Possible water trough problem

[007sevens]

It'll only trip if there's a problem, and then you should be fixing the problem. Better than a dead horse.

Canadian Electrical Code requires all stock tank heaters be GFCI protected for good reason.

As a guy that once had 280 had of cows and many many water bowls I can tell you with most certainty that only humans are stupid enough to electrocute themselves. An Animal will die of dehydration before it dies from a water source with electricity in it.

Also I have never heard code that water bowls should be GFCI. Please show proof of this legislation cause I have never seen a GFCI on a bowl yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rzrgade]

Stray voltage , check your ground wires & or ground sorce


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bernoff]

No - I am hoping he will experiment a bit before using the multimeter and reports back. C'mom Bernoff. You know you really want to give it a try

Well your exactly right but you have to stick ONE finger into the water really fast so as to not get Zapped. No Shocks were incurred. Lol.

 

[Bernoff]

It'll only trip if there's a problem, and then you should be fixing the problem. Better than a dead horse.

Canadian Electrical Code requires all stock tank heaters be GFCI protected for good reason.

Not a problem it's the sweeties horses.

 

[007sevens]

Here is another thing to consider. Even if you do use or want to put in GFCI it won't trip with the amount of voltage that heater is losing. Cattle can sense as little a 7 volts and will steer clear of the source.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bernoff]

Okay you mad sciencetists I took it two clicks to left and got .3 then took it two to rightand got .9 "Of I have no clue" could be something Nuclear as far as my knowledge of electricity goes. BUT now going to make you scratch your heads. Shut the breaker off and got same results with multimeter. This thread might just get interesting.

 

[X-Treme]

Okay you mad sciencetists I took it two clicks to left and got .3 then took it two to rightand got .9 "Of I have no clue" could be something Nuclear as far as my knowledge of electricity goes. BUT now going to make you scratch your heads. Shut the breaker off and got same results with multimeter. This thread might just get interesting.

Did you put the red end in the water and the black to a ground? And JMCX was correct. It's 2 clicks to the RIGHT. My apologies. First pic was so blurry.

 

[Bernoff]

Did it both ways with red in water.

 

[X-Treme]

Maybe try your meter in a plug to make sure it's reading 120V across the 2 straight pins. Eliminate a possible bad meter or blown fuse in the meter.

 

[Bernoff]

Meter says 00.0 plugged into wall socket 124. When I was outside sticking it in the water it would go to .9 when I took it out of the water back to 00.0 Also did that when breaker was shut off.

 

[X-Treme]

Something wrong with your meter, or you have a dead plug, if you're not reading voltage across the plug. First guess would be blown internal fuse in the meter, if the plug is for sure good.

 

[JMCX]

When you figure out if the meter actually works try holding one lead to the side of the trough (assuming it is metal and sitting on the ground) and the other in the water near the powered heater. It also may matter if the element is 'on'. Is it thermostatic?

Fyi usually the black lead is in the COM (common) hole but it doesn't really matter for AC volts that we are looking for here.

 

[whoDEANie]

Sounds a bit funny that you'd get a reading at all if there is a blown fuse. There are typically two places for you to plug your red test lead into. Make sure it's plugged into the one meant for reading voltage, not the one meant for reading current.

 

[CatMan16]

The fuse in the multimeter is usually only connected to the circuit for measuring current. So you should still get voltage readings if the fuse is blown.

 

[LBZ]

How about just remove the heater and see if the animals come back to it. If they do, it's an electrical issue. If they don't then you might have bad water or they just don't like the trough for some reason.

 

[Bernoff]

Something wrong with your meter, or you have a dead plug, if you're not reading voltage across the plug. First guess would be blown internal fuse in the meter, if the plug is for sure good.

You had said I should get 120 in wall socket in house but I got 124.

 

[X-Treme]

Oh. Then your meter is working properly. I thought you said it read 00.0 when in the plug.

I would say that you DO NOT have voltage leaking into the water then.

 

[Bernoff]

When you figure out if the meter actually works try holding one lead to the side of the trough (assuming it is metal and sitting on the ground) and the other in the water near the powered heater. It also may matter if the element is 'on'. Is it thermostatic?

Fyi usually the black lead is in the COM (common) hole but it doesn't really matter for AC volts that we are looking for here.

I pretty sure it works. Trough is plastic. I even left it off over night and still get reading of .9 with black stuck onto ground and red in water. If I take red out of water the meter goes back to zero.

 

[Bernoff]

How about just remove the heater and see if the animals come back to it. If they do, it's an electrical issue. If they don't then you might have bad water or they just don't like the trough for some reason.

Well that's pretty obvious. That's why a person comes onto snow and mud. To find answers to life's little quirks. Lol. I want to know why I get the reading on the meter when it is in the water and still get them when power is cut off. Not an electrician so here I am.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Plastic creating static charge?