electrical question

escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
Ok i'm no electrician so this may be a dumb question but..... with my new 120gal system I literally have 12"things" that need to be plugged in for my tank. Now that in addition to the other outlets in the room my tanks in puts a heavy load on the circuit. My tank is in a bedroom/office with my computer also on the same circuit. Now I have done everything correctly and installed a GFIC outlet but it is on the main circuit in the room that feeds all the other outlets. So what happens is it trips the GFIC pretty often. Am I missing something here or is it a fact that unless I get power for some of the "Stuff" from another room this will continue to occur? Any reccomendations? It is in a brand new house, we moved in 4 months ago but each bedroom has its own breaker in the breaker box so all outlets in the room my tank is in are on one circuit. The power comes into one outlet and then the rest feed off of it in parrell. Do I need to install a separate circuit just for my tank so it wont overload and trip the GFIC? Or maybe get a higher amp rated GFIC? Any suggestions greatly appriciated!
Kyle
:confused:
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
The total load on the circuit will not trip the GFCI If you were overloading the circuit the breaker would trip
Something in the way its all plugged in is the problem I would think. Are you using any thin extenion cords? Is anything getting wet?
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
nothing getting wet, no extension cords only those 6 outlet surge protector strips w/ about 3 foot cords. I have 2 of those to accomodate all the plugs needed.
Kyle
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
How often does it trip? Have you watch to see if it trips when a certain piece of equipment comes on? maybe a heater or something
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
It doesnt just trip by itself, it has to be because of something. Like when the power went off today for a second, it tripped. I guess b/c everything tried to tuirn back on all at once.....It will trip if the flourescents are switched on and off sometimes too.
Thanks for responding reefnut,
Kyle
 
S

suave

Guest
Just thought I would jump in here. I am an electrician with about 9 years experience.
GFCI receptacles or breakers only trip for one reason. It is when they sense unbalanced current on the device. This means that current is bleading off to ground through something you have pluged in. This could be taking place throuh a bad cord or appliance. Also GFCI's can go bad. Motor loads also like to cause nuisance tripping to GFCI's. We never recommend having refrigerators on GFCI circuits because of this. If your pump is causing this to trip you may have to plug it directly into a regulare outlet.
Your GFCI will not trip because of putting too much load on it. That is what you circuit breakers is for.
Hope this helps:)
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
I agree Suave but I have 3- pumps hooked into my GFCI with no problems and with aquariums i think everything needs to be plugged into a GFCI.
 
S

suave

Guest
Reefnut, I agree that everything should be plugged into a GFCI. Although if he temporarily plugs the pump into a regular outlet and it stops tripping this would tell me that the pump is going bad and needs replaced. This method could be used to test each peice of equipment one at a time.
Hope you find it.:p
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
All my pumps are brand new - mag 9.5 return, cap(dont know what size) for my skimmer with 4 maxijet 900 PH's. It could be one of those cheap 40w NO lights I bought though.....They were REALLY cheap and gotta have extremely "crappy" ballasts. Ill try to experiment with them tonight. Wait, I just remembered if I turn the switch for them on & off fast it will trip the GFIC, but never the breaker........hmmmm sounds like that might be the issue. Will check it out and let you guys know what I find.
Thanks again,
Kyle
 
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