Static Electricity Problem

[Anonymous]

This may sound strange, but I have a seriously bad static electricity buildup in my sump. Its winter here and the air is very dry. That, combined with the large movement of water in my sump +- 5000GA/hr, and the skimmer action is creating a massive buildup of static on the water surface. If I am not wearing shoes and touch the water, the shock is very very powerful, and it can take 5-10 further strong painful shocks for the charge to clear.Its strong enough that I originally thought I had a faulty pump or heater that had failed to trip the earth leakage, but its definitely static.

Any thoughts or am I destined to a painful winter ahead? I considered earthing the sump water surface with steel, or a removable copper wire earth that would only get used when i wanted to work in the sump (I know the copper/ coral problem, but the anticipated 10 second exposure once a week would be minimal.)

 

[Anonymous]

They sell grounding probes for saltwater tanks (titanium), and they work great!

(The bad news is that if there is an actual electrical problem in your tank/sump - this probe makes things a bit more dangerous for you when you stick your hand in the water.

Might be easier to plug and unplug when you are in the water and then you don't need to worry about the copper.

You might have to modify the plug though

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jeep-Guy! I will ask around- never heard of them. I would only use it for before I was going to make contact with the water, I need the normal earth leakage protection (I think its call GFI out your way) to be operating properly especially when i climb into the tank!

 

[Anonymous]

You have acess to most US vendors, correct?

Here is the link to the one at MarineDepot:

http://www.marinedepot.com/miscellaneous_titanium_grounding_probe-ap.html

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks CJ. It's fairly difficult to get stuff in from the US here, I will find a local version or get a friend to make me something similar. Thanks for the link and the effort! Have a great weekend!

 

[blackcloudmedia]

lol at first I was like....its July how could it be winter....then I remembered my science class Anyways that may be an early sign that a piece of equipments insulation is going bad. It would be especially evident in the winter when your houses heater dries out the air. Less humidity means the static cannot discharge as easily without humidity. This is why in the winter statics more of a problem. I used to get zapped by my tank in the winter. Then found out my powerhead was going bad.