Any electricians out there?

chiqui bb

Reefing newb
I had my equipment running to two different outlets (both GFCI) and never had a problem. Both outlets are on the same circuit breaker.

I wanted to consolidate everything to one of those outlets because it's behind the tank and I didn't like the cord running across the room for the other outlet.

I have my actinics set up on a timer and the daylights I turn on and off manually. No problems before but now that everything is on one outlet, when the daylights come on, I have about 5-10 minutes before the GFCI trips. Arrgghhhhh!!

Why is the outlet tripping?
 
Just my opinion, but I was worried about that issue with my set up so what I did was run my power strips to a NON-GFCI circut and then from there built satellite powercords that have an individual GFCI plug recepticle wired to it.

I have about four or five separate cords that are GFCI protected. That way if one trips only what is connected to that plug goes off. It sounds way more confusing than it is in reality. I even went one step further and added interrupt switches so I can control 90% of the equipment throught the front of the stand.

I have read that the outlet may trip because of the way that the florescent lights work (POSSIBLE SOLUTION - go to a higher AMP GFCI recepticle?).

In summary, everything IS GFCI protected even though I run off a NON GFCI plug AT the wall.

I am NOT an electrician so take what I did with a grain of salt. :twocents:
 
Why is the outlet tripping?
Because your running too many amps through that one GFCI Recepticle....

You need to split it up somehow, doesn't matter how you do it. You can do Bojangles method or whatever else would work best for you.
You could also look into different receptacles, that are maybe broken up into separate sections and replacing the one you have.
 
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GFCI's dont trip because of the amount of current going through them. They trip when there is an imbalance of current. It only takes about 4-6 milliamps to trigger. Putting a larger amperage GFCI would not solve this problem since the imbalance would still exist.

As for the GFCI outlet, it is either going to be a 15 or a 20 amp GFCI outlet. You wont be able to get any other sized outlet. Match it to the breaker size. If the breaker is 15 amps, then you can put either the 15 or the 20 amp GFCI outlet on. But if it is a 20 amp breaker, ONLY put a 20 amp GFCI outlet on there. If you only put a 15 amp outlet on, you could potentially draw 18 amps through it and burn it up because the breaker trips at 20 amps.

I would be that while you were working around behind your tank, you knocked some salt or splashed some water onto a power strip. Also check for salt creep around your equipment. If there is a slight amount of salt between the hot and ground, it could cause the GFCI to trip.

Wire and Cable Products GCFI FAQ | Coleman Cable, Inc.
 
Yes GFCI's do go bad, however, they usually made to fail in the tripped mode. As in they wont reset if it is a bad GFCI.

Since it is taking time to trip, I am inclined to say that the GFCI is working properly. You just need to narrow down where the leaking current is coming from. Have you tried just turning on your daylights by themselves to see if it trips then?
 
If I turn on the daylights but not the actinics, the outlet does not trip. Last night I moved the daylights and actinics to the other outlet and had no problems. The issue must have been too much power on one outlet. I assumed that since they were both on the same circuit that everything would be ok.

Both GFCI outlets are new (installed within the last 6 months) and they do reset so I'm certain they are not bad.

What I found so confusing was that the outlet did not trip immediately. I think what happened was that since everything was plugged into one outlet, both lights worked until the heater kicked on and drew enough power to trip. Sooo...back to cords running across the floor. :grumble:

Thanks bj for your input.
 
Its not too much current on one outlet. The main circuit would trip if it was too much current. GFCI dont care how much current is going through it. It looks at how much is going out and compairs it to how much is coming back. Circuits are supposed to be a closed system. so what ever is going out should be coming back. If it is too different, then the GFCI trips because there is too much current going somewhere else.

Each light has to have a little bit of leakage current, that when added up is more than a safe level. So when they are added onto the same GFCI, it trips.

And yes flourecent ballasts and pumps can cause what is called nuisance tripping. Although that is usually seen in older magnetic ballasts and not the newer electronic ballasts. Basically, because of how ballasts and pumps work, they build up a magnetic field which uses energy and the current is delayed slightly in this build up before it returns through the GFCI. It could also be this when the lights added together cause it to trip. But usually, this is right when the pump or light turns on since this delay is usually a very very very short amount of time.

That is why I am inclinced to say that there is current leaking and it is just taking time to build up to the level that trips the GFCI. Check for salt creep around your outlets, power strips, on your fixture, inside your fixture, anywhere that there is an electrical connection.
 
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