Water + electricity = bad :-( HELP!

[CarmenH]

I was messing with Zephyrs tank a few minutes ago. I had my hand resting on the top plastic trim and I got a very minor shock! I had my hands in the water just a few minutes before, and nothing, and he doesn't seen abnormal or uncomfortable in any way. How do I go about isolating which piece of equipment is causing the problem? Equipment is:

Coralife 125 HOB skimmer
Aquaclear 110 HOB filter
Koralia 4 pump
Marineland Stealth heater
AG 3 tube fluorescent strip

My first reaction was to blame the heater, it's the oldest item. I instantly unplugged it and hesitantly touched the trim again and I think I still felt it. I took the light strip off and I THINK it stopped, but I'm not sure. It it was the light, it would have had to been conducted from the plastic light housing to the plastic aquarium trim. Is that even possible???

Now I'm scared ****less to touch anything, never mind put my hands in the tank! What should I do??? I have no issue with buying new lights, I hate these anyhow, but I want to be sure that I'm replacing the right thing. Preferably before anything happens to Zephyr or me!

[J-P]

you need one of these:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... ?locale=en

[CarmenH]

LOL, I think we have something like that in the garage. But what do I do with it? I'm usually anything but the helpless princess, but electricity freaks me out so I just don't play with it

[J-P]

you touch the exposed metal ends to areas that you potentially will come in contact with.

If the meter jumps, you know it is live. Not knowing the directional flow.. maybe try them in both directions.. red on the right, then again on the left. Maybe

you can always google how they work also... but yes you need a multimeter to find the leak

[CarmenH]

I think I've got it narrowed down to the light. Against the manufacturers recommendation, I'm using it over an essentially open tank. So there is salt creep on it, and that may somehow be conducting it? I can't find the multimeter so I found a circuit tester and put both probes (not touching each other) between the light and the rim, for a brief second, the sensor light came on.
I was doing maintenance yesterday and I thought I smelled an odd electrical smell. I thought for a second that I'd forgotten to unplug the heater (not on this tank, another one) but checked it and I had unplugged it. I prowled the house sniffing and couldn't pinpoint a source... It dissipated quickly and after a while, I just assumed it must have come from outside for lack of a better explanation. Now I'm thinking a tube shorted out? The middle one does look damaged so I don't know if the fixture is trash or if a damaged bulb could cause this???

[J-P]

the tube may have done that... but most fixtures have a fuse in them... if the fuse didn't go out, then something caused it to "jump". It could have been the sediment on the tube and surrounding areas.

I'd remove the fixture.. and keep testing. The lights are most likely the key, but you can't be too sure

[CarmenH]

I'm not sure if it has a fuse or not, it's certainly not visible. I haven't been able to feel anything or cause the tester to light up again (with the light taken off) but I'll keep plugging away and when my hubby gets home hopefully he can tell me where he hid the multi tester. Thanks!

[J-P]

the fuse should be on the underside of the light fixture or on the left or right.

If there was a short caused by the creep it probably wouldn't have shorted the fuse.

Once the hubby gets home, a cloth dipped in CLR will clean the residue off the lights quickly but it is a messy job

[CarmenH]

Nope, definitely no fuse.
I think I'm just gonna clean it up and ditch it cheap, with full disclosure. I can get a deal right now on a new Coralife HO dual unit. That fixture sits higher (on legs) and has an acrylic cover and it includes the bulbs. The old fixture needs bulbs x 3 so with that figured in, the cost will really be well under $100. It's not a high end fixture but I've had one on my community tank for over a year and it's never tried to electrocute me

[jus85411]

i had the same issue with my 75. if i was doing a water change or something in the tank and i would touch the strip light while my hands were in the water i would get a slight shock. after cleaning the strip light really well it fixed it short term but came back as the salt creep got more and more. but i switched tanks since then and havent had an open top so i havent had that issue anymore

[Nick]

If you use only fresh water, and dry really well before putting the thing back together, the strip is easily fixable. Pure water is a terrible conductor, however, salt changes that quite drastically. Typically what I see is trace salt getting damp from humidity and condensation, letting current leak from the clips that deliver it to the bulb. If you wash it really well it should get rid of the coat of trace salts getting damp and zappy on you.

[CarmenH]

What I don't get is that the rim is plastic and the part of the light touching the rim is plastic. Is salt soooo conductive that a thin (invisible) layer on plastic could conduct electricity?

[Brandon8521]

If I remember correctly its not the salt that is conductive its the trace elements. You have all sorts of ways that the current is leaking out. Moisture from haveing a unsheilded light on a uncovered tank (big no no) and the salt/trace element creep creating a path for the current to escape. Also keep in mind that your fixture more then likely doesnt come with water proof endcaps that the bulbs plug into. Its really important to have either a acrylic cover on the light itself or the top of the tank. Your also not useing legs to raise the light which makes it more prone to buildup then releasing stray current. You can clean the light really well and use it on a covered tank but keep in mind without legs or the acrilic sheild for the bulbs your more then likely going to end up in the same situation your in now. I would go ahead and upgrade lights if your able to do so.

[Nick]

All you need is the tinyest salt film, and when wet, it will conduct just fine. It can be thinner than a few days worth of dust, and will conduct right over a plastic surface.

[CarmenH]

I'm wondering again now if the lights were even the cause of the issue. Coincidentally (or not???) Zephyrs heater is now deceased! The temperature around here has dropped drastically the last few days and when I was feeding, I noticed the tank felt cooler than normal. The heater's an older stealth, so it has no on/off light but I played with it a bit and nothing. Frig, another $50 He's lucky he's so frigging cute!
Anyhow, I'm gonna go buy a new heater after work, and his lights are due in today do hopefully things will be back to normal tonight...
And the house will be nice and toasty when I get home cuz the furnace is staying cranked today...