Electrical safety

[Octoman]

After reading about a recent reef tank fire that did some major house damage and killed the family cat, I decided to get proactive on my tank. I will strip the whole thing down and get rid of it if I can't eliminate the risk of losing my dogs/cat/house.

I started looking around and found that almost every power strip out there says "not for aquarium use". I found one at HD that claims to prevent fires and seems to have some kind of ground fault circuit built into the plug. Anyone have any experience with this one? What kind of power strips have people found that are suitable?

What about a controller? Could this reduce the risk of catastrophic failure? I would assume they are built to be compatible with aquariums, and eliminating extra timers and getting an 8 outlet powerstrip sounds pretty good.

I also switched the tank outlet for a GFCI outlet, something that should have been done long ago (and would have been much easier to do without the unmovable tank in the way!).

What other tips do people have for minimizing fire and electrocution risk from the tank?

[Octoman]

Here's the brand I found at HD...

Fire Shield - Surge Protectors

[CAVINCA]

grounding probe in the tank.
grounding probe

helps if a heater malfunctions or a powerhead...

[Octoman]

Here's a couple more:

Don't plug powerstrips into powerstrips.

Always use drip loops and keep stuff where it won't get wet when the tank overflows. I always assume a snail will go where it shouldn't and it will overflow when I'm not home. I try to look to see what I wouldn't want getting wet. I've seen people with ballasts sitting on the floor where they would be soaked.

[PEMfish]

Don't;
plug in a extension cord, then plug everything into that, Then drop in your sump. Believe me, it might make cool nose, but will kill your timers.

[tbittner]

That fire shield sounds like the real deal. It's also rated at 13A which should be plenty for everything.

I mounted my powerstrip on the wall, above and behind the tank. Sure, it doesn't look that great but it's safe. The cords loop down behind the tank before coming back up to the device.

And when looking at GFCI equipment (power strips, breakers, etc.) you need to know that you SHOULDN'T plug pumps into them. The pump will be constantly tripping the circuit. Idealy, you should run a separate circuit from the breaker panel for the pumps and use a breaker that is rated just 20% more then the load.

ie. my two pumps draw 4 amps each so I should have the pumps on a 10 amp breaker. I haven't done this yet myself but I'm redoing the wiring for the 450 and I'll do it then.

[JWarren]

You can install a GFI outlet where your AC outlet is. You can get one rated for 10, 15 or 20 amps from HD. I also have a grounding rod in my sump to take care of stray voltage.

[sasquatch]

O! O! can I bring up the controversy about grounding probes again LOL

[JWarren]

Do we need to start a duke it out thread?

[ReefGuy69]

I would say just go with the GFI outlet. anything that is plugged into it that malfunctions or gets wet will trip it. it will save ya money on the expensive power strips and stuff like that. Ive spilled water in my power strips or dropped my lights into my tank on several occasions. Each time the GFI tripped and probably saved my life.

[cracker]

I had a GFI that took instant care of a cracked water heater. I'm still open on the advantages of a ground probe.

[msbdiving]

I agree about the GFI. I switched out the outlet to a GFI. I also am using the coralife digital timer strip. It has a total of 8 outlets on it, 4 of which are programable. I haven' t looked at other strips but I am sure these are made for aquariums.

[BigAl07]

Hello msbdiving and welcome

Have you googled that particular power strip? It's indeed MADE for aquariums but is also "suspect" to many house fires. Just be careful and keep an eye on it.

[JWarren]

If you have any devices in the water column that do not have a three prong plug, but only two, you need to add a grounding probe to your water column and ground the tank and any electrical devices in the water column. The most common device in the water column is a powerhead. I cannot tell you how many I have seen without a ground prong. If the insulation of the wire becomes brittle (which I have seen) and cracks, the possibility of electrocution is very real! More so with saltwater due to it conductive nature.

Stray voltage generally occures when salt creep is present although not always. Stray voltage can also come from magnetic, in sump, pumps. The magnetic field from the pump can produce stray voltage. This voltage is generally low but can cause discomfort when placing a hand in the water. You can use a multimeter to test for stray voltage by placing one probe in the water and the other on a ground of an outlet. If any positive voltage is detected, you have stray voltage. My 55 had 45 volts of alternating current and this is with all new lights and pumps. The addition of a grounding probe elimenated it.

Salt creep can create an electrical bridge to other devices, like lights that sit directly on top of the aquarium. If current passes through this salt creep bridge, the tank will become energized. The energy will then seek a clear path to ground, which could be you, if you stick your hand in the water. A grounding probe will trip a GFI outlet if any energy above it's amperage rating is passed through it. This will certainly alert you to any problems before a nice jolt of electricity will.

[elliottb]

IMO a grounding probe is one of the most important things you could get for your tank!

I have this one: Titanium Ground Probe (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Miscellaneous > GFCI Cords & Grounding Probes )

and since I got it, it has made a huge difference. Read the review I wrote about it and that will explain the story.