Just A Heads Up About Tank Water Heaters!!!

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CharmedMinis

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We've always used tank water heaters/de-icers in the winter here, never really had a problem.

Last year we had a couple horses that acted like they were getting shocked, so we put grounding rods in and it fixed the problem.

We just put in our heaters last week, some from last year, some new. We have a couple of floating ones, some sinkers, and some drain hole heaters, a total of 15 heaters.

The same horses were acting like they were getting shocked, then we started noticing more of the horses were acting skittish, but not all of the horses.

So my Dad finally took the volt meter out this morning to see what was up, because we couldn't feel any shock ourselves if we stuck our hand in the water.

Well he was shocked..........even with all of the tanks grounded by and extra copper tubing grounding rod there was volts detected in all of the tanks. A couple of tanks had as much as 40 volts running through them.

So I immediately called the company that makes the heaters and an engineer got on the phone with me and said that somewhere in my neighborhood or on my street someone had probably reversed the hot wire with the neutral wire and we were getting voltage to ground.

He gave us a fix for the heaters, just buy a prong adapter, but to also call the electricity company. So I did and they just left. The volts coming onto our property are fine, so it's not a neighborhood, street, or electricity company problem. But somewhere in our underground lines that run to the barn, and also to the garage and outbuildings, the neutral line has been damaged. So we have to get an electrician out to detect where the problem is.

In the meantime, the adapters on the heaters are fixing the problem.

The Moral: Don't assume your horses aren't getting shocked.........half of my horses either don't feel the slight shock they are getting, or they just don't care. The other ones are now terrified of their water tanks!
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OMG!!!! Thank god you noticed! Poor horses probably think it was a sick joke! :new_shocked:
 
OMG Lindsay! :new_shocked:

Thankgoodness you noticed it!!
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What a good mommy you are
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That is so scary! That is one of the reasons we decided not to go to those types of de-icers. I have heard alot of similar stories like what you describe. So, we went with the other type with them built in under the pail and also the outside tub has one built in under it as well.

I am not saying a shock might not happen using these, but it makes sense why it might not happen because of the way the de-icers are built in to them.

Nice to see you here again Lindsay! :bgrin

Jeri
 
The Moral: Don't assume your horses aren't getting shocked.........half of my horses either don't feel the slight shock they are getting, or they just don't care. The other ones are now terrified of their water tanks!
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I had the same exact problem and had grounded my tanks as well like you , some of my horses were still drinking some wouldnt go to those tanks for MONTHS afterwards. Needless to say I am breaking ice at this point I have a couple auto heaters in there turn outs but no more de-icers for me other then that
 
Poor guys!!! and if they are standing in mud that would really hurt. :new_shocked:

Robin
 
Don't forget that horses are much more sensitive to electric than humans. What might shock a human could kill a horse.
 
Thats good advice. I know alot of people will be switching to heaters like I will in the next few weeks, should be doing it now but oh well we manage lol. Every now and then when I do have the heaters I make sure that everything is good by sticking my hand in occasionally. Never had a problem but you just never know.
 
[SIZE=14pt]Hi Lindsey, :saludando: [/SIZE]

The neutral wire may be broke on the heater cod itself! You can buy a neutral tester at Lowes that plugs right into the recp. that has 3 lights on it and it will tell you where the problem is in your line! Hope your horses still drink their water!

Bill
 
When i was in college we had a similar problen at UNH with heated waterers. Part of my weekend job was to clean all the stock waterers. A couple of them could really give you a jolt. The problem was a faulty heater that when it came on it sent a charge back thru the neutral line to the rest of the heaters on that circut. The electrician spent a long time tracking down problem as it only happened with that one unit running. He would be out test the system and say all is fine, a few days later same problem. BTW the cattle and sheep had access to water beside the heated units.

Plugging any type of heater or heated bucket should be done with a GFI recpitical or circut. Any short or voltage on the neutral will instantly trip the GFI. You can even buy individual plug ins for each cord if needed at any hardware store, Lowes or Home Depot.
 
Lindsay,

That is really scary!

I'm glad everyone is okay and hope they will drink again now that you figured it out!

Susan O.
 
Wow! Good thing you noticed that! Thanks for sharing that with us. We're getting ready here very soon to set ours up and will definitely keep an eye out!
 
Hope they get up courage to drink again. Good Mommy for finding the problem!
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This is a good thread........ I get paranoid this time of year because we have had horses get shocked.

Even after my husband or I physically stick our hands in the trough, we still stand by and watch to make sure all the horses are okay with it.

I think I'm going to ask Larry to read this topic.......

MA
 
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I had an issue with one of mine a few years ago. I would check he water everyday, by sticking my hand in it. No problem, but I was noticing the same hesitation with my horses drinking . In the process of thoroughly checking the water heater, I was leaning over the trough and holding onto a metal fence post, and THATS when I could feel the shock. Only with one hand on a metal post and the other in the water. Ended up the heater was shorting out, replaced it and all is fine now, but now, I ALWAYS test my trough heaters while touching a metal post.
 
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This IS a great topic! I never thought about grabing a metal fencepost, always assuming if I didnt' get shcoked with my hand in the water it was ok. Sounds kind of sadistic actually but hey, why not? :bgrin
 
After reading these last few posts.

If you are going to test the water tanks with your hand in the water do not grab a metal post!

If you must make contact with a ground touch the post with the back of your hand! That way if you get a big shock from the heater you hand will be able to fall away from the post and you will lose contact. If you grab the post or panel or wire and get enough charge (which you will be getting all of it) it can cause muscles to contract thus you can't let go! Our old electrician taught us that on our construction jobs years ago.

Best way to test for voltage is get a tester. You can get them for as little as $10.00, a better digital one for $20-$30. Home Depots, Lowes, Sears and even Walmart have them.

Mark
 
WOW Mark, I would have NEVER thought of that. Glad you brought that to our attention.

Having that happen could surely ruin your day.
 

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