Electrical Nightmare - $20 reward for solution

[Odyssey350kc]

I will paypal anyone $20 if they can find a real solution to my problem. I will be installing a titanium grounding probe tomorrow, but this is not a real solution just a band aid. Watch the video for details. After the video I spent close to an hour trying different things. the only time I was able to get any reading in the water below 1 volt was by switching off the breaker.

 

[Odyssey350kc]

 

[Thrassian Atoll]

According to this thread anything under 40-50 volts isn't a big deal. 

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2182599

[FISHnChix]

Why would you check this? Did you have a problem?? Also fluke makes a good meter but it's still a digital meter. Digital meters are very finicky.  Where are you grounding your meter??? My best bet is your meter is just reading B.S. .. if your really worried about it try using an annolog meter. Do you have access to a simson meter?? Also how old is your meter and do you get it calibrated?? Most people never need to calibrate a meter however I have been an instrument tech for 15 years we do tons of sensitive calibrations which require our meters to be caled annually..

[Odyssey350kc]

11 minutes ago, Weikel said:

Why would you check this? Did you have a problem?? Also fluke makes a good meter but it's still a digital meter. Digital meters are very finicky.  Where are you grounding your meter??? My best bet is your meter is just reading B.S. .. if your really worried about it try using an annolog meter. Do you have access to a simson meter?? Also how old is your meter and do you get it calibrated?? Most people never need to calibrate a meter however I have been an instrument tech for 15 years we do tons of sensitive calibrations which require our meters to be caled annually..

I checked for stray voltage because all of my coral is slowly dying. Everything else in my tank is near perfect water quality wise, I have had professionals left and right baffled at what is wrong with my tank and someone had said sounds like stray voltage in my tank. I grounded my meter to several ground holes on different power strips as well as directly in the ground on the wall outlet. I will try tomorrow with an analog meter.

[schgr.cube]

Yeah this is weird as hell, and I would venture to guess that the meter may not be reading things accurately, but you are still having issues with your coral so I don’t think it’s worth ignoring. Just out of curiosity, have you tried testing other areas around that room, or adjoining rooms? How long did you wait after unplugging everything to test? I’m wondering if there is something outside of your tank that could be causing the issue, but I don’t know much on the electrical side to give any specifics. It seems like moving the RO water under the tank is also moving it toward the wall, so that would be another thing I would question. 

[FISHnChix]

So is your outlet your equipment plugged into a gfci plug or powerstrip? A gfci will trip if the amount of current running through your hot leg differs from the amount of return current on your neutral.  Like with in thousandth of an amp MA.... it could be leaching through your water back to your neutral but that would be highly unlikely. Anyways my bet is your not leaching voltage through your water and something else is going on causing coral death.. let us know about your annolog readings if you can...

 

Oh and your tank should be plugged into a gfci for your protection..

[Dougefresh35]

What is your tank sitting on maybe the table you have it on is shorting out have you tried a leveling mat or rubber mat. Maybe even moving your tank to a different table if thats possible. Could be worth a try.

Edited October 12, 2017 by Dougefresh35
Left something out

[Odyssey350kc]

On 10/11/2017 at 9:43 PM, Dougefresh35 said:

What is your tank sitting on maybe the table you have it on is shorting out have you tried a leveling mat or rubber mat. Maybe even moving your tank to a different table if thats possible. Could be worth a try.

The table it is sitting on is wood, and moving it would be very difficult as the entire overflow system is plumbed through the table. I might be able to pick up the tank and put it on a rubber mat but only as a last resort as i would have to empty the entire tank.

[xthunt]

I checked mine a few months ago and read around the same with everything running. Unplugged everything and tested things one at a time. Everything gave a voltage reading. I was either to believe that all my pumps and heater were bad, or it was nothing to worry about. I chose to not worry about it. I am plugged into a gfci circuit, no issues. Magnetic fields/inductive loads. All my coral was dying/shrinking too when I checked, until I turned my lights down and started feeding them. 

[FISHnChix]

1 hour ago, Odyssey350kc said:

The table it is sitting on is wood, and moving it would be very difficult as the entire overflow system is plumbed through the table. I might be able to pick up the tank and put it on a rubber mat but only as a last resort as i would have to empty the entire tank.

