UV keeps tripping GFCI??

[Ocelaris]

My recollection, is that all the current leakage is summed; so you have 1ma from a bad corroded ground + high voltage transformer like the UV +HO units, and that's what it takes. I was in the same boat a year and a half ago, and finally stumbled across the right split on the 2 GFCI circuits that keeps it from tripping. I was at the point of replacing the standard breaker + GFCI outlet with a AFCI/Combo unit, but figured that would be just as bad, and $200 down the drain.

If you can find a good electrical supply house they may have Lutron, Eaton or Legrand receptacles. I'm a huge Lutron fan, but so far I have stuck with Leviton for price, although at $20 a pop, they're not cheap. I bought 2 when my Christmas lights wouldn't turn on... Someone stuck a used/bad one back in a box and put it back on the shelf (which I then unsuspectingly bought). Then I had to return to the store and explain that I was returning a very clearly used GFCI...

I had also looked at getting a Tripplite ISOBAR... which has some noise filtering, but I never got that far.

 

[Cory]

I have installed a second gfci and isolated the power supply of the uv to it and so far it hasnt tripped but still very early to tell if it will last. Can’t believe pentair would have these defects and not solve it. If this doesn’t work Im going to get a lifeguard 55w. Don’t want to risk electrical shock on unprotected circuit.

My lifegard 90 watt has been complaint free since i got it in the summer.

 

[piranhaman00]

40 watt pentair tripping GFCI, is this standard?

 

[GK3]

So starting yesterday and now today as well, ive noticed that my 40W Pentair SMART UV seems to be tripping my GFCI outlet.
I have the UV itself and the feed pump for it (Maxijet900) both hooked up to the same GFCI outlet (controlled by my apex, the gfci is the DIY in-line type that @Brew12 made and had the tutorial on) and everything will run fine for hours, and then suddenly it will trip.
I took apart the UV and checked all the seals, and no water way leaking into the electronic area, everything was fully dry.
But then about 10 hours later afer i reset the gfci it did it again.
Both the feed pump, UV, and the GFCI outlet are less than 2 months old as this is a brand new build.
Is there a way that i can do some further testing to figure out if its the UV itself or if its the feed pump, or a bad gfci?

Sounds like the bulb is faulty or there is a short. Have you tested the water with a volt meter for stray voltage?

 

[piranhaman00]

in this case it turns the unit off if water were to leak into the electric part of the unit which in turn could potentially start a fire.

Did you ever get yours running properly?

I just called pentair and they were clueless about the issue and offered no help.

 

[moreef]

I changed out an outlet near my tank to gfci and have the uv plugged into it. It will not work when I plug into eb8 so that kind of sucks but it has not tripped yet for going on a week. Currently battling the power outages in TX so havent had it plugged in for few days.

 

[Ocelaris]

I have mine on the eb8, but yes, it's leakage current from the fluorescent ballast. Try it on a separate circuit where you don't have other fluorescent ballasts or like the above poster mentioned bypassing the Apex. Leakage is cumulative, so other items may also add to it. It's hot to neutral or ground, gfci adds up the current on the hot and subtracts it from neutral or ground and if there's more than 5ma it trips.

 

[olonmv]

40 watt pentair tripping GFCI, is this standard?

Nope, a 15a GFCI is capable of handling 1800w at 120v.

 

[Steve27]

Anybody find a fix for this? I'm having the same issue with a Pentair 25w UV. Tried on different gfci plugs on same circuit and trips within an hour. Just set up the system and bulb is dry so no water leakage in the UV sterilizer. Do I need a separate circuit Gfci protected for this UV sterilizer? Would aGfci breaker be better than an outlet? Thanks.

 

[piranhaman00]

Anybody find a fix for this? I'm having the same issue with a Pentair 25w UV. Tried on different gfci plugs on same circuit and trips within an hour. Just set up the system and bulb is dry so no water leakage in the UV sterilizer. Do I need a separate circuit Gfci protected for this UV sterilizer? Would aGfci breaker be better than an outlet? Thanks.

There is no fix. UV must go on non gfci, if you call pentair they will say they don’t know what you are talking about trust me

 

[Steve27]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I need to install a non gfci and plug it in there. Don't want $400 sterilizer to just sit there

 

[JumboShrimp]

Not to torture your mind on this issue more, but I have a Pentair 40w plugged into this for about 8 months. It does not trip off. It did occasionally at first— but I read (maybe in the instructions? Or on R2R?) to have the UV unit be the only thing plugged into it. That solved the problem. Haven’t had it kick off in at least 6 months. Best wishes.

 

[Ocelaris]

I think it's a balance of other things on the circuit and power strip. T5 ballasts leak current, and that's the problem. I have two circuits to my tank and the pentair would trip it sometimes. After splitting up the loads I've been fine for almost 2 years. Try moving the ballasts off the same power strip to start. I considered getting an isolation power strip, but ended up not needing it.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Just to clarify for people, the fact that an item trips a GFCI doesn't automatically mean that it's leaking current. GFCIs work by comparing the current going out vs current going back. If there's a difference the device assumes there's a leak and trips. most GFCIs trip at about 5 mA of ‘leakage’ current. It doesn’t care if that’s from one device or 50.

There are also some types of inductive loads that will cause transient discrepancies and tend to trip GFCIs, even though there is actually no true ground fault. My guess is that UV filters here fall under this category.

 

[Ocelaris]

I think sleepydoc is right. It could be a number of things, but the ballast seems to be the culprit. There's other references to fluorescent ballasts tripping gfcis through out the interwebs.

Can switching on fluorescent lights trip a GFCI?

I wired a switch for basement fluorescent lights to be protected by a GFCI. But intermittently, when the switch is turned on, it trips the GFCI. It only happens right at the point that the switch is first turned on, but it doesn't happen every time. I checked all the connections and...

forums.mikeholt.com

 

[Gup]

I won’t run a whole system on a single gfci circuit it’s too risky

It’s not risky at all. It depends how many amps you are pulling on that single circuit line, not the amount of outlets connected to the original GFI. I have three outlets and my shed pulling off a single GFI, which is in my house. I have a 15 amp breaker that runs that GFI outlet

 

[JumboShrimp]

Very interesting thread. All I know about electricity you could fit in a thimble-- with room left over. So I'm just glad I found a way not to trip my Pentair. For now.

 

[Steve27]

FYI. Switched UV sterilizer to a standard outlet 5d ago and hasn't been a tripping issue since. Definitely the UV tripping the Gfci outlet. Thanks for everyone's input and help.