Stray Voltage

[scherzo]

Lots of good thoughts here.

I did find the faulty piece of equipment t (my Maxijet 1200) so good news there.

I do have a GFCI and all of my power is mounted high so water can't travel up the cord. It is an in wall tank with a utility room behind it so I have a tonne of space to mount the power up high.

What I had wished was that as soon as I dropped the Maxijet into the water (just after cleaning) and as soon as I plugged it in, something should have tripped. It did not. I just felt the voltage once I put my hand in the tank. Then tested and saw 32 volts.

The solution of finding the problem and fixing it might be too late... If you get electrocuted first.

I have a Neptune apex. They should make a module to detect stray voltage. That way, you'll know before you stick your hand in the tank.

[gregzz4]

If you have time to read The Bean's info on it, it may help you understand why your GFCI didn't trip
Don't let your eyes glaze over; just scroll down about half-way to get the goods

Voltage 'leaking' can cause tricky issues
I'm no electrician, but you can get power going from 'here to there' and the GFCI won't trip

Forgive my lack of description and read the link

[mike31154]

I guess what it comes down to is that there is no 'absolute' solution here. There are so many different fault scenarios when it comes to electrical gear that it's difficult if not impossible to cover them all. Some are more likely to happen than others, but the possibility is there. Both GFCIs & Grounding Probes themselves can fail and as shown, a GFCI does not trip for some fault scenarios & it may also nuisance trip due to the tiny amount of current leakage that can set it off.

Each of us needs to do their own 'risk analysis' based on the amount & type of electrical gear we have hooked up to our systems. How in depth this risk analysis is, will depend on your own knowledge & information you can gather on your equipment. In my career in as an Air Force Instrument Electrical Tech, before any modification could be installed on an aircraft system, one of the things that had to be done was a 'risk analysis'. Believe me, when an urgent mod is required, everyone's in a hurry, but there are no shortcuts here. Of course our systems are somewhat less complex & we're not all electricians, so the best we can do is use the safety devices available (GFCI, Ground Probes if you wish, power bars with circuit breakers, fuses, drip loops, etc. etc.) and perform regular checks on our equipment. Keep a special eye on anything that's actually submerged with a cord & motor or heating element. Epoxy is a wonderful thing & does a great job of water proofing motors inside casings, but the power cord has to go through that epoxy blob somewhere and with age, this interface will deteriorate in salt water & eventually cause problems.

Perhaps the 'absolute' solution is to run our systems with no electrics. Sun for lighting & hamsters in a squirrel cage running a mechanical pump to move water.