Of stray current, submersible pumps and electricity bills

[synchiropi]

So here is my story,

After thinking that I have solved my stray current problem, here I come back and find myself feeling the unmistake finger tingling. So here is what I found:

1. Salt creeping made the problem terrible (so I cleaned up all this)
2. Still stray current left!!
3. Worst offender by far is the Rio pump in my Turboflotor. Then there is another small Rio in my refugium that is ALSO causing stray current. Furthermore the two Quiet Oneo pumps in my sump are also causing some stray current too!!
4. If I turn off all the pumps then there is no stray current (like that is helpful!).

So here are all my questions...

a). Do all submersible pumps lead to stray current? Wow this frankly sucks. Pumps are all close to reaching their first year but this seems ridiculous. Is there any way to fix them. Should I just expect to buy new pumps every 6 months or so?

b). Any suggestions on non-current leaking pumps that would work with a Turboflotor 1000 (the sump one) and a hang on tank refugium?

c). With the whole energy craze going on, I cannot avoid wondering if the energy loss due to stray currents is making my energy bill even higher. Just wondering.

Thanks as always for the comments.

 

[Casino]

Get a grounding probe. Get rid of the rios and replace with similar pumps.

 

[synchiropi]

I already have a grounding probe and a GFI

Do you have any suggestions of specific pump brands?

 

[Casino]

If you have a grounding probe and your still getting shocked then theres somethiing rong. Maybe the probe isnt grounded or the outlet isnt grounded or the GFI isnt working right. Rios are just bad pump and a nightmare waiting to happen. Maxijets are the best alternatinves. Just see what the gph are on the pump you have now and replace with appropriate maxijet. I dont know about the pump on your skimmer but all you have to do is find the equivalent of that pump.

 

[smcnally]

Do you have any sensor probes in there? Anythingrunning on DC voltage? I had stray DC voltage from a temperature probe that a grounding probe would not take care of.

 

[Shallowwaters]

Rio's get blamed a lot. But I have five of them for various purposes and never had a problem. Most of their pumps of UL Listed and if you take good care of them, I believe, they are as good as any pumps. EXCEPT they don't like the start and stop of wave makers.

 

[G.T]

pumps

strangely enough the cheaper pumps do sometimes leak some power. There has been a lot of issues with previous rio's especially. Being in an oil bath unless they have changed this feature. Keeping salt creep down helps greatly as you have found also a grounding probe is a must, they can be commercially sourced or diy'd. But you really should have no tingling of the fingers in your tank it is extremely dangerous. Have you measured how much voltage with a meter you are registering?

 

[SHOmuchFUN]

I dunno... I've had a RIO pump feeding my calcium reactor for over a year... I'm probably jinxing myself now, but I haven't had any problems.