I have a problem with my brand new rack system. The rack system is set up 4 tubs wide and 5 tubs high. There are 5 separate heating elements heating up each row. Each eating element is hooked up to a BN-Link thermostat. After setting the whole thing up I left it on to heat up the tubs and put in new substrate to get the humidity up. After about an hour I came and checked the thermostats and the hydrometeor to make sure everything was going well. Then I went to go touch the heating element and was shocked almost like an electric fence.
I went back and checked the instruction manual to see if I set it up wrong and I couldn’t find it. I then was thinking maybe it was just the one and I received a defective heating element, but all 5 heating elements gave me the shock. So I shut everything off and pulled one the heating elements off and inspected it and couldn’t find anything wrong. No frayed wiring, no bad connections, no missing tape, nothing. So then I inspected how they sit on the metal rack and the Velcro with the pad was not pinching anything.
Now I left the name of the company I got this rack system from out of this for a reason because I have not been able to get ahold of them yet. But I bet if you have the same rack system I have you can tell which one it is. But there is no way this is normal. Can anyone help me out?
It sounds like it could have short circuited through the tubs. Is the tape directly touching the metal tubs? What part of it did you touch that gave you the shock? Did it give you an instant shock or a shock for as long as you had your hand there? Pictures would also help to find the problem.
Also, does your thermostat come in contact with the metal tubs/heat tape or have a third probe on the plug? Also what kind of floors do you have and were you touching anything else or did you have shoes on?
I was trying not to say what kind of rack system but its a 5540 ARS rack. The rack is on a concrete floor on casters. Heating element is housed in a metal casing with isolation. The tubs are plastic and I do not get shocked through the tubs only when you touch the metal housing unit holding the heating element.
Did you install the tape yourself? Without pictures (if even possible) of the heating area then it will be hard to diagnose the problem. I’ll tag @owalreptiles since he has experience with electrical components.
I did not install the tape it come already assembled all I had to do was place the heating elements on each row. But thank you any help will be great.
Are you sure you have them plugged into a grounded outlet? From what I’ve gathered that’s required to prevent this from happening.
Yes it is. everything is a 3 prong and all ground s are hooked up correctly
I would double check the outlets, I’ve seen 3 pronged outlets installed that didn’t have the grounding wire attached.
Roger that I will have to double check it and I will be sure to get back in the AM
Is it the hybrid one? or the completely metal one? I have the hybrid one myself and I’ve never had an issue with it. Have you tried plugging all the heating elements into one power bar and plugging that into 1 thermostat?
I can only comment by what you describe, but I think you have two issues. Somewhere the rack frame is shorted, I’m not familiar with the design, but if all 5 shelves are shocking you, I’m more inclined to think the entire frame is shorted. Do you have a multimeter? I can list a few things to check if you do.
If the frame is shorted and the breaker/fuse isn’t popping, I think you also have a bad ground. Which could be the rack or your home.
Many of their racks are steel framed, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it shorted against the frame.
Yo, OP, have you contacted the manufacturer yet? Because that seems like step 0, to me.
Getting a multimeter and doing some basic continuity/ground checks on your power source (outlet) and all the parts from there to where you got shocked seems like a basic diagnostic to do, as @owalreptiles indicated.
I was looking at buying some of these, but if there’s a manufacturing defect that can cause electrical shock or shorting, then I’m hard out. Maybe I’ll have to build my own racks with HDPE sheet after all. Please keep us posted on what turns out to have been the cause.
So I got ahold of the manufacturer and did what they had told me to do. Nothing worked. The manufacturer was extremely helpful but we could not figure it out. So I got my multimeter out and figured it out. All of you are correct and extremely helpful. I went back to everything the outlet was connected to and about 3 outlets down the ground wire was not connected correctly and the hole thing was not grounded. I fixed the ground wires and ran the multimeter on everything and i have no issues. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I feel so dumb that I didn’t think about that sooner. 
We’re glad that you got it fixed. At least you have experience with this so you can prevent it in the future.
You did figure it out, though, and I applaud both you and the manufacturer’s support. Glad to hear it was not a flaw in the product design. Thank you so much for the update.
If fixing the ground fixed your issue, there’s still an issue. The shocking part shouldn’t be happening in the first place. A ground is supposed to make the breaker or fuse pop, in case of a short. Now you have leakage going to ground. If you feel so inclined plug the rack into a GFCI. They are normally in bathrooms, kitchens, basements ect. If it doesn’t trip the GFCI, it means the leakage is less than 5ma and considered not dangerous.
I wonder if they all have a little leakage from induction or something.
I agree with the above, I would check all solder/rivets on the heating elements and other ends of the buses for missing or damaged insulation. If it’s shorting to ground the problem hasn’t been solved, there’s still a short. Are you getting heat from the panels when they’re turned on?
So after all of your suggestions I went back and checked every outlet from the breaker box to that outlet. I did find out that about 1/2 way down there was another box with a bad ground connection on top of that the black wire (hot) and the white (neutral) where switched. this led to everything past that to have it reversed. So there was more wrong with it than just the ground.
With this being said I have started going around the house and checking every outlet with the multimeter finding anything wrong. You got to love the old houses.