gfi outlet keeps tripping

[bbreaux1]

i have my tank set up on a gfi outlet and has been set up for 8 months without a problem till the past two weeks the outlet has tripped three time. i have not added any new equipment. i curently have two 20 watt lights i think they are, emporer 300,prizm skimmer, two 201 power heads i theink htere hagen, a 200 watt heater, and a grounding probe. is this overloaded for one outlet?? or could it just be a pump that is jamming up or something any help would be greatful thanks

 

[wamp]

There are many diffrent possibilites.
Easist way to check what is causing it, is to unplug one item at a time. If it quits blowing, That is more than likely the cause.
A pump can cause it. A dirty impellar will cause the pump to pull more juice. It also could be the outlet itself.

 

[bbreaux1]

it doesnt happen all the time so i cant just unplug one thing at a time so i cleaned out my pumps and powerheads hopfully that clears things up but i didnt notice any of them were too dirty

 

[almarktool]

don't forget to check the lights if the connectors or contact pins start to build up salt or corrision then the extra load on them will cause it to trip also

 

[bang guy]

If it's not happening all the time maybe it's a heater. GFI will only trip if there is a fault to ground, not an overload. Your circuit breaker will take care of an overload. A cracked heater will trip only once in a while, especially in the summer.
Just a guess, but one I've experienced myself.

 

[richard rendos]

Heater would be my first guess also.

 

[scooter8416]

Your filter and power heads are motors. You can't hook up a motor to a GFCI outlet. It causes nusiance trips. I wouldn't even bother with a GFCI. I took Electrity and Electronics for school. It is just nusiance triping.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by scooter8416
Your filter and power heads are motors. You can't hook up a motor to a GFCI outlet. It causes nusiance trips. I wouldn't even bother with a GFCI. I took Electrity and Electronics for school. It is just nusiance triping.
Huh?? So, you use your hand to test if there's a ground fault or a broken heater?

 

[richard rendos]

I have everything on my 120 gallon tank on GFCI. I have inline pumps, powerheads, chiller, lights, etc. all on GFCI and never had any "nuisance" trips. I doubt that is it. Why can't you hook motors to GFCI?

 

[squidworth]

I think a gfi will pop on a 5ma disturbance. If it is wired in series it can also protect or be tripped by another circut down the line. I use one and love it. My first thing would be make sure nothing is bad in the tank. Second would be to go buy a new one and install it. There are many cheap ones that are junk. You will get what you pay for.

 

[scooter8416]

Well motors cause surges when they are turned on or are running. A GFCI don't measure the ground load. It measures the load between the hot and neutral wires. If there is an inbalance between the two it will trip. But now I think about it probably there isn't enough current draw for the to happen on aquarium pumps. So probably ur gfci went bad there know to do that.