I've bought a pet fountain with a submersible pump which operates on a 12 volt adapter. Soon I have second thought since I know nothing about electricity or safety of electrical appliances. Would anyone please advise:

1. In case there's any power leakage into the water, is my cat safe when she drinks it? (I read that human death could even occur for 50 volt electric shock. Is 12 volt safe enough for my 10 pound cat?)

2. Instruction manual says water level should be above the pump all the time. In case water level is below the pump, is there any hazard?

3. Instruction manual also says the pump should "always run under direct supervision". That scares me. Of course that's not practical and it is expected to be unattended very often. Is there any possible hazard?

4. I read from the web that submersible pump should have a grounded plug to be safe. The adapter for the pump has 3 prongs. Does it mean it is grounded?

Many thanks!

 

If the pump as 3 prongs (and it must) then it is safely grounded. Don't worry..
And its not the 12V thats the problem really..its the other side of the transformer with the line voltage on it that could get wet in the event of a leakage.

 

Make a drip loop in the wire and tie it off there, it prevents water from traveling all the way back to power adapter.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/equipmentquestions/f/driploop.htm

It's a good idea to do this w/ any hoses or wires that exit the aquarium it can prevent water from reverse siphoning water into air pumps ect.

Other then that if the pump looks sketchy use a lil pure silicon caulk around where the pump and wire intersect.


-luvv-

 

<snip>2. Instruction manual says water level should be above the pump all the time. In case water level is below the pump, is there any hazard? <snip>

The reason you want to keep the water level above the pump may be two fold.

1. To prevent the pump from sucking in air and causing it to lock up and stop working.

2. Possibly may be needed to help cool the pump durring operation.

As the others have stated though, you should have no problems with your pump since it is grounded through the third prong on the plug.

Brian