flowerseller May 3, 2005 May 3, 2005 And so on and so on. It's a good idea to have a grounding probe for the inhabitants benifit. Even if you don't have a grounding probe but do have a GFI, if an electrical item in the tank leaks stray current, the GFI will trip and safely shut off power to the tank.
ErikS May 3, 2005 Author May 3, 2005 the GFI will trip and safely shut off power to the tank. Which brings us to the next topic - try not to put all your circulation devices in the same "GFI basket"
BeltwayBandit May 3, 2005 May 3, 2005 And so on and so on.It's a good idea to have a grounding probe for the inhabitants benifit. Even if you don't have a grounding probe but do have a GFI, if an electrical item in the tank leaks stray current, the GFI will trip and safely shut off power to the tank. 30710[/snapback] Not necessarily. Without an alternate path to ground there is no current flowing in the tank. The tank is only at a higher potential. The GFI will do nothing in that situation. Until an alternate ground is introduced the only path back to ground is through the GFI on the neutral leg of the circuit, and to the GFI everything is hunky dory. It is only through the introduction of a ground that you provide that "leaking" current an alternate path that the GFI can then see the loss of current across the circuit. If the equipement is grounded (i.e. it has a 3 prong plug) it is likely that a short in this equipment will trip the GFI. If equipment on a 2 prong plug is shorting there is not alternate path and the GFI will do nothing, until a ground is introduced to the tank (normally the aquarist).
BeltwayBandit May 3, 2005 May 3, 2005 Which brings us to the next topic - try not to put all your circulation devices in the same "GFI basket" 30712[/snapback] That is an excellent suggestion. It also makes isolating the problem much easier.
GaryL May 3, 2005 May 3, 2005 cool i have both GFI and probes, thanks bandit and the rest of the guys
BeltwayBandit May 14, 2005 May 14, 2005 Ok. Confession time.. After extoling the virtues of grounding probes I must confess I was zapped by my tank tonight. Everything is on a GFCI but I don't have a grounding probe. That will be rectified tomorrow. The culprit was a faulty powerhead. GFCI never tripped, but I sure as s*** was popped. BB
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