# Water electric?



## Sparrow19 (May 31, 2013)

How can you tell if you have electricity running through the tank? This is odd, but when I put the very tip of my pinky finger in the water, I feel a tingle like its shocking me. The finger does have a small cut so I'm not sure what the deal is. No other finger does this. I can put my whole arm and nothing. ****, I even put the tip of my tongue, HA in there and nothing. But I put that pinky in, and I swear it feels electric.

Is there any "proof" way to tell? Also, I've had a few fish all the sudden develop bloat, or at least stopped eating and lost 2 now. Not sure what to do.


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

Sparrow;

What you are feeling when you feel that tingle is a small current...likely caused by a water having a small leakage voltage...and you only feel it on that finger because with a cut, it is likely more sensitive than any other body part you've tried it with (apparently even your tongue!)...bottom line is, somehow the water is connected to the AC line (if only through a high resistance and slightly)...

This is not immediately unsafe, but I recommend you _don't_ do this test anymore with any bodyparts because that high resistance might be unpredictable, and change to a low resistance, in which case you're going to get a full voltage shock...and you wouldn't want that!...to confirm an umwanted connection of power to the water, measure the voltage between third (ground) socket and water with an AC voltmeter...i expect you'll see some low voltage...unplug things one at a time, starting with the heater, while monitoring that voltage when it goes to zero, you've found the culprit who has "leakage" to the water..then you'll know where to concentrate your correction efforts...you might also be able to turn the plug of the offending two-pronged device (like your heater) around to change its polarity, and eliminate the leakage voltage....please report back with your findings...

Global statements by non-experts like "electricity and water don't mix" are useless horse manure...millions of people mix them safely in aquariums (and other uses) every day, so done right, there is _no danger_...so fix this and be safe with electricity and your aquarium!

Cheers from Connecticut!


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## Sparrow19 (May 31, 2013)

Yeah, I know its odd with my tongue, HA.. But I thought it might be like if you put your tongue to a small AA battery. Nothing that hurts, but a slight tingle.

I replaced the heater a couple weeks ago because I thought this might be an issue. Only other thing would be the Hydor Circulation Pump. Maybe I should take it out for a little while and see if I get the same feeling. Thanks for the info.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Ronzo said:


> Sparrow;
> 
> What you are feeling when you feel that tingle is a small current...likely caused by a water having a small leakage voltage...and you only feel it on that finger because with a cut, it is likely more sensitive than any other body part you've tried it with (apparently even your tongue!)...bottom line is, somehow the water is connected to the AC line (if only through a high resistance and slightly)...
> 
> ...


i work for the electric co, and would like to point out that this is a very good answer followed by some good advise. my only question is the statement about reversing polarity. i've never heard of changing polarity at the outlet. your polarity is based on the electrical supply coming into the house. the transformer on pole feeding the house is either additive or subtractive based on the system feeding it. i am not that familiar with residential electric(inside the house) so im not saying your wrong, but have just never heard of it. i was wondering if u could elaborate for my own curiosity. thanx


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## Ronzo (Sep 8, 2013)

Not counting the third socket of outlets which is grounded and never has a voltage, home 110VAC power distribution is "polarized"...that is, the small slot of all outlets is the hot/phase (or is supposed to be!) and the large slot is the Neutral (or is supposed to be!) which actually doesn't have any voltage either...as a matter of fact, it it directly connected to the Ground at the Load Center. So much for the long technical explanation...

...the short of it is that tank water can only become energized if there is a breakdown in the insulation of the hot wire coming into a device...since there is no voltage on the Neutral wire, it is not capable of energizing the tank even if it were stripped and directly placed in the tank! This means that for devices with two prong plugs, reversing the plug will swap the Hot and Neutral wires, so IF this is the mechanism by which tank water is energized, swapping plug may just cure it...no more voltage on the water!

If that "hot aquarium was plugged into a Ground Fault protected outlet or circuit, it would likely trip...

...read about ground faults: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFCI

Cheers from Connecticut!


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

thank u, but i already know and understand everything u said. however neutral and ground are tied together throughout entire house. u would need to do your rewire in the box, not at outlet. this would still not change your polarity regardless. are u an electrician? do u have a knowledge of electrical theory. not trying to be mean, but your theory makes no sense, speaking from an electrical standpoint


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

Polarity is either additive or subtractive based on the windings in the transformer that is out on the street which feed your house. I don't really see what making the neutral a hot leg and your hot leg a neutral would do but it definitely wouldn't change your polarity.


