Question about electricity and water.

[Shelia Hoyt]

I recently finished my aquaponics system and have had a bit of bad luck. First two days ago my pond pump quit working, so I thought no problem I have another pond pump but it would not work either, and I had just used it the week before. I had one more  pump which was  a sump pump with a  short cord.  I have been using this pump for two days and planned to use it  until my new pond pump arrives. Unfortunately Murphy's law was/ is still in full effect for me and when I went into the green house a few minutes ago I saw that the  pump was detached from the pvc pipe laying on its side, to the far end of the pond with the extension cord pulled under water. It appeared as if the water  was still swirling, but I was unplugging stuff fast so I am not certain.  I went to the well house after I unplugged everything and then checked the breaker box but it had not tripped. My question is  why did the breaker switch not trip? I thought that as soon as the cord hit the water it would have tripped. The good news is the fish appear to be alive and well.cord

[aubrey sloan]

always plug outside cords to gfi outlet if possible.most outlets around water are required,bathrooms and next to kitchen sinks.at the breaker box our breaker has a reset button on it.

[Alex Veidel]

Well, if your fish are still alive and you didn't blow a fuse, I guess you can assume that your connection didn't end up getting wet. So Murphy's law made an exception for you; wasn't that kind of him? :)

[Ian Cameron]

If your plug-in connections did not get soaked you should have been ok. The cord itself will not short when wet (except if the insulation is compromised and bare wires showing). As Aubrey suggests, get yourself some protection and install  GFI's. They are not hard to install  and can save you from some nasty experiences. You do not need to be afraid of electricity, but you do need to respect it.

[Shelia Hoyt]

 I don't know how because the cord and extension cord was was totally submerged, in the sump pond and the fish were in a 300 gallon tote, so I am not sure if the charge normally would have carried all the way to the fish tank, but I guess all is well that ends well....   I consider it a huge blessing especially thankful to God that  nothing serious came out of the mishap.

Alex Veidel said:

Well, if your fish are  still alive and you didn't blow a fuse, I guess you can assume that your connection didn't end up getting wet. So Murphy's law made an exception for you; wasn't that kind of him?

[Shelia Hoyt]

  I saw the plug from the pump and extension cord  under water and that is why I inquired. The sump pump had a short cord (unlike the pond pump)   the pump had 1&1/2 inch out put so it had a lot of pressure and that is probably why it separated from the pvc pipe and tipped over. It also had a float valve so the only thing I can figure is when pump started to turn over the float value came up and had already stopped the electricity from flowing  by the time the  extension cord went into the water. In hind sight I should have at least tied the cord to a rod or something so it would  valve pulled came apart instead of going into the pond. It was a temporary fix; I was already frustrated because my back up pump would not work and I had just used it the previous week with out any problems, and the sump pump was my last option and it was going to be several days until my new pump arrived.
Ian Cameron said:

If your plug-in connections did not get soaked you should have been ok. The cord itself will not short when wet (except if the insulation is compromised and bare wires showing). As Aubrey suggests, get yourself some protection and install  GFI's. They are not hard to install  and can save you from some nasty experiences. You do not need to be afraid of electricity, but you do need to respect it.