Wood is not conductive... imo rubber mat is a waste of time ..  And if the wood was super wet and became conductive I'm sure your tank is made of plastic or glass that sits on plastic all of which isn't conductive..

 

Honestly you have nothing plugged in and you still have voltage in the water. not possible there would have to be electricity in the air then transfer that energy through your tank which isn't a conductor and then the electricity would have to flow through non conducive  tank to a ground source which you don't have because nothing is plugged in.. see what I mean It's not possible..

 

If you really still belive there is voltage in your tank try that annolog meter. I sure you think it's weird voltage goes to zero when you kill the breaker but the power in the outlet is probally what is causing an interference with you fluke and give you a false reading..

 

Hope you find out what's hurting your corals though.... good luck.

[Patrick17]

Trying to think back to school, but don't two dissimilar metals in an electrolytic solution cause galvanic corrosion,  with a voltage created between what in effect is a cathode and anode in your tank? Similar to chewing tin foil if you have a metal filling. 

 

Can you check for corrosion on any metal that has contact with the water? 

[luckie1966]

House or apartment? . First I would check and make sure you have a proper ground at the outlet. If your in a House proper grounding at panel including a ground rod and WATER ground to cold water pipe.  lol Still following........can you tell what I do for a living lol....If all that checks out and you still have problems{ electrical wiring before Mmm 2006 in us share neutrals and can cause stray currents if panels aren t quite rite} I would stop trouble shooting and run a dedicated Outlet for the tank. Dedicated outlet will take care of any stray voltages and of you still have problems it's definitely in your equipment.  If your in a apartment there is not much you can do except maybe try different outlet circuit in apartment.

[Odyssey350kc]

Wow sorry i missed all the replies, the tank has only gotten worse. 

 

On 10/14/2017 at 5:26 AM, luckie1966 said:

House or apartment? . First I would check and make sure you have a proper ground at the outlet. If your in a House proper grounding at panel including a ground rod and WATER ground to cold water pipe.  lol Still following........can you tell what I do for a living lol....If all that checks out and you still have problems{ electrical wiring before Mmm 2006 in us share neutrals and can cause stray currents if panels aren t quite rite} I would stop trouble shooting and run a dedicated Outlet for the tank. Dedicated outlet will take care of any stray voltages and of you still have problems it's definitely in your equipment.  If your in a apartment there is not much you can do except maybe try different outlet circuit in apartment.

1 - i tried with another meter and got the same results, I also used the same 2 meters to test my buddy's tank and his read less than 1 volt.

 

2 - It is a brand new house less than 3 years old, everything is properly grounded including the water pipe. 

 

3- The tank is located next to my tv and runs on the same circuit. I will try running an extension cord to an outlet with nothing else on that circuit and see what that does.

 

On 10/13/2017 at 4:47 PM, Weikel said:

Wood is not conductive... imo rubber mat is a waste of time ..  And if the wood was super wet and became conductive I'm sure your tank is made of plastic or glass that sits on plastic all of which isn't conductive..

 

Honestly you have nothing plugged in and you still have voltage in the water. not possible there would have to be electricity in the air then transfer that energy through your tank which isn't a conductor and then the electricity would have to flow through non conducive  tank to a ground source which you don't have because nothing is plugged in.. see what I mean It's not possible..

 

If you really still belive there is voltage in your tank try that annolog meter. I sure you think it's weird voltage goes to zero when you kill the breaker but the power in the outlet is probally what is causing an interference with you fluke and give you a false reading..

 

Hope you find out what's hurting your corals though.... good luck.

Oh I am well aware that this in not possible - hence why the confusion. I Tried 2 different meters and got the same results. Seems weird 2 top quality meters would be giving false readings. I wish I knew the answers.

 

Also on another note I Had a Triton laboratory grade water test done and the only problem they were able to find was elevated levels of lithium. not sure what would cause that.

 

 

[Odyssey350kc]

Forgot to mention I put in a titanium grounding probe in the sump about 10 days ago. It makes the meter read 0 but I took it out today because it just seemed to make the coral look worse, which i was told could happen since it is allowing electricity to flow through the tank as opposed to just being in the tank. like a bird sitting on a wire.