Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I set up my new system 2 days ago and was simply cycling water, no fish or plants. I am not sure if I had touched the water with the pump running before, but I know it was plugged in at some point with me fiddling around in there. It wasn't until the second day when I went to grab my floating thermometer that I received a tingly shock. I was pretty surprised and just to make sure I tried again, yep, definitely a shock. At that point the only thing in my tank was the water, the pump, and the tubing leading to one bed filled with Hydroton. I did a few other tests just to make sure it was the pump and not some other magical thing. I used one of those current testers for electronics that doesn't require you to touch the item to tell if it is hot (three shocks was enough for me). Convinced it was a faulty pump I returned it to the store, they were as surprised as me, but gave me a replacement.
I have been using the Ecoplus Eco264 submersible pump which I got from a hydroponics shop and that has nearly flawless reviews online.
I took the pump home and set it up, it seemed to be fine. I also figured maybe the shock was due to having wet feet before, but that still seemed a bit powerful for just that. I thought I might be feeling a little tingle, but I was only feeling it on a finger that had a healing cut so it was hard to tell if it was shock or just pain from the water. I let the system cycle all night and I was out playing around with it today with nothing major and then all of a sudden I felt it again. At this point I had a filter and air stones running too along with some feeder goldfish so I checked that it wasn't the other electrical stuff and nope, still the pump.
I am at a loss as to what might be causing this. After two pumps I can be pretty certain it isn't just them failing and I checked to make sure my feet were dry this time. It seems quite odd to me that it seems to kick in after about 48 hours of being submerged. Also it is worth mentioning I have the pump attached to a timer, I get the shock whether the pump is running or in the timer's down time.
Any advice would be welcome, I am not worried about the fish right now as there is more than enough oxygen and filtration to keep them going without the cycling water, but I'd like to not have to waste money getting another pump if I can help it.

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KP

Should be on a GCFI breaker.

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Helomech's system

Something seems odd. If you get the shock when the pump is off then there is a direct line from the power source to your system.

Check that the pump cable doesn't leak water back to the power box/junction or whatever it is you are plugged into. If the cable is wet it might be passing current up to the tank.

Where is your system? Is it backed up against any possible power source? i.e. could there be a diferent source connecting to the tank or other equipment?

Has anything else been turned on when you got the shock that wasn't when you didn't get shocked? I'm thinking of things like air conditioner that might be beside your system or a heater perhaps.

Try replacing the leads if possible.

Use your meter all along the power line with the pump off - if you get power readings along the power cable to the pump you've got something wrong. The timer SHOULD be cutting power back where the pump power cable plugs in to it.

Photos of your system might help some of the more experienced here diagnose your problem.

I just did a quick search on that model. It does have an earth connection but the electronics are epoxy encapsulated.
I assume you have a plastic tank?

Have you even felt a tingle while in the shower by any chance?

If you are using an extension lead from an outlet try replacing it. But frankly I would recommend calling a sparky since most of the scenarios I can think off involve faults in the house wiring.

Check out this thread as there is some discussion about a similar issue - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5950&start=105#p338415

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Ben

Bender's System

Bender's Backyard

I seem to recall a similar thread at some point in time and after spending ages trying to figure out what was wrong the poster finally said that the water was actually running through the shelf that the light was sitting on and the shock was actually coming from the light sitting on the wet shelf above the tank.

If the timer is off yet you still get a voltage then perhaps the timer is wired wrong or the house is wired wrong.

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Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

I thought I had posted a pic, but I am new to this forum so I guess I didn't do it properly.
Anyway it seems like the garage wiring is probably done incorrectly somewhere. I took a much longer cord and plugged it into an outlet inside and I am not getting any tingling anymore, I do still get a reading on the voltage tester though. To double check I ran it through the old circuit again and immediately got the tingling again.
I guess I have some troubleshooting to do in the garage, but at least I know what is going on now. Still not sure of the science behind the electricity getting into the water from a supposedly sealed pump, but I guess that is less important than just having something that works.

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KP

my pump done the same thing last break home and it died not long after that thats the second pump to do this so now when this hapens I dont wate until they die if they shock any body they get thrown out

Get an electrician in to check your house. Yes, I think you'll find that it's not quite perfect wiring somewhere along the line...

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www.backyardaquaponics.com
Bringing Food Production Home

You probably have a voltage potential on the earth system in the garage. Can be a number of causes for that and most can be quite dangerous.
The earth wire on the pump may be on a conductive part internally. That way if the epoxy ever broke down on the live parts the fault current should trip earth leakage. Basically trying to prevent what you have experienced with a "live" pond.

with your earth wiring (in australia anyway) the earth lead is connected back to the neutral in the meter box after your RCD it may be that this connection is not up to the task in your place and so giving you a return leakage potential. would reccomend getting a sparky out to check it out

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D&N


MY PLACE: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=13153

Stop checking it with your finger!

I was getting shocked from my system and got Mrs. Bullwinkle to confirm it

It turned out in our case to be due to an old pump that had decided to split slightly down the side, but most importantly, we discovered the shed, and outside power points didnt go throu the safety switch earth leakage thing that should be in the fuse box.

As a temporary thing, you can buy power boards with a built in earth leakage safety thing (not to be confused with the standard overload cut-out that you find on all powerboards.)

Our Shed in this new house isnt proofed against killing me either, so I run everything through those boards.

As soon as I ran my old pump through the safety switch thinggy, it tripped immediately. A far better test than the original "Mrs Bullwinkle, can you put your finger in the fish tank and see if you feel anything. No, over there. Try taking your shoes off and standing in that puddle".

STOP TESTING IT WITH YOUR FINGER!

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.

That doesn't sound like its a good move for promoting more Mr and Mrs bullwinkle time....

Though you might be able to take advantage of the "transfer" effect.

If you haven't tripped an RCD or circuit breaker I would get an electrician to have a look. At work, any electric shock is a trip to hospital due to the possibility of an enzyme build up that can adversely affect you later.

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If it's not broken let me look at it.

Now that you mention it, she hasn't spoken to me much since then.

Actually, now that you mention it, I have to move her now. She doesn't move by herself any more unless I apply the E-lec-tricity agin.

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.