grounding device

cant remember where the idea came from but i made a grounding "probe" last week that is working a treat!

basically it comprises the carbon core from a D size battery (removed and well cleaned) which i drilled a small hole into one end to accomodate the end of an earth wire. this was siliconed into place and a plug put on the other end. Hey presto! when placed into the sump the residual charge was gone (could feel it now and again when doing maintanance).

 

Details! I need the Details!!! and Pictures...do you have any?

So, the battery core...got that part..

Earth wire? Did you just use a copper thin wire or what?

and the free end is connected to what?

Thanks for sharing! ;D

 

sorry no pics but it is simple (not patronising you).

once you have drilled a small hole (what ever size you want corresponding to the size of wire you choose), and siliconed in this wire to the hole that is the one end complete. Then you simply wire it into the earth of a plug, into the pver socket and hey presto!

if your pumps only have live and neutral feeds as ours do save space by wiring it into one of them.

and if you put the "probe" into the water by only a centimeter or so then you dont have to worry about the water getting through the sleave of the wire ( i am using a sucker from a fluval spraybar to hold mine!)

That help you any?

 

whoa...why are we using this??? charge??? I've never felt anything from mine and the house has no 3rd earth ground plug. Residue charge?? from your ac system???

this is wild sounding....I never thought of getting a shock while working in it...

Ow!!!

Scoffer

 

Ac is best to run it through.....garaunteed ground for those who are unsure. Ive always run a ground on my tanks for my saftey and the critters.

 

ow..I better check that.....or just make a ground..

I can hammer a 6 ft brass rod through the oak floor into the ground under the house and ground to that....yeah thats it!!!

and then get a bucket to put my head in after my GF cuts it off!!!!!

but I will check into that....with all the salt water/creep around the tank it could be a potenial hazard....



Scoffer

 

[quote author=geologeek link=board=DIY;num=1103567926;start=0#2 date=12/20/04 at 18:47:17]Then you simply wire it into the earth of a plug, into the pver socket and hey presto!

if your pumps only have live and neutral feeds as ours do save space by wiring it into one of them.

[/quote]

Don't want to be a pest, but what do you mean in the second sentence?

John

 

We have three pin plugs that have a live, neutral and earth, but certain items of hardware such as my airpump or powerheads only have live and neutral (positive and negative respectively) wires leaving the earth section of the plug free.

your plugs look different and are smaller but the still have three prongs, is one of them not an earth?

 

do you realy need a ground????

 

Grounds are important. Think about it this way, you have a bunch of electrical devices sitting in a big vat of electrolites. If for some reason one of those devices were to short, and you were to wind up with a live lead in the tank, the next time you reached in the tank you would take the full force of the charge.

As for residule charge in the tank, your powerheads contain large coils of wire with current flowing through them. These have the potential to induce a charge in the aquarium water. While the size of this charge is small (generally), in an ungrounded tank it gets disapated through you when you stick your hand in the water.

Case in point: The manager of one of our LFS was nocked on his but, when the shaft broke on a pump driving one of there skimmers. While there was not electrical contact between the pump wiring and the water, the charge generated from the coil (with no impeler to disapate it) was enough to put him on his but.

Just some food for thought,
jay