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Please Check Your Electrics

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    Posted: November 19 2017 at 4:41pm
Please check your pumps, heaters, etc. I got a nasty shock from my water change pump this afternoon. My index finger is burned and it split open. Please be careful and check your cords regularly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Wrogers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 4:54pm
Wow I hope you are OK !!  This is one of them things we dont think of until someone has a problem..
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote evan127 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 4:57pm
I am ok. It was scary. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been! I never really gave it much before. I will be now!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zack801 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 5:00pm
Is the outlet not gfci? I was thinking of switching mine over when I moved my tank to another room today for this exact reason.

Edited by Zack801 - November 19 2017 at 5:00pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote evan127 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 5:03pm
It was not. It was just a basic power strip. Rookie mistake
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zack801 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 5:05pm
I wonder how many people here actually do use these outlets? I personally don't but I think I might actually switch over. I'm glad you're ok though. I remember when I was younger cleaning a freshwater tank, wasn't thinking and used my wet fingers to pry the plug for my hob filter. Scared me pretty bad
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote evan127 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 5:07pm
Apex Energy Bars are CFI aren't they? Maybe in the future I need to put my water change pump into my Apex if that is the case.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zack801 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 19 2017 at 8:59pm
Hmm I'm actually not sure. I've got an apex on 2 of my tanks. I'll have to look that up unless anyone knows?

Edited by Zack801 - November 19 2017 at 9:00pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Krazie4Acans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2017 at 8:53am
Apex EB's are not GFCI. They will only shut off if the total current draw exceeds 15A for the entire unit. so please put in some other form of protection.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote backwards32 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2017 at 9:04am
yes my mommy told me to always use protection
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mark Peterson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2017 at 9:37am
It looks to me that Apex power bars are not GFCI protected.

I'm glad it wasn't a worse electrocution. To get that kind of a jolt so serious that it split open the flesh, I would assume another part of the body was grounded when the hand touched the water. 

** This topic is always timely. 
It's important to remember that we are working with electrical power that, under the right conditions, can actually kill us. Proper precautions are vital to our safety.

Because our electrical powered devices are underwater, the plastic insulation on the device and it's power cord is our only protection from electrocution. That insulation must have a perfect seal where it enters the device housing. We must be vigilant to check devices for cracks and power cords for kinks, bends and actual cracks in the insulation. The most common place for a power cord to crack and fail is next to the pump itself. To ensure the insulation remains intact to do it's job:
- never lift/carry a pump or any electrical device by the cord. 
- never wrap the cord tightly so that it makes a sharp bend at the point where it comes out of the device. I commonly see this on heaters and pumps stored and for sale. Not good. Unhappy
- never pull a cord to unplug it from the outlet, always grasp the plug itself and if the plug feels overly hot, replace it. It has become compromised.
- never use a device so old that the insulation has become stiff and brittle.
- never use wet hands while working on electrical and never stand barefoot on a cement floor or wet floor.
- never set up any electrical connection so that accidental water can drip/flow into the connection. Instead, do attach power strips and Apex power bars upside down or sideways to a solid surface (roof or wall of aquarium stand) away from the path of accidental water flow. This way the off switch can be immediately pushed and/or plugs can be pulled out with one hand. This simple improvement can prevent a house fire. Shocked


By trying to practice electrical common sense I can recall having had only one incident in 24 years of working on close to 1000 individual tanks. Approve
Here are two instances where electrical common sense was lacking.

The previous owners of a used Laptop Computer had unintentionally left a kink in the power cord. The kink had been pulled so tight and left for so long that when the kink was untied, the cord has become hardened in a permanent curl. The laptop is now mine and I'm concerned and being careful not to pull on the cord too hard to straighten it. This might make the insulation crack or break the wires inside the insulation.

An old black box aquarium LED fixture had evidently been housed for some time in a closed hood in constant overheating. The insulation on the power supply cords became slightly hard and brittle. One of the power cords had been kinked so hard at the plug to the fixture that the brittle inner insulation had cracked, allowing the 2 wires to touch and short circuit. 

Use electricity with knowledge and common sense. It may prevent an incident. Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote evan127 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 20 2017 at 10:29am
All of my other limbs were on the ground. It only hurt my finger because that finger was the only one that touched the exposed wire.

What a checklist Mark! I need to print this out and put it over the display tank
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