Master Brian
DIY Senior Member
I have a small pond heater/de-icer. It is a disk with a coil on the bottom that gets just hot enough to keep a small opening in a garden pond in the winter. I believe this unit is supposed to be thermostatically controlled, in that it is only supposed to be on when the water temp hits around 35-40*.
Here is a link to a picture that looks like what I have.
I've had this about 3yrs, didn't use it last year as I didn't need it and wasn't sure about it's condition. This year I'd like to either throw it away or use it. The last time it was used, I lived at a different house, so different pond, different setup. There was a submersible light and a single pond pump. Not even sure if the circuit was GFCI'd or not. Don't think it was.
In any case, when I'd lean on certain rocks and stick my hand in the water, I'd feel a slight tingle. From what I recall, when I unplugged this heater in the spring, that wouldn't happen. None of my goldfish or koi seemed affected by this as they all survived the entire winter. I believe this happened 2-4 times before I finally tracked it down to possibly having something to do with this unit.
My question is, can I test this unit and how would I go about that? I have a volt/amp meter, but besides doing Ohm readings and basic ac/dc current readings, I don't use it much.
Being as I don't think the circuit was GFCI'd, is it possibly there was a bit of "bleedthrough" currrent just following the outside of the cord, causing me to pick up the shock, when I touched the rocks and water? Why wouldn't it affect the fish? All but one of those fish is still alive today at my new house and they are thriving. The one that died, died as the result of a bad hail storm this year.
The pond circuit at my new house is GFCI'd, would it be safe to plug it in there to test it somehow and is this something the GFCI should pick up? I have a small pond feeding my larger one, I could test it in, but I should note, that my dogs frequently drink from that one!! It doesn't have any fish at this point.
I guess my main goal is determining if this thing is safe or not and how would I determine that?
Here is a link to a picture that looks like what I have.
I've had this about 3yrs, didn't use it last year as I didn't need it and wasn't sure about it's condition. This year I'd like to either throw it away or use it. The last time it was used, I lived at a different house, so different pond, different setup. There was a submersible light and a single pond pump. Not even sure if the circuit was GFCI'd or not. Don't think it was.
In any case, when I'd lean on certain rocks and stick my hand in the water, I'd feel a slight tingle. From what I recall, when I unplugged this heater in the spring, that wouldn't happen. None of my goldfish or koi seemed affected by this as they all survived the entire winter. I believe this happened 2-4 times before I finally tracked it down to possibly having something to do with this unit.
My question is, can I test this unit and how would I go about that? I have a volt/amp meter, but besides doing Ohm readings and basic ac/dc current readings, I don't use it much.
Being as I don't think the circuit was GFCI'd, is it possibly there was a bit of "bleedthrough" currrent just following the outside of the cord, causing me to pick up the shock, when I touched the rocks and water? Why wouldn't it affect the fish? All but one of those fish is still alive today at my new house and they are thriving. The one that died, died as the result of a bad hail storm this year.
The pond circuit at my new house is GFCI'd, would it be safe to plug it in there to test it somehow and is this something the GFCI should pick up? I have a small pond feeding my larger one, I could test it in, but I should note, that my dogs frequently drink from that one!! It doesn't have any fish at this point.
I guess my main goal is determining if this thing is safe or not and how would I determine that?