ground probe

I WANNa add, the reason for gfis is a good one. it protects the otherwise unknowing person from using a damaged tool.
they became big cuz of the insurance industry. hair dryers around the bathroom sink in the 70's to be specific. you get the pic, and they are great for the bathroom. then they moved to the garage, that power tool will kill you too.
then to the kitchen,
were expecting the next code book to have the entire home gfi protected.

its cuz the average joe does not have the knowledge to see a problem, nor the means to test it. so that ins industry, that runs our lives and pretty much this country, tell s you, you must have it

i can go on and on on this subject, so ill knock it off, gfis + aquarium = fatal crash

 

I hate insurance companies! It hails on the roof of your house, they "say" they came and looked at it, they tell you that was damage that was there before the hail and don't give you a penny, you can't make them pay because you can't afford a lawyer. Replacing the roof myself would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer to make them pay. Now I'm getting upset, lol.

 

Not using a GFCI goes against 99.99% of the relevant advise on 3reef. It is strongly encouraged by the vast majority of reefers.

I will also say that a GFCI tripping (and the tank essentially loses power) for a day isn't going to kill the tank. I know I've personally lost power for 3 days due to hurricane with no losses.

But it can save you. There are plenty of ways when working in and around giant boxes of water with electrical appliances of all sorts in and around that box of water to kill yourself, even with a grounding probe.

However, I can't remember a single horror story of someone having more than a slight tingle. I can think of no fatalities due to lack of GFCI or even grounding probe for that matter.


Anyway, I haven't mentioned it on my years on 3reef, but I do not use a GFCI for my tank. I've kept that detail to myself. GFCI trip way too easily and I've come home more than once to have the GFCI in my house tripped (it's rare, but it happens). I don't want that on my tank.

Some of you know I have a fish room where I do some of my maintenance. The power delivered to my fish room comes after my tank (that is, I ran the power from the outlet the tank is plugged into). The fish room is GFCI protected as that's where I work. But the tank and its equipment is not.

My two cents.
P

 

You sir are correct called my son who is a electrical engineer and builds muti million dollar Helicopters. He said the probe is the way to go and yes gfi's trip easy and the only time we would get zaped would be from the light and if it fell in the water the probe would save use but possibly poor fish. thanks everyone that's why this site is so great.

 

I run gfci on both my tanks for coming up on 3 years and my fish pond for about 10 and I have never had on trip. Even if it does trip and kill your tank (which your tank is over stocked if it does) who cares when your life is at stake?

please excuse wrong words, I posted this from my phone that auto "corrects."

 

This is an extreme exageration, the spec on this recep which I recommend using is from 4-6 mA.

http://tools.passandseymour.com/pdf/C02_C05.pdf

It is your decision to put the life of your aquarium inhabitants ahead of your own, but to generally recommend this course to others is in my opinion quite irresponsible...

"please dont be upset, not a direct poke at you, just the only way i think i can stress this"

 

Well I see I opened that can of worms hope no one is mad at anyone. But I did get the answer I was looking for. Thanks to all.

 

that gfi is residential grade, any company that states "trademaster and Spec grade" is a gross exageration. i deal with "spec" grade every day of my life, i was just asked to perform work on the QE2 cruise ship. i get called for that kind of work due to my reputation. sorry if i quoted a " real" device.
i dont get upset over forum discussions, never do, we are all just stating "our" opinion, i could state the sky was blue on this, or any other forum, and there will be a 20 page disscussion on how the sky is NOT blue.
i recomended what i feel is right, if your someone is so worried about being shocked, they should be responsible enough to check their equipment at a min of every 6 months. the leading cause of electrical fires is faulty cords, then second to faulty equipement, usually faulty circuit breakers.

your opinion is respected, albeit mine is not the popular opinion here, but i stand by it. if it upset me, i would have started off asking you what your qualifications are in this field, because if you like, we can start a discussion on equipment and the gross exagerations that manufactures put on their labels.

its all good brother

no can of worms that i see. only can is that im a noob here, and have a non popular opinion. its all good. you can never be too safe, if you doubt yourself or your equipment, use a gfi

 

Are you suggesting that one installed in a RESIDENCE would be something other than "residential grade"?

So in your 25 years as an electrical contractor you have never installed a Pass-Seymore Spec grade GFCI receptacle and as such do not consider them "real devices"?

You are more than welcome to inquire, I would be more than happy to oblige your request...

If you really want to get technical, the CT is around BOTH the hot and neutral leads. When the current in both is equal, the NET current will be zero and there will be no current in the secondary of the CT. When current is diverted elsewhere than back on the neutral wire, there will be a net current through the CT equal to the hot current minus the neutral current (Inet = Ihot - Ineut) which will induce a current in the secondary of the CT. When this secondary current reaches a set magnitude the trip mechanism of the GFCI will be activated. Another name for this type of device is a differential relay.

 

nice cut and paste, is that directly from mike holt's forums or you doctored it a bit it looks like.
(i am friends of mikes, and have written mutliple articles for him)
it obivious you take offense to my statements, or didnt like "being poked", thats fine.
i just read your screen name, i guess your some kind of electricain or contractor as well?

i figured once i read the "going against the 99.99% of opinion" here, i was up for punishment.

what i was writing was an opinion, and i tried to keep it simple, for those that really do not understand, nor care, nor really need to know just how a gfi works in the technical sense