"Shocking" experience with UV Sterilizer

zinger · 07/24/2006, 03:15 PM

Just wanted to pass on a warning and ask a question.

Last night while moving corals around, I started getting electrical shocks from the tank. It was an unpleasant experience. I eventually traced the problem down to this 7 month old UV Sterilizer.

This is a 36W Coralife Turbo-twist. It appears that somehow water got into the sealed area of the glass enclosure. I last checked this unit about 3 months ago, so I don't think it was any sudden change that I made that caused the failure. In any case, I'm not even going to bother RMA'ing this thing because I doubt I could ever feel safe with one of them hooked up.

Second part, I've been wondering if hooking up one of those grounding probes would have prevented this problem (blowing the GFI) or have somehow made it worse. Any ideas?

smcdonn · 07/24/2006, 04:00 PM

There are a lot of different opinions on the grounding probe. If indeed you did have a grounding probe with a gfci circuit, it would have tripped it and killed the power to that outlet. BUT, if all your other stuff like return pumps and lights are on that circuit then they would ALL go dead. So do you really want a gfci circuit for each thing on your tank, or at least each important component. And secondly, voltage doesn't kill stuff, amperage does. So if you don't have a grounding probe, there is no where for the electricity to go (UNLESS YOU STICK YOUR HAND IN) so there is no current. ALL in all, I don't use one. You can see why I don't use one but I am sure 3 more people will chime in with 4 different opinions. Good luck with this.

zinger · 07/24/2006, 04:19 PM

Thanks. I'm pretty sure some amount of current was coming out since my electronic PH probe has been going nuts. It appears to have returned to normal since the removal of the UV. Good point on the GFI, I actually do have seperate ones between lights and pumps.

smcdonn · 07/24/2006, 04:52 PM

The GFCI is a great thing although I feel the grounding probe will make it quite sensitive. I would rather have a little stray electricity rather than having my GFCI being tripped consistanly. The GFCI might save your life though if you were to really screw up. Salt water conducts electricity quite well (AS YOU FOUND OUT). Cheers

07/24/2006, 03:15 PM	#1
zinger Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 64	"Shocking" experience with UV Sterilizer Just wanted to pass on a warning and ask a question. Last night while moving corals around, I started getting electrical shocks from the tank. It was an unpleasant experience. I eventually traced the problem down to this 7 month old UV Sterilizer. This is a 36W Coralife Turbo-twist. It appears that somehow water got into the sealed area of the glass enclosure. I last checked this unit about 3 months ago, so I don't think it was any sudden change that I made that caused the failure. In any case, I'm not even going to bother RMA'ing this thing because I doubt I could ever feel safe with one of them hooked up. Second part, I've been wondering if hooking up one of those grounding probes would have prevented this problem (blowing the GFI) or have somehow made it worse. Any ideas?

07/24/2006, 04:00 PM	#2
smcdonn Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 925	There are a lot of different opinions on the grounding probe. If indeed you did have a grounding probe with a gfci circuit, it would have tripped it and killed the power to that outlet. BUT, if all your other stuff like return pumps and lights are on that circuit then they would ALL go dead. So do you really want a gfci circuit for each thing on your tank, or at least each important component. And secondly, voltage doesn't kill stuff, amperage does. So if you don't have a grounding probe, there is no where for the electricity to go (UNLESS YOU STICK YOUR HAND IN) so there is no current. ALL in all, I don't use one. You can see why I don't use one but I am sure 3 more people will chime in with 4 different opinions. Good luck with this. __________________ 180g IN WALL, REEF Current Tank Info: 180 gallon

07/24/2006, 04:52 PM	#4
smcdonn Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 925	The GFCI is a great thing although I feel the grounding probe will make it quite sensitive. I would rather have a little stray electricity rather than having my GFCI being tripped consistanly. The GFCI might save your life though if you were to really screw up. Salt water conducts electricity quite well (AS YOU FOUND OUT). Cheers __________________ 180g IN WALL, REEF Current Tank Info: 180 gallon

07/24/2006, 04:19 PM	#3
zinger Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 64	Thanks. I'm pretty sure some amount of current was coming out since my electronic PH probe has been going nuts. It appears to have returned to normal since the removal of the UV. Good point on the GFI, I actually do have seperate ones between lights and pumps.