Michiel Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Hello When I put my hand in the water to feed the fish, I can feel a slight tingle of a shock. This goes away if I insert my hand a bit deeper but happens every time I touch it. It stops if I turn the pump off so assume that is the issue. I am just a bit troubled by this as if the electricity was exposed to the water it should have short circuited the supply. I suppose from the hardness of the water electricity should travel easier in the tank water. Apart from aluminium fly screen, there is no other metal in the system. For a Peltier effect creating electricity due to changes in temperature to take place you would need a better conductor such as sink. Maybe I am creating static electricity but will not explain why the tingle continuous. Any ideas? Michiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIMO Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Never use aluminium fly screen inside you tank/sump/whatever....use the fibreglass/plastic type instead....much safer and cheaper. Static electricity like this is not a good sign....i'm not an expert though, but i would be concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 I think I remember reading a small amount of induced voltage in a tank is normal, but nothing you should be able to feel. I'd be replacing that pump if I was you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 I think I remember reading a small amount of induced voltage in a tank is normal, but nothing you should be able to feel. I'd be replacing that pump if I was you I can't at the moment replace the pump. It is a tad expensive and I have used up all my money for this setup. I need a pump that will do at lease 20,000l/h What I don't understand is why does it not trip the circuit protector? When I dropped a airpump in once (apart from the shock to myself), it immediately tripped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevguy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 When I dropped a airpump in once (apart from the shock to myself), it immediately tripped I feel so much better now that i know i'm not the only one that can do this. How long have you been getting these shocks for, ie- when did they start 1 week ago or whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 When I dropped a airpump in once (apart from the shock to myself), it immediately tripped I feel so much better now that i know i'm not the only one that can do this. How long have you been getting these shocks for, ie- when did they start 1 week ago or whatever? Only since last night Yes I felt like a goose and my wife could not stop laughing. She told everybody at the Christmas party Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevguy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Ok,this may sound like a really stupid question but where is the tank located and what way is the wind blowing? Westerly by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 Ok,this may sound like a really stupid question but where is the tank located and what way is the wind blowing? Westerly by any chance? This seems interesting The window that is open is facing west so wind must then be east if coming in. I checked BOM and our area generally blows south south east in April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevguy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 The window that is open is facing west so wind must then be east if coming in If it is coming in the window that faces west then it should be a westerly wind. Westerly winds especially early on in the season are known to cause higher levels of static electricty,all surfers and offshore fisherman should know this. I was just working on the idea that when you touch the water you get a tingle but when you put your hand/arm in further it disappears,this is something that could be associated with the westerly winds as they are some of the first of the season.Be interesting to see if it disappears when the wind comes back from the east. Could also be totally wrong to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 The window that is open is facing west so wind must then be east if coming in If it is coming in the window that faces west then it should be a westerly wind. Westerly winds especially early on in the season are known to cause higher levels of static electricty,all surfers and offshore fisherman should know this. I was just working on the idea that when you touch the water you get a tingle but when you put your hand/arm in further it disappears,this is something that could be associated with the westerly winds as they are some of the first of the season.Be interesting to see if it disappears when the wind comes back from the east. Could also be totally wrong to. i thought wind direction is measure to where it is going not where is came from Please educate me Well I would certainly try this tonight be closing all orifices and taking out the fly screen. I just spoke to some engineers about this and they seem to agree that ions knocked off by the wind might cause this. It was a bit windy yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevguy Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 i thought wind direction is measure to where it is going not where is came from Please educate me No it is classified by the direction it is coming from,ie- a westerly wind is coming from the west but blowing toward the east. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 i thought wind direction is measure to where it is going not where is came from Please educate me No it is classified by the direction it is coming from,ie- a westerly wind is coming from the west but blowing toward the east. Funny as I always had the general rule that "nobody cares where it's been, only where it is going" Might restate that somewhat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 4, 2008 Author Share Posted April 4, 2008 The current is gone?????? Very strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Perhaps the wind theory is spot on then? Still the it stops when the pump is off bit makes me think something is up with the pump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evo Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 The metal in the tank could be undergoing a redox reaction.... When this happens energy is given off. Could this be the cause?? When you put your hand in you get a tingle? What about if you put it in again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 The metal in the tank could be undergoing a redox reaction.... When this happens energy is given off. Could this be the cause?? When you put your hand in you get a tingle? What about if you put it in again? Hello The aluminium is out and the tingle returned. It is the pump and I will borrow a multimeter from work. This is all very strange as you would expect a proper shock and not just a tingle Michiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennyboy Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 The metal in the tank could be undergoing a redox reaction.... When this happens energy is given off. Could this be the cause?? When you put your hand in you get a tingle? What about if you put it in again? Hello The aluminium is out and the tingle returned. It is the pump and I will borrow a multimeter from work. This is all very strange as you would expect a proper shock and not just a tingle Michiel same thing happened to my friend. Turned out to be his heater which was broken hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 I had my father in law look at it with all his equipment. The tingle was gone and he could not find any errors anywhere. That night the tingle returned (Sunday night) and left again and I have not felt it since. It is also more prevailent certain tanks I don't know Michiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dave Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I had my father in law look at it with all his equipment. The tingle was gone and he could not find any errors anywhere. That night the tingle returned (Sunday night) and left again and I have not felt it since. It is also more prevailent certain tanks Firstly, I would be checking that your RCD is working, even a small leak (10-30mA) should trip it. If you don't have one, get at least a portable one for your pump and or heaters. My best guess is that you have a bad connection somewhere, possibly an earthing problem. Buy one of those little power point testers which show that they are wired correctly, and get an electrician to "Megger" your wiring. Just not worth the risk. Old Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 I had my father in law look at it with all his equipment. The tingle was gone and he could not find any errors anywhere. That night the tingle returned (Sunday night) and left again and I have not felt it since. It is also more prevailent certain tanks Firstly, I would be checking that your RCD is working, even a small leak (10-30mA) should trip it. If you don't have one, get at least a portable one for your pump and or heaters. My best guess is that you have a bad connection somewhere, possibly an earthing problem. Buy one of those little power point testers which show that they are wired correctly, and get an electrician to "Megger" your wiring. Just not worth the risk. Old Dave Did I do a spelling again with "megger"? I will check with the inlaw to see if he has this. I refuse to pay ATM no tingle? Thank you for the advice Michiel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOG6ON Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I had a similar problem to yours and so a did a mate. It ended up being the fluoro lite causing it, apparently the light outputs a current (only very small) and the water 'absorbs' the current cause it has no where to go. The other thing i noticed is when i was checking my ph with an electric tester the reading went off the scale when you get the tingling feeling from the water. I turned the lights off and the 'current' was not there anymore, But if i turned the lights back on and stuck my hand back in the water the 'current' was back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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