Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Excellent!!Thanks for the info, I'm glad you are alright. I immediately went online and purchased one for each tank.
That's a story worth sharing. Thanks.I should have been electrocuted 10x by now as many times as I have tripped my gfci while cleaning my tank. I even cut a wire on my t5 fixture this weekend working on my wiring and tripped it. I thought the power was off but apparently not. I've also had a grounding probe since day one just to help against stray voltage for the fish. I'm pretty sure my finnex titanium heaters act as grounding probes also but I still have a separate ground probe just in case.
My ground probe is only in sump. I have mp40 powerheads so no cords in display tank.
I need to get one of those. My Ehiem Glass, like I showed in the Video, Flooded. One other Glass one cracked while moving rocks.Yes, I'm running dual finnex titanium 300w heaters. I'm pretty sure they would do the same as my grounding probe but I added one anyway just in case. I almost got knocked off my feet again the other day while working on my 4 way light switch in my living room. I turned off the breaker to the room and was unscrewing the wiring when sparks shot out, ha. Turns out two of the switches go to my back patio and even though all 4 switches are in the same box there are two circuit breakers running to it.
My dad is a retired electrician and he keeps telling me to get a live wire checker before I mess with electrical stuff in my house. I've ran 220v and 110v wiring and even installed a mini split at my house and I don't have a clue what I'm doing, ha.
I am about to order the same Finnex you have. There seem to be two kinds. And what's weird is the less expensive one has a Temperature control unit. The other one doesn't. Wonder why (The more advanced one is less)?Yes, I'm running dual finnex titanium 300w heaters. I'm pretty sure they would do the same as my grounding probe but I added one anyway just in case. I almost got knocked off my feet again the other day while working on my 4 way light switch in my living room. I turned off the breaker to the room and was unscrewing the wiring when sparks shot out, ha. Turns out two of the switches go to my back patio and even though all 4 switches are in the same box there are two circuit breakers running to it.
My dad is a retired electrician and he keeps telling me to get a live wire checker before I mess with electrical stuff in my house. I've ran 220v and 110v wiring and even installed a mini split at my house and I don't have a clue what I'm doing, ha.
Will a ground probe work on a gfci outlet in a really old house where there is not actually a ground wire connected to the outlet? GFCI outlet is wired point of sale/neg no ground wire and the only functionality is the internal breaker in the GFCI outlet? I am setting up a tank in the only place I have available in my livingroom and I live in a really old apartment building with ancient fiber wrapped wire. There is only one outlet in that whole side of the room along that wall which was a two prong outlet. I have replaced that outlet with a GFCI one in prep for setting this tank up to at least get that basic level of protection but am curious if a grounding probe is still going to do its job in that wiring configuration?
hmmmmm.
I'm not an expert on doing stuff like this.....
Interesting question. BE CAREFUL, what you are saying sounds like it WILL NOT work for Safety.
Not if GFCI is not Grounded to TANK and vise versa. Your Ground probe AND GFCI Ground Terminal has to be connected to some common ground.
So what you are saying is:
- You will install a GFCI outlet, and run a Ground probe to Tank connected the the GFCI ground
- However the GROUND for both the (Outlet and Ground Probe) will not be connected to a Real House Ground.
------> The Reason is your old wiring is just two Wires and no House Ground Wire available at the location.
- NOTE: If the ground probe falls out of the Tank, you have ZERO SAFETY.
My gut feeling is (this isn't safest thing), but (technically it may work to trip the GFCI, since you created what's called a CHASSIS Ground, which means the GFCI will sense a Current Leak into the Tank Ground, Not House Ground ).
Everything you plug in must be plugged into GFCI outlet. No other Un-Protected outlets!!
I'm not expert, so don't do this unless you ask a qualified individual. (No Electrician would allow you to do that, based on ELECTRICAL CODE).
I am not giving you advice, just a warning, to stop your from doing something DANGEROUS.
Best to ask @Brew12 (he may or may not have an answer)
Thanks for the invite!Best to ask @Brew12 (he may or may not have an answer)
Two parts to this. First, yes, the GFCI will offer protection. It isn't ideal, but it will still work as intended. Fault current doesn't have to go through you to a building ground to trip a GFCI, it only has to go somewhere other than between the hot and neutral.Will a ground probe work on a gfci outlet in a really old house where there is not actually a ground wire connected to the outlet? GFCI outlet is wired point of sale/neg no ground wire and the only functionality is the internal breaker in the GFCI outlet? I am setting up a tank in the only place I have available in my livingroom and I live in a really old apartment building with ancient fiber wrapped wire. There is only one outlet in that whole side of the room along that wall which was a two prong outlet. I have replaced that outlet with a GFCI one in prep for setting this tank up to at least get that basic level of protection but am curious if a grounding probe is still going to do its job in that wiring configuration?
THanks @Brew12Thanks for the invite!
Two parts to this. First, yes, the GFCI will offer protection. It isn't ideal, but it will still work as intended. Fault current doesn't have to go through you to a building ground to trip a GFCI, it only has to go somewhere other than between the hot and neutral.
The ground probe will serve no purpose if it is not connected to a ground. It doesn't sound like this is an option for you, so I see no reason to use one.
Does that help?
I run a ground probe to protect my tank inhabitants. Actually... I don't run a ground probe anymore, but my titanium heaters act like a ground probe so it made the ground probe irrelevant. I get a chuckle out of how many people claim they would never use a ground probe but then use titanium heaters.I personally like Ground Probes since I hate getting the Non-Life Threatening Zaps (if GFCI is functional)
Downside is it can trip your GFCI when you are away.
Not all titanium heaters act as ground probes, but most of them do. A ground probe is a titanium tube with a ground wire attached to that tube. Most titanium heaters are titanium tubes with a ground wire attached and a heating element inside.A titanium heater is not a grounding conductor, just because it is grounded does not make it a grounding conductor. Not sure I see your humor.
I'm not assuming anything. A 3 prong titanium heater will make a much better ground probe, and have much higher fault carrying capacity, than a typical ground probe. The titanium heaters use smaller gauge wires and have more titanium surface area than the ground probes do.You are assuming the resistance of the conductor and the fault carrying capacity.