Stray voltage conundrum

[FLPilot3190]

I’m wanting to pick everyone’s brains regarding stray voltage in my tank. I stuck my hand in the tank today and noticed a slight tingle on the tip of my thumb where I’ve got a paper cut. Pulled out the multimeter and was surprised by what I saw:

In the display I’m reading 35V and in the sump, 38-39V.

I unplugged EVERYTHING from the tank and the turned each piece of equipment on individually.

Baseline: 0.4V
XR15 #1: 0.35V
XR15 #2: 0.37V
AI Blades: 0.59V
Vectra: 0.59V
MP40 #1: .75V
MP40 #2: .94V
Tunze ATO: .81V
Versa #1: .59V
Versa #2: .57V
Apex: 1.0V
Apex display (iPad): .59V
Cabinet led lighting: 1.46V

All of the above equipment is plugged into two ADJ PC-100A power strips.

Everything seems normal up to this point, although I do find it odd that the led cabinet strip lighting is putting voltage into the tank. The lighting is up at the top of the inside of the stand and nowhere near water.

Where it gets spicy is my heater and skimmer. I have a 400W (2x 200W titanium probes) IM Helio heater and a Reef Octopus Regal 150S skimmer. Both of these are normally plugged into the Apex EB832.

With everything turned of EXCEPT the Apex, Heater, and skimmer: 16.4V
Apex on but nothing connected to EB832: 21V
Apex on with heater connected and elements on: 38V
Apex on with heater connected but elements off: 18.3V
Apex on with skimmer connected and on: 26V
Skimmer and Heater plugged into Apex but Apex off: 11.9V

I then plugged the skimmer and heater into a separate electrical outlet via an extension cord (everything else was connected to the ADJ power strips):
Skimmer on extension cord: 4V
Heater on extension cord and elements on: 17.4V
Heater on extension cord and elements off: 5V
Skimmer and heater on extension cord: 22.5V

With all of that info it’s looking to me like the heater elements are the culprit. However, I find it really odd that the voltage jumps so much when I plug the heater into the Apex.

I checked the outlet everything is plugged into and the ground is good.

Any ideas?

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

Double check anything that is submerged or making contact with water and find what’s leaking voltage

I’m going to bet it’s the heaters but I could be wrong I like using titanium heaters like BRS because they double and a grounding probe

 

[Doctorgori]

I stuck my hand in the tank today and noticed a slight tingle on the tip of my thumb where I’ve got a paper cut

Yeah cuts on the finger work better than any Volt meter

 

[Paul B]

Induced voltage will be near any AC power source. AC electric is induced into any conductor and can't be stopped. (unless you run everything on DC) You won't read anything if you add a grounding probe but it will still be there even though that may eliminate that little shock you feel.

(Sea Water is an excellent conductor)

There are many thoughts on if this is harmful or not but just about everyone has a TV and cell phone and all those signals are going through our heads. Maybe thats why the world is so screwed up.

Did you ever see someone with a bright purple Mohawk. Those people spent too much time walking under high voltage power lines.

Don't lose any sleep over it as it is in everything including your head and the sea.

(Master Electrician 50+ years)

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm leaning towards @Paul B 's explanation.....Induced voltage.

Here's the final test.....after finishing you morning coffee, rinse out the cup and fill with tank water. Stick you thumb with the paper cut into the cup and see if you get that "tingle." I'm willing to bet that tingle you feel is simply from having a cut and saltwater doing it's thing of making it sting. Just make sure that cut is still fresh.

 

[Paul B]

Anything under about 108 volts (in the US) is induced voltage and not line power. Don't worry about it unless you are the type of person who worries about everything. Then worry.

 

[FLPilot3190]

Double check anything that is submerged or making contact with water and find what’s leaking voltage

I’m going to bet it’s the heaters but I could be wrong I like using titanium heaters like BRS because they double and a grounding probe

I’m using 2x titanium heaters currently. You’d think I should be reading 0V as it should all be grounding out through the probes but it’s not. I ordered two new ones just to be safe.

 

[FLPilot3190]

Induced voltage will be near any AC power source. AC electric is induced into any conductor and can't be stopped. (unless you run everything on DC) You won't read anything if you add a grounding probe but it will still be there even though that may eliminate that little shock you feel.

(Sea Water is an excellent conductor)

There are many thoughts on if this is harmful or not but just about everyone has a TV and cell phone and all those signals are going through our heads. Maybe thats why the world is so screwed up.

Did you ever see someone with a bright purple Mohawk. Those people spent too much time walking under high voltage power lines.

Don't lose any sleep over it as it is in everything including your head and the sea.

(Master Electrician 50+ years)

My powerheads, return, and skimmer are all DC. The only AC pump I have is my GFO reactor but it wasn’t even on yesterday when I tested everything.

I have another question… I made my own controller box for the power strips, controllers, and for wire management… there’s a bit of a jumble of wires back there. Could the wires be inducing current/voltage into one another? I still find it extremely odd that the LED in-cabinet lighting I have mounted at the top of the cabinet is causing a jump in voltage in the tank. The strip lighting is 2ft+ from the sump yet I consistently see a jump of 10V when I turn the lighting on. Could the voltage from that lighting cord be “jumping” to a cord for another device and thus into the tank?

 

[FLPilot3190]

I'm leaning towards @Paul B 's explanation.....Induced voltage.

Here's the final test.....after finishing you morning coffee, rinse out the cup and fill with tank water. Stick you thumb with the paper cut into the cup and see if you get that "tingle." I'm willing to bet that tingle you feel is simply from having a cut and saltwater doing it's thing of making it sting. Just make sure that cut is still fresh.

I was testing that yesterday haha. I could 100% tell the difference. With everything in the tank turned off there was no tingle but with the heater or skimmer on I could feel the tingle.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Put the meter down - testing "stray voltage" is not a thing. There is no "stray" voltage. Voltage in the aquarium is other the result of a fault, or it is induced. As Paul indicated, unless that voltage reading is above 96VAC or so, it is almost certainly induced.

To that end, dunking a DVM probe in the water and the other on ground really does not tell you much. You can read "voltage" with two probe in a potato or a probe on your cold water pipe and one in your yard. Without a reference to current measurement, the "voltage" means nothing.

Ground probe? Adding a ground probe will allow the "voltage" to to flow to that lower potential (current). Is this a good or bad thing? That is debatable. I prefer to not use a ground probe.

What I will tell you is that your entire aquarium should be on one or more GFCI receptacles or branch circuits, ground probe or not.

(Not a master electrician, but slept at many Holiday Inn's over the last 50+ years)