Stupid Stupid Stupid

[asherah]

I was draining my tank and went to move the light and electrocuted myself.
Sheesh.. scary..hurt a bit.. a little disorienting but I think i'm ok lol.
Duh step in water ....sigh.. I'm a little mad at myself right now. Head hurts a bit = p
Lesson learned that's for sure !

[deep6er]

well its good you are ok. safety first!!!

[asherah]

yeh for sure... Scared myself pretty good. I felt it go all the up my arm and past my shoulder. I didn't know what it was at first it felt like the the light was vibrating really fast. Weird. heh
Reminded me of when I was a kid and got shocked by an electric fence =p

amanda

[Funky_Fish14]

Wow that must have been frightning! Very glad to hear you are ok!

Chris

[Invigor]

took me a long time to not use a sheet of styrofoam to step on while working on my tank after I got zapped..I don't remember what it was..I think a leaky mag drive. anyhoo, live'n learn! glad you're alright

[Beverly]

I've poisoned myself from fragging, but never had the pleasure of electrocution :redface:

Glad you're okay :smile:

[TheReefGeek]

Grounding probe time maybe? And GFI outlets?

It took me electrocuting myself a couple times to get this equipment too.

[OCDP]

I've dropped a 2x65w PC fixture right into the tank. And.. yup, went and grabbed it out. Was pretty painful.. my fingers/hands were like superglued to the fixture once I touched it. It sucked! Lesson learned definately. Don't use fixtures like that :razz: (j/k)

[danny zubot]

I remember that, pretty funny in a scarey way. I too have shocked myself with the balast from my 250 watt MH. Ouch! my arm hurt for a day or two.

[OCDP]

:lol: hahah, Danny had front row seats to my electrocution. It's okay Danny, it is funny.. laugh it up. lol :wink:

[lil_clownfish13]

just so you all know-- none of you have had the pleasure of electrocuting yourselves.... you have been electrically "shocked" -- not electrocuted :p

electrocution means to die from electric shock!

haha i learned this when i shocked myself on my light fixture too!!! damn cat jumped on the tank and pushed the whole hood/fixture into the tank-- i ran in and grabbed it-- and felt a sickening tightening and buzzing feeling in my muscles--

*shudder* -- people PLEASE be careful with this hobby-- its like...a darwin award in itself with the levels of voltages some of us run on our tanks!!

jm2c

[TheReefGeek]

Be carefull yes, but install the right equipment to save your life too. Installing a grounding probe doesnt take long, neither does swapping out your recepticals for GFIs.

[Ruth]

Yup I've done that too. Forgot to put the o-ring back in a Magnum filter that the water comes out of at an alarming rate. Salt water, electricity and bare feet combined can make you levitate and scream like a little girl.

[geopod]

I use a GFI now.....Yeh I learned the hardway too.I think we all do sometime or another...

george

[Invigor]

I'm still not convinced with grounding probes...seems they just hide the problem. I'm willing to bet that if there's enough voltage going thru your tank to KILL YOU by YOU grounding it out, that your fish/corals are going to be exhibiting some strange behaviour...best to test with a voltimeter before going into the water if you're that paranoid.

[TheReefGeek]

IMO a grounding probe is not to ground out stray voltage on a day-to-day basis. You still have to check your tank regularly for stray voltage and replace any malfunctioning devices.

[asherah]

ok what exactly is a grounding probe? I thought all houses had GFCI installed in them ? But mine didn't trip... ? Maybe I don't have one ?

amanda

[Psyire]

" I thought all houses had GFCI installed in them ? "

That is a very bad assumption.

It is a good idea to replace standard outlets with GFCI outlets, when near water. (Like our Aquariums)

[danny zubot]

when my glass top broke my 250 watt MH and my 2x65 watt PC fell into the tank whil I was away. It didn't trip the breaker either. BTW nothing died, tank was really rusty though, skimmer pulled it out.

[TheReefGeek]

A grounding probe is a little piece of metal stuck into your tank and plugged into a grounded outlet. You can make one, or buy one.

The only locations in a house that have GFCI outlets are ones near water, such as in your kitchen and bathrooms. And the kitchens dont all have them either, even though they should, but they are much more expensive to install. You need to replace all the outlets you plug your aquarium stuff into with GFCI outlets.