Tank electrical safety

Metermaid · Mar 3, 2005

Now I know everything electrical should be turned off before I start delving in my tank - but I wouldn't mind betting lots of us are guilty of just dipping in to rearrange a plant etc - so I was wondering if a circuit breaker is a good idea - would that stop me being fried if there was any sort of electrical fault?

daza · Mar 3, 2005

yep...I use an RCD. Check this thread out.

gale · Mar 3, 2005

I guess I need a couple of those-I don't usually turn anything off in my tanks since the water level doesn't go below the heater. Well I do turn the filter off I guess but it's on a switch plug so I don't actually unplug it. Where do I buy these things? I only need 2 I guess. Maybe 3.

rdd1952 · Mar 3, 2005

I'm sure we are all guilty of that. I know I am, and I used to be Safety Director for a company.

daza · Mar 3, 2005

I bought mine from Asda (Walmart for the US). It was only about £4. They are very common. You can get them at most DIY type places.

Here is a pic of one on ebay (simply because it was the first good pic I found)...

http

/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...5755065152&rd=1

steelhealr · Mar 3, 2005

Hi...I changed the regular outlet where I placed my tank to a GF(ground fault) circuit protector. It's the smartest thing to do to prevent a fire, shock, etc near water. It doesn't take long to install. SH

StarOrbs · Mar 3, 2005

I have it set up so the second it detects a change in voltage it cuts the power to my equipment. I have spilled water before in fact I just had my 10 gallon quarantine overflow on me because I forgot it was still filling lol..

gale · Mar 3, 2005

Thanks for the picture-it'll make it easier to find. I'll check walmart next time I'm there and in the meantime I will just unplug everything when I change water (except the light-otherwise I can't see what I'm doing-but that's not directly over the water at least).

Metermaid · Mar 4, 2005

Right, I'm off to get one sorted out today too - I hate to turn off my filter, paranoid about the bacteria dying - especially if I ever forgot to turn it back on :no:

Mr Miagi · Mar 4, 2005

I learnt the hard way about electricity and water.....twice.

Hehehe, first i had my male brain at work, trying to fix my pump (was making some freaked out noise) and bang! i was pushed onto by back. (i was sitting on the floor) My arm was num for a week.

And the second time i just reached in, and the wiring was eroded on my filter and ZZAP, so another dead arm. But atleast that wasnt my fault.

)

jimbooo · Mar 4, 2005

on a slightly different point. how many of you are piggybacking your sockets to a silly extent.

i have a frient in the electritical trade who kindly pointed out i had 17 plugs via 4 extention leades all leading to a double wall socket. :whistle:

needless to say i very quickly called in the electritian to fit some more sockets.

i guess lots of us have this problem as my 40G alone uses 6 plugs for all the stuff

Raechal · Mar 4, 2005

Is it bad to have one of those 6 plug extension sockets plugged into the regular walk socket and having all 6 outlets full in one room? :dunno:

I zapped myself the other day trying to unplug the heater from the 10 gallon in the living room so it wouldn't crack when I did a 50% water change and gravel vac. I forgot my hands were wet and I thought I pulled it out, but one prong was left in the socket and I touched the metal. Ouch, it hurt. Then I went to put shoes on. :nod:

SarahBravo · Mar 4, 2005

10 plugs off a double wall socket..... uh-oh!

With the RCD, I remember on one I used to have it said something about not using it with extension leads - does this mean I should plug it into the main socket in the wall and run the extension lead through it, or that I should put an RCD on each socket on the extensions, ie get 10 RCDs?

And slightly off topic...... can't believe how much my leccy bill has gone up since I got all these blinkin' fish.... they better start giving me babies I can sell soon or I'll have to get a lodger or something!!

Sarah

hozb · Mar 4, 2005

If id had a sensitive set breaker my fish would be alive... the heater thermostat broke and boiled my fish tank

if id had breakers it might of been ok

daza · Mar 4, 2005

I have a four way extension lead connected to my RCD...I have never heard that you shouldn't do it. There are some sparkies on the forum, maybe one them can give their professional opinion?

Another thing to note though. I recently unplugged my filter and heater for maintenance, but left the RCD and the light plugged in. Later (after all was plugged back in) when my timer turned my light off, the whole extension tripped out, so the filter and heater were off. Just a word of warning, because it could have gone unnoticed. Since then, when I plug everything back in, I reset the RCD by pressing the 'test' and 'reset' button.