Shocking sump pump

[303travism]

I was putting together a sump today and when I plugged it in I got a little shock so I stuck my hand in the water of the sump and was getting shocked also so I reached up and put my hand in the tank and got shocked again unplugged it and went and bought a new pump way over priced $69 but my question is are my coral going to be ok?

 

[Zoalander]

They should be. Saltwater is very conductive so make you grab a grounding probe, best 4.99 I've spent other then a carls JR burger.

 

[303travism]

Once a pump does that is it gone? Or can it be fixed cause it was working fine except making my short hairs stand tall!

 

[Dane]

I read somewhere that
Coral frags are being suspended on a line with a small electrical current running threw it to make them grow faster to replenish reefs
so I would think your alright

 

[dv3]

i think you need a multi meter so you can stop testing electricity with your hand ...lol

 

[othercents]

Electrical current usually means the seal has broken. Check the power cable and make sure there isn't a break in the cable. If there isn't you can usually reseal the pump, however saltwater is corrosive, so I doubt the pump will be of much use for long if the electronics got wet.

 

[tlo25]

What a coincidence, I was going through this just last night. I was testing my water before bed and got a little shock on a cut on my finger, I think. I tried unplugging/plugging stuff in and it seems that A LOT of my equipment still caused the shock which is weird since half of my equipment is brand new. I don't know if it was electricity or just the salt on my wound but I did read a bunch of stuff after wards.

There are many people on each side of the stray voltage debate and some say stray voltage is fine as long as there is no ground. Some say having a grounding probe without a GFCI is very bad. There are stories of people having stray voltage for years with no ill effects, of multiple tanks being tested and every tank having stray voltage. Basically the only thing most people agree on is that if you know what equipment is causing it you should replace it and you already did that. So IMO your corals are going to be just fine.

 

[dv3]

from what i understand stray voltage is not a short circuit as many people often refer to it ...its actually a current created by the spinning if the propellers ... in that sense stray voltage is ok a short however is not

 

[Zooid]

stray voltage is not good for humans. Whether it's bad for corals is debateable.
The reason you feel a shock from stray voltage in your tank is that your body is providing the
ground path for the voltage that exists in the tank. If you don't have cuts or abrasions on your
skin, there is a good chance that you won't feel the shock because you provide a big resistance.
If you have cuts or abrasions, the resistance your body provides is reduced.

 

[tlo25]

from what i understand stray voltage is not a short circuit as many people often refer to it ...its actually a current created by the spinning if the propellers ... in that sense stray voltage is ok a short however is not

Huh, maybe that's what mine was. I know it was pretty dumb but when I was testing to see if I was really getting shocked, if I would hold my cut under the water long enough the tingling would go away. Then if I came back a few minutes later it would tingle again for about 10 seconds then go away. So maybe this propeller thing is slowly building up a charge?

 

[dv3]

if you can feel i would i blame it on a short

 

[303travism]

Ok I pulled out an old pump to try it out and at first I was getting low grade shocks(even got my son to put his hand in the water lol) but now there is no more shocking at all?

 

[blue71]

Is it a Rio? A lot of people complain about them.

 

[303travism]

Yep both rio's shocked me

 

[dv3]

Ok I pulled out an old pump to try it out and at first I was getting low grade shocks(even got my son to put his hand in the water lol) but now there is no more shocking at all?

best test.. get a multi meter (under $10 @ harbor freight) and test the water with each piece of equipment

 

[303travism]

I just left it in and said f it I'll fix it tomorrow tired of swimming today time to drown in a silver bullet!

 

[303travism]

Ok now it is shocking again should I remove the pump or let it keep going it's not malfunctioning the pump at all and it only shocks for a couple of minutes then stops; best two out of three wins let me know what you think.

 

[dv3]

i would not remove it untill you test it unless you are seeing problems in the tank if you have no aeration in the tank you will defiantly see problems

 

[303travism]

It's just the return pump I added on a refugium today I am still running a fluval 404 until I see how the refugium worked out right now all it's been is a shocking experience!!!

 

[dv3]

still can't give you a solid answer except i'd say if it were me id leave it in ...doesnt mean i wouldnt wake up to a tank full of dead **** in the morn ...you know the risks your call