Calling all AP gurus. Here's a hoot.

[Jim Fisk]

Anyone else ever notice a voltage potential between your ibc fish tanks. I kept noticing a cactus like feeling when I leaned on my tanks. One forearm on one , etc. You get the idea. So, I got out the volt meter and was quite "shocked" at what I found. The vid tells it all.

[Raederle Phoenix]

Can this be used to power the pumps somehow?

[Keith Rowan]

which tank is the pump in?

i think you may be on to something, re static

if you stop flowing the water, what happens?

[Daniel]

Wow - the only time I felt tingling in the water was when I added the electric water heater (Rob Nash design) built per this website, but didn't have the connection sealed enough. I quickly removed the heater and rebuilt with a water tight seal to eliminate the problem.

I can also remember standing under high voltage power lines and getting slight static shocks when touching metal canoes - so my thought would be to carefully analyze any source of power near the grow beds that might be somehow bleeding power onto the metal frame (my non-electrical) two cents.

[Rob Nash]

you built a giant battery./.

it has to be the pump or something you have in the water... be careful, the tank is not grounded and the GFCI plug wont work correctly... if you had a ground wire going into the fish tank, it would trip the gfi plug.. don't be the ground!

for the record, I don't recommend the submersible version of the heater any more.. ive had that tingling feel too often.. the water line connector leaks... I use the through wall design, and love it.

 

conclusion.. one more reason not to use IBC totes

[David - WI]

You should not be able to measure a static electricity charge with a "contact" type probe/meter... so that seems kind of unlikely to me.

I would almost be that there's a leak in the insulation of the pump or cord, that's travelling through a temperature probe or through the water in a plastic pipe or even water on the floor.

We used to get "zapped" all the time by the pump in our ceramic tile saw.  You would be fine for the first hour or so until you got some water on the floor and on your shoes & clothes... then you would start to feel the "tingle" and if you had any fresh cuts (pretty common when working with tile & sanded grout) you would really feel the shocks.

[Jim Fisk]

As a 20 yr. master electrician I have to say you guys are pretty funny.

A 120v pump leaking into the water will not give you 300v+ DC. Also, it was not to ground but between adjacent IBC cages which are insulated from the water. Also an electronic meter will not short out the static if it were static. That is why we electricians use "wiggies" because digital meters will read potential like static and will give a false reading. Anyhow I appreciate the effort. This thread is so old I had forgotten that I had posted it. And no there is no "power" to be had or I would have been on my keester. The pump by the way is in the below grade sump and not in either of these tanks (and btw I love the IBCs.)

I haven't noticed the phenomenon since and it has been nearly a year since I posted this. It will just have to remain a mystery but my money is on "static" from the water flow thu the plastic pipes. A sort of AP lightening if you will. I vote with Keith