MY DIY leak detector worked

[Paul B]

Today a pipe connected to my hot water heater started leaking. I installed the thing five years ago but it decided to leak today. I would not have known except the water in my reef tank started to get low even though I have an ATO that is gravity fed. Under my hot water tank I installed a DIY water shut off in case of a leak and it worked well. It uses a regular GFCI outlet. I installed an electric valve in the pipe that feeds the hot water tank. That valve is plugged into a GFCI so that if the GFCI trips, the water valve shuts off. I plug a wire into the GFCI where I only have the neutral wire and ground wire connected with nothing on the hot prong. The ends of that wire are under the hot water tank. If that wire gets wet, the GFCI trips off shutting water off to the hot water tank so I don't flood my house. The ATO for my tank is also on that line so the water to the tank stopped notifying me of the leak. I have the same system under my reef tank that shuts off the pumps if there is a leak. I love technology.

[BeanAnimal]

Paul... "Hot Water Heater" is redundant... it is a Water Heater.. Unless of course you are heating water that is already hot.

Good grief...

I would have assumed being a sparky, you would have rubbed elbows with enough plumbers that somebody would have learned you that years ago.

[Paul B]

How do you know I am not first heating it on my stove, then pouring it into my "hot water heater? Then it is not redundant, just stupid. :bum:
It's like what part of the baby do they make baby oil from? :wavehand:

[BeanAnimal]

At least you didn't tell us today that you got electrocuted yesterday....

[sleepydoc]

Figures you would do something like this!

So here's my question:
GFCIs trip when there's a current difference between Hot and Neutral. Neutral and Ground are bonded/connected at the main service panel, so they should be at the same potential, and if they're at the same potential, there shouldn't be any current flowing, so why does the GFCI trip when they are shorted out?

[Paul B]

At least you didn't tell us today that you got electrocuted yesterday.

No, this is one day I didn't shock myself.

As for the GFCIs, There is a "slight" difference in potential between the neutral and ground depending on many factors like the distance to the panel and how many devices are on the circuit, but that difference is very slight and this configuration does not "always" work. It does not work under my reef tank but it works in my work shop. Under my tank I use the hot wire and I connect that to a 7 watt light bulb, then I use the return wire from that light bulb to detect the water. I put that return wire and the ground wire in a small container like a film container and put that in the place where I want to detect water. If you touch that return wire from that light bulb you will get a shock. But the GFCI will trip off so the shock will be very slight as I have gotten it numerous times. I may go and do it now just to wake up. Doing it this way is illegal so I didn't want to mention it but I am not a Sissy and don't necessarilly do everything that i am supposed to do. To do so would be very Girlyman like and I am also not a Girly man. :worried:

Then sent me for a course in GFCIs by the manufacturer when they invented the things as I was an electrician

[BeanAnimal]

I had many jokes in poor taste about using kids, pets, or the wife (be they yours or thy neighbor's) in various leak detector configurations... but in the modern hyper-sensitive atmosphere, the humor would be lost in favor of feigned outrage... So, in that context, I got nothing Paul... Nice job!

Just think, if things were then like they are now, we would not be graced with "101 uses for a dead cat" or "101 MORE uses for a dead cat"!

[Paul B]

I am sure cat lovers will start to complain. But there are plenty of fish lovers here and I just bought 2 lbs of flounder as I eat fish a few times a week. I can't swing a dead flounder here without hitting a dead cat.

[BeanAnimal]

I wonder if dead cats are used as flounder bait, I hear they eat anything...

[sleepydoc]

if you run out of dead cats, you can always use live ones to test your leak detector wiring. :p

Bean - just substitute cats for kids/wives/etc in your jokes. Cat jokes are never in poor taste!