An electrical event has caused multiple issues in my tank.

[Dom]

It was Saturday at 11am and everything on my tank was functioning as designed. I fed my tank and headed out for the day. But when I came home that evening, there was the smell of seaweed in the house. I thought that perhaps the algae scrubber needed to be emptied.

Imaging my surprise when I went to the tank and found that there wasn't any power. I found the following:

• Back flow emptied water into the sump (as expected).
• My lights are not connected to the battery backup and were on when I discovered the tank. This tells me the power failure was not household (I checked if there was a power failure with my neighbor), but within the equipment rack itself.

Upon further investigation, I found:

• The main circuit breaker to the rack tripped.
• The GFI outlet also tripped and could not be reset. Testing the GFI, there was no voltage to the outlet, but, there was voltage at the wire. I replaced the GFI.
• My temperature controller is all over the place, with readings fluctuating a full 3 degrees celcius right before my eyes.

Since discovering the tank:

• GFI outlet is replaced.
• Equipment rack has been cleaned up and simplified.
• Tank is currently running, but the temperature controller is suspect.

Does anyone care to provide a theory ? I'd like to figure out what happened to prevent it from happening again.

Thank you,
Dom

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Bad heater releasing current and constantly tripping the gfi?

 

[Dragen Fiend]

When you tested the GFI, turn off the circuit, remove the wire, waited a little bit then wired it backup and flip the circuit to see if it will reset?

Otherwise I can only think of two possibilities.
1. GFI is faulty
2. You overloaded your circuit, burning it out.

 

[Dom]

When you tested the GFI, turn off the circuit, remove the wire, waited a little bit then wired it backup and flip the circuit to see if it will reset?

Otherwise I can only think of two possibilities.
1. GFI is faulty
2. You overloaded your circuit, burning it out.

I was able to get the GFI to reset (button) when it was on the bench and not plugged in. But it still didn't show voltage when I measured.

 

[Dom]

Bad heater releasing current and constantly tripping the gfi?

I should check for stray voltage.

 

[Lavey29]

Fish splash water out of the tank onto circuts?

 

[Daz_1978]

Preface: I've been in the electrical trade for way more years than I'd like to admit.

GFCI receptacles go bad... way too often. Sometimes they just quit, sometimes they won't reset, sometimes they catch on fire. I hate them! I much prefer GFCI breakers. You don't have to move a fish tank out the way to get to the reset button of a breaker, plus they are much higher quality IMO.
I have neither in my house. I tend to blow dry my hair after the shower, not during.

My guess would be:
A. The heater is malfunctioning and took out the GFCI.
B. The GFCI malfunctioned and took out the heater.
I'd lean heavily towards A. Malfunctioning heater.

Legal Disclaimer: I do not recommend deleting your GFCI protection. Always follow your local building codes. Also, I love lawyers... they're just as high on my list as the Pope.

 

[Dom]

Preface: I've been in the electrical trade for way more years than I'd like to admit.

GFCI receptacles go bad... way too often. Sometimes they just quit, sometimes they won't reset, sometimes they catch on fire. I hate them! I much prefer GFCI breakers. You don't have to move a fish tank out the way to get to the reset button of a breaker, plus they are much higher quality IMO.
I have neither in my house. I tend to blow dry my hair after the shower, not during.

My guess would be:
A. The heater is malfunctioning and took out the GFCI.
B. The GFCI malfunctioned and took out the heater.
I'd lean heavily towards A. Malfunctioning heater.

Legal Disclaimer: I do not recommend deleting your GFCI protection. Always follow your local building codes. Also, I love lawyers... they're just as high on my list as the Pope.

I've installed a new GFI (which I always install in a convenient location). Everything appears to be functioning now.

I am noticing that the controller readings are all over the place, and was beginning to think that the GFI failed (for some reason) and in the process, damaged the controller.

Both heaters are currently producing heat. I have no stray voltage in the tank, which leads me to believe the heaters are not the issue... unless... can a damaged heater have this effect on the controller?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've installed a new GFI (which I always install in a convenient location). Everything appears to be functioning now.

I am noticing that the controller readings are all over the place, and was beginning to think that the GFI failed (for some reason) and in the process, damaged the controller.

Both heaters are currently producing heat. I have no stray voltage in the tank, which leads me to believe the heaters are not the issue... unless... can a damaged heater have this effect on the controller?

Is the tank grounded?

The only thing a damaged heater could do to a controller is suck more power than the controller is rated for.

 

[Daz_1978]

I am noticing that the controller readings are all over the place, and was beginning to think that the GFI failed (for some reason) and in the process, damaged the controller.

Both heaters are currently producing heat. I have no stray voltage in the tank, which leads me to believe the heaters are not the issue... unless... can a damaged heater have this effect on the controller?

The GFCI failing and doing something funny to the controller is a very probable scenario.

I'm guessing you checked the voltage via one probe of a meter in the water and the other in the ground prong of a receptacle... with all of the equipment on?
I'm only asking about that, because stray voltage might would cause fluctuations on the controller! Or it could just be a controller on it's last leg.

If it were me, I'd get a grounding probe and a new controller. Considering heater failure is one of the leading causes of tank crashes, I wouldn't mess around with it.

 

[exnisstech]

This in one reason I don't like life support systems on gfi. I've had them trip for no obvious reason. I know of one that would trip when a cat brushed up against it. That one took a while to figure out.

 

[Tub Life]

FWIW I had a similar issue recently.
Tank lights were on as they are on a different circuit.
But everything dealing with sump was off.

Flipped breaker back on and it would just trip.
Unplugged everything and plugged back in one at a time.
Found a faulty heater.
Removed that, plugged everything back in and no issues.

Your issue sounds like it could have been the GFCI.
*However, if you feel like your controller is acting up, I would change that out for peace of mind.
I've had a heater turn my tank into reef soup before and it is not cool at all.

 

[Dom]

Okay... congratulations to all who picked the heater; you're a winner!

It looks like the heater caused the GFI to trip.

I've installed an new GFI and a new controller will be arriving tomorrow.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Okay... congratulations to all who picked the heater; you're a winner!

It looks like the heater caused the GFI to trip.

I've installed a new GFI and a new controller will be arriving tomorrow.

Glad you were able to find out what was causing the issue!

 

[Dom]

Glad you were able to find out what was causing the issue!

I was premature in my post.

The system ran for about 6 hours without issue... at first. Then it popped again!

I realized that the heaters were NOT plugged into the circuit that was popping. So I plugged them back in, and the tank has run without issue through the night.

On the circuit that was popping is a 15amp 120volt auto transfer switch which connects mission critical equipment to battery backup. I've removed it (which means I have to be home to switch it over to battery backup).

As of this post, the tank has been running continuously for 16 hours.

Perhaps it was the ATS?

 

[Daz_1978]

Perhaps it was the ATS?

Very possible!

 

[Utwo229]

Just a GFCI note: Any GFCI receptacle manufactured after 2006 (I recall) must have internal testing circuity. Some can have an alarm, but most just act like they tripped. Yes GFCI's do go bad, usually where there is a lot of lightening and surges. But they do save lives and especially helpful around all the equipment we attach to aquariums. So don't run out and replace a GFCI everytime it trips because it may be your equipment is faulty.

And, if a breaker is "popping", it is likely overloaded (not broken). Most of the time that will occur when a motor starts up. And a faulty motor can easily demend more power over time as it slowly fails. Breakers are not meant to be used as everday switches either. They have a usefull life against regular on/off and frequent tripping.