOT feel a tingle when you put your hand in the water!!!!

If you have an RCD it should have tripped. If you only have standard circuit breakers then no.

 

Your life is worth the cost of a new power filter. Don't risk it.

[Westie]

wow that must have been a shock to you...

[malawiman85]

are you running a heater?

No just the filter.

wow that must have been a shock to you...

For once Im totally speechless.
Cheers guys. Much appeciated

[Morley Aquariums]

As many aquarium items do not have an earth pin there is no detection from the rcd so it will not trip. When you touched the metal you completed the earth, hence the shock. Replace the filter.

[Bowdy]

If you were closer I'd give you one mate.

[Morley Aquariums]

Nb; the rcd should really trip when you touched metal, it may just not have been sufficient load to trigger, but i would also suggest getting the rcd checked in case.
2 pin items are used to prevent the tank from becoming 'live' where no rcd is used, imagine if you saw a tank load of dead fish & just put your hand in to scoop one out without turning off power, if earthed you would be kicked across the room or worse.

[bigjohnnofish]

let the pump run till you get a new one but dont put your hand in the tank until you turn the power off first...

 

and make it a priority to get a new one  then later maybe pull pump down and see if you can find the problem.. (while its unplugged lol)

 

shocking sensation... like sticking your tongue on a 9v battery... but i still keep doing that!!! lol

[malawiman85]

Nb; the rcd should really trip when you touched metal, it may just not have been sufficient load to trigger, but i would also suggest getting the rcd checked in case.
2 pin items are used to prevent the tank from becoming 'live' where no rcd is used, imagine if you saw a tank load of dead fish & just put your hand in to scoop one out without turning off power, if earthed you would be kicked across the room or worse.

Thats interesting cheers.

let the pump run till you get a new one but dont put your hand in the tank until you turn the power off first...

I thought about it but pulled the plug in the end in case one of my kids gets a boot.

If you were closer I'd give you one mate.

Cheers Bowdy... you're ok, despite what they say about you... :-)

[TheTexasCichlidMasacre]

what size tank is it? and what kind of filter?

[malawiman85]

Tanks About 7 foot. Filter is otto 2000.

[malawiman85]

What do you reckon about this being the issue?
I did a google search for "pool bondage" and stumbled across this.

http://www.riverpool...Could-Shock-You

[Buccal]

I wasn't going to say it earlier in in this topic,,, but I this is normal.
Reason is that I've used much more than hundreds of these in the past.
Close to 50% of the time I've experience with a lot of internal filters of many brands.
I've stood in shops seeing customers ask for a refund or change of their internal filters.
It sounds wrong, I know, to say its normal, but it is.

If your getting a shock, it's likely you have a little nick or cut,,,, even if you chew your nails like some do,,,, the skin around the nail tends to be damaged and thin.
I'm a carpenter, and always getting little cuts, scratches and abrasions.

If you have dry feet wearing shoes, it is minimized,,,,,,,, if your feet are wet and wearing thongs or bare feet standing in water puddles,,,,,,,,,, zzzzaaaap, look out.

Don't worry so much,,, it's just a few phantom volts using you as a earth through your body to the ground.
The fish are not in danger or experiencing the same as they are not bridging anything.

[malawiman85]

Thanks Buccal this is what i was starting to consider most likely.

[Morley Aquariums]

Buccal is prob right, we get this in the big tank at work & mostly just static elec. the only concern is that the ottos ( which are a great unit imo) can get a very stiff cable near the head, if this gets bent the cover perishes & can expose the wires. I see a couple of them a year. Inspect the section where the cable enters the head for damage. Some of my customers use a bit of heat shrink on this part to keep it from folding at the join. This will make them last longer.