Stray current produced by surface skimmer bad?

[daveeyz45]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to know if stray current is ok in reef tank?

Noticed that, when barefoot, i would feel a jolt/shock when putting the tip of my finger in the water. Isolated the problem coming from recenlty bought surface skimmer when turned on.

Gamitin pa ba? Or palitan na kasi baka may adverse effect sa livestock?

Hopefully someone could give their 2 cents on this.

Thank you very much,
Davey Samonte

[danggit]

Hi Davey,

Can you post a pic of the 'surface skimmer' I have no idea what it looks like. I have a little stray voltage in my tank too..I notice it as well when I touch the water barefoot. In any case you need to make sure if that's really just stray voltages or AC (220V or 110V) you are sensing... but since you still seem calm (and still alive ) about telling us about the shock you are getting its probably stray current you are experiencing. But you need to make sure what it is

Anyways we both need to do something about it soon. Best way I'm thinking of is to try is to remove the device causing the stray current, then install a ground probe (need experts help here how they DIY'ed or where to buy this please). I'm thinking a stainless steel(?) piece connected to a heavy gauge wire leading to a grounding rod buried considerably in the ground. I plan to use the existing grounding rod in our telephone line just for convenience..may cause some noise in our phone but i'll stop and bury a separate grounding rod it if it happens.

Based on the article:
https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2007/ ... ound-dead/
you can't always remove the device causing stray voltages, but one should try. If its AC that's leaking out you definitely should remove the device causing it as it is faulty for sure.

Anyway thats what I will do, I'm also looking for a GFCI, there were some for sale in SM HyperMarket in dela Rosa train station in Buendia, but they seem to have stopped selling...maybe someone reading this knows where we can still buy them. Matagal ko na pinaplano bumili GFCI even before I saw that blog, I thought it was better than grounding probe...but it turns out we need both. The final push for me to start doing this was from that article.

Hope this helps everyone else be safe while enjoying the hobby.

[Reefee17]

It happened to me too, sa bago kong bili na surface skimmer... I've been using it for 2 weeks now and so far okay naman mga fishes ko. (Fowlr)

[daveeyz45]

Thanks danggit and reefee!

Uu nga pare e, nababasa ko ung gfci and ground probe, pero parang algebra pag binabasa ko e. Haha. Good thing medyo mahina lang ung shock, pero naka 10finger dips rn ako haha.

So from now on, i pull the main socket out when getting my hands dirtyand everyone should too! Hehe

Its the sunsun surface skimmer jy02. Nice gadget for a sumpless nano. Keeps the surface free of oil film.

Noticed when skimmer was running though, medyo di bumubukas ung corals ng maayos(some of them), but when i unplugged it went to normal again after a day or so.

Will definitely get a new one and have somebody else at the ready when i do the finger dip testing hahaha. Or better yet will get the volt tester thingy.

Thanks and happy valentines!

[Uejanery]

You made me understand many stories up.