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## Sparrow19 (May 31, 2013)

Ha.. all I wanted to know is if there is a test I can do to the water to see if there is any current (electric)... ha


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

yes, get a voltmeter and test water to ground.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

i know right? everyone on here is a friggan scientist. short answer by a new heater


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## Raiderdane (Sep 23, 2013)

You do know that putting your tongue to a AA battery will not shock you.......it is the 9 volt battery that gets you.


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## Sparrow19 (May 31, 2013)

I had replaced the heater a couple weeks ago. So I pulled my Hydor circulation pump, and its been out a couple days and I'm not getting that tingle feeling at all now. Same finger, same cut, and nothing. I guess it was acting up, humm. So do I replace it now, or just not use one is the question.


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## Thalas_shaya (Mar 10, 2014)

sumthinfishy said:


> thank u, but i already know and understand everything u said. however neutral and ground are tied together throughout entire house. u would need to do your rewire in the box, not at outlet. this would still not change your polarity regardless. are u an electrician? do u have a knowledge of electrical theory. not trying to be mean, but your theory makes no sense, speaking from an electrical standpoint


So, the theory explanation is not so much about polarity in the additive/subtractive sense for the house as it is about reversing the direction of flow through the appliance itself. You're not changing the polarity of the electricity supplied to the house, but when you run the current "backwards" through an appliance you can think of that as reversing its polarity. And, if the appliance has a two-prong plug with the old style (where both blades are the same size) and has managed to get a wire wiggled out of place, depending on the details of the leaking current you can prevent shocks from occurring by flipping over the plug. There's a decent explanation of that here, where it discusses metal-encased appliances you can think of wires that have come in contact with water and the water is taking on the role of the "hot" metal case: http://peavey.com/support/technotes/saf ... hazard.cfm


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

first off, u have to use correct terminology. polarity is cut and dry. its either additive or subtractive based on the windings in the transformer that is supplying the house. to even use the term switching the polarity is incorrect. second, flipping your outlet wouldnt do anthing. the nuetral and grounds are all tied together in the box. if u flip the outlet u will stll have same side hot and same side nuetral as u did before. u will just have an upside down outlet. u people are starting to make me laugh now. i love how u reference these articles, when u clearly dont even understand what u are reading. hahaha


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## Kalost (Feb 27, 2013)

take these forums with a grain of salt


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

best advice i've gotten on here in a long time


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## Thalas_shaya (Mar 10, 2014)

sumthinfishy said:


> first off, u have to use correct terminology. polarity is cut and dry. its either additive or subtractive based on the windings in the transformer that is supplying the house. to even use the term switching the polarity is incorrect. second, flipping your outlet wouldnt do anthing. the nuetral and grounds are all tied together in the box. if u flip the outlet u will stll have same side hot and same side nuetral as u did before. u will just have an upside down outlet. u people are starting to make me laugh now. i love how u reference these articles, when u clearly dont even understand what u are reading. hahaha


Nobody suggested flipping an outlet. At no point did anyone tell Sparrow to take a socket out of the wall and wire it in backwards or upside down. What Ronzo and I have both said, and what it says in the article is that if you have a two-prong electric plug (not a SOCKET) that is connected to a cord that is connected to an appliance and that appliance is causing you to experience a shock, if you unplug the appliance, turn the *plug* over in your hand so that the blades go into the opposite slots from how they originally were oriented, that you will stop experiencing the shock. You are clearly correct that flipping over a socket would result in an upside down socket with no functional change.

Also, regarding correct terminology - EVERY circuit has a polarity, and in small circuits it's easy to reverse it. You can take out the battery and put it in backwards - often resulting in damage to the electrical components! In the power supply grid, it's very difficult to reverse polarity, because it requires the physical reconfiguration of the entire transformer - again you are correct. But that's not what we're discussing. We're talking about reversing the polarity of the little circuit contained in the power head by putting the prong that was previously connected to the hot wire in contact with the neutral wire instead.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

ok. i can agree with that, but imo i still dont believe that flipping plug would solve the problem of phantom voltage.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I bet Thalas is regreting trying to help out the O.P by now.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

actually "ronzo" made the original statement that i disagreed with. "thalas" actually helped clear it up a bit


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Sorry, you'r right. I bet Ronzo is regreting trying to help out the O.P by now.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

when i need to stick my hand in the tank i always turn of the power and unplug from the walls outlet. my power to the tank is all on power board that is surge protection.
but i'd rather be safe than sorry. :thumb: thats my old fashion ways i guess.


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## becikeja (Oct 14, 2007)

I am lost with these answers. Even if you have a remote chance of electricity running through water, you need to disconnect all power immediately and replace the electrical device causing the issue. Discussion over. It's not worth the risk.


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