Stray Voltage

Seriak · #1 03-10-2014, 02:44 AM

Hey guys,

My frag tank has a stray voltage of around 30. No one item has more than 6 but between my return, heaters, skimmer, ATO it sums to around 30. Is this a problem. I am not buying all new equipment as most of these items are barely a year old.

BlueTang<3 · #2 03-10-2014, 03:55 AM

Why were you checking? Noticing issues or were you geting zapped?

Seriak · #3 03-10-2014, 04:03 AM

Was seeing some of my LPS corals in the DT not expanding as much so I tested it and it was fine around 5. I thought while I am at it I might as well test the Frag tank and that's when I noticed it. I haven't seen any problems in the tank. No shocks.

BlueTang<3 · #4 03-10-2014, 04:07 AM

Not super familiar with it but from what I was reading they don't seem to be concerned under 40v. How were you testing it? I am kinda curious now I know I had a bunch of stray voltage in one of my tanks before actually getting a shock found a bad ground inside of the outlet it was plugged into.

mike31154 · #5 03-10-2014, 05:40 AM

Voltage measured with a meter from a tank to ground is not necessarily an issue. It's when the voltage has a path to ground. This will result in current flow from the voltage source to ground. If something of lower resistance gets between the voltage & ground, that results in shock. Generally, if the electrics running your tank are plugged into a GFCI outlet, you'll be safe. While 30 volts is getting up there, there are many pitfalls when trying to measure voltage & current in salt water. If you're not getting zapped when touching the water & the livestock isn't acting weird, there shouldn't be cause for concern.

Seriak · #6 03-10-2014, 04:10 PM

Thanks all. I am using a digital multimeter from the ground of an outlet to the tank.