Ground Fault Circuit Interupter

Usually GFCI outlets are placed on a separate circut, just incase the circut trips, it does not shut off other plugs in the loop. Usually kitchens, bathroom are on a gfci circut. A decent surge protector should protect against any large surges, short circuts or the like.

Previous owner of my house had a gfci in the kitchen and one in the garage. I could not for the life of me find how to turn the kitchen back on. Found the 2nd in the garage like 2 days later, while looking for the phone book to call in an electrician.....
 
MikMcgyver said:
Usually GFCI outlets are placed on a separate circut, just incase the circut trips, it does not shut off other plugs in the loop. Usually kitchens, bathroom are on a gfci circut. A decent surge protector should protect against any large surges, short circuts or the like.

Previous owner of my house had a gfci in the kitchen and one in the garage. I could not for the life of me find how to turn the kitchen back on. Found the 2nd in the garage like 2 days later, while looking for the phone book to call in an electrician.....
Click to expand...

A surge protector will not protect you again shock/electricution if any electricity is leaked into the aquarium, via damaged powerhead, lights, or pump.

I think I am just going to pick one of these up at lowes.
Tower Shock Buster Portable GFCI (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Miscellaneous > GFCI Cords & Grounding Probes )
 
Oh, I got what your saying. just a circut popper for that plug specifically. I thought you were tossing it on the entire circut. That would be perfect. Just replace the plug with a GFI one, not tieing into the entire circut.. THat would work ok i think. What about a tank grounding rod? I know Biff talked about one in a past thread, not sure what its called though.. As far as that part, I give it a thumbs up. GFI costs $6-$8, for $12 and you dont have to rewire an outlet, plug and play... I say go for that one..:mrgreen:
 
I got all my tank equipment running off GFIs.But I took a little different approach to it.
I bought some cord,the GFI outlets,and a few 2X4 receptical boxes.Just fixed em up to make a GFI drop cord.That way if something happens it dont kill all the equipment,Just the 2 that happens to be plugged into that perticular cord.
 
Works like a charm Mike.
Plus it takes care of the need for a grounding probe.If a pump or something starts leaking voltage into the tank,the breaker on the outlet trips,that lets me know that something is wrong before it can cause any stress in the tank.
 
That was gonna be my next question, the grounding probe. Do you need one of there are no powerheads in the dt or does it apply to loose voltage everywhere? sump, refugium..etc..
 
When it come to salt water,If you got stray voltage in the DT,then its going to through out the entire system.
But with a GFI,The breaker on the defective piece shoud trip before before any voltage can actually cause any problems.
 
It applies to everything in the system -- the water is a closed loop... The grounding probes cost less than $10, a good investment since stray voltage can be catastrophic to a tank.
 
i think the ground probe only stops you from getting shocked when you put your hands in the tank. i doesn't stop the tank from getting juiced because the tank isn't grounded to anything. you will become the ground when you stick your hand in.
 
Thats the beauty of a GFI.If your equipment malfunctions,the GFI will trip and cut the power to it.
Keep you from getting juiced,or worse.
BTW
If you want to see some fire works,Let salt water get into an electrical outlet.
 
No the probe keeps the tank from getting zapped too. When I first started my tank a long time ago, I ended up losing a pair of shrimp and a starfish to stray voltage. At least, that was the only thing I could attribute it to. I added the probe then and it's been fine ever since.
 
yote said:
Thats the beauty of a GFI.If your equipment malfunctions,the GFI will trip and cut the power to it.
Keep you from getting juiced,or worse.
BTW
If you want to see some fire works,Let salt water get into an electrical outlet.
Click to expand...

This is some information about GFI's. This is because I have read adds online and in stores saying that they protect the equipment. They dont. They protect people.

GFI's compare the current going in on the hot side to the current coming back on the nuetral side. Since the tank itself is not grounded, even if you happened to have voltage leakage into the tank, that voltage has nowhere to go so the current going in and coming back are the same. Now say you go and stick your hand in the tank, you hand could possibly complete a circuit to ground causing a small current to travel into your body and out your feet. Now since the two currents are different, the GFI will trip protecting you from electrocution. You might get a small shock but you wont be seriously injured.

So yote, the GFI doesnt notice or care in a peice of equipment malfunctions. As long as there isnt any other path for the current to go, the outlet will continue to be hot. If you happen to throw a ground probe into your tank, then the GFI would probably trip because there is a continuos path to ground.

Brian
 
To be safe,use both.
I dont have a grounding probe,but I am running GFIs.
The one power head I had go bad,tripped the GFI.I didnt find it untill I took the PH out for cleaning.
 
Well, I feel much more safe. I bought a GFCI for both my 55 gallon and 10 gallon. I also cleaned up my wires making sure every wire has a drip loop.

55 gallon:
P1000388.jpg

P1000387.jpg

10 gallon:
P1000385.jpg

P1000386.jpg
 

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