Your Resident Electrician for all your electrical questions!

[JoshH]

How old is the GFCI outlet?

 

[Bthomas]

How old is the GFCI outlet?

Brand new. Had it installed for the tank and it wasn't used until I set the tank up about a month ago. Installed maybe 6 months ago

 

[JoshH]

Brand new. Had it installed for the tank and it wasn't used until I set the tank up about a month ago. Installed maybe 6 months ago

Humm.... is it a dedicated circuit? Kind of grasping at straws here, you have a unique problem

 

[Bthomas]

Humm.... is it a dedicated circuit? Kind of grasping at straws here, you have a unique problem

No it's not. The toaster and microwave are on the same circuit. And we have found that when we run those 2 together it trips the circuit (not the outlet one, the breaker box one) but if theyre not running all should be fine right..

 

[Brew12]

Do you have a ground probe installed?

 

[Bthomas]

Do you have a ground probe installed?

No

 

[Brew12]

Stick a finger in your tank and touch a screw on your light fixture with the other hand.

 

[Bthomas]

Ok it just tripped again. After maybe 20 minutes of everything being on

 

[Bthomas]

Stick a finger in your tank and touch a screw on your light fixture with the other hand.

Um.. that sounds potentially dangerous lol

 

[Brew12]

You have something failed in your tank. You just don't have a continuous path to ground. Once you get a path to ground it will trip.

 

[Bthomas]

You have something failed in your tank. You just don't have a continuous path to ground. Once you get a path to ground it will trip.

So what can I do

 

[Brew12]

Ok it just tripped again. After maybe 20 minutes of everything being on

The other possibility is that it needs to come up to a higher temperature so the expansion can allow electrical tracking through the water.

 

[Bthomas]

The other possibility is that it needs to come up to a higher temperature so the expansion can allow electrical tracking through the water.

You're talkin way over my head here

 

[JoshH]

Did you notice anything happening around the time it tripped? ATO kicked On maybe (if you turned it back on)?

 

[Brew12]

So what can I do

Get a ground probe!

They are invaluable for times like this.

I would put the Powerbar back on a non GFCI outlet and plug each item into the GFCI outlet (or extension cord run to it) and let each item run for 1/2 hour or so. Start with the heaters.

And really, you can touch the tank and a light fixture. The GFCI will prevent a serious shock, and even if the GFCI would fail it might hurt a little but is very unlikely to cause any serious harm unless you have a heart condition.

 

[Bthomas]

Did you notice anything happening around the time it tripped? ATO kicked On maybe (if you turned it back on)?

Ato did not kick on. Both heaters were set to constant on so there was nothing that could have just kicked on

 

[Bthomas]

Get a ground probe! [emoji14]

They are invaluable for times like this.

I would put the Powerbar back on a non GFCI outlet and plug each item into the GFCI outlet (or extension cord run to it) and let each item run for 1/2 hour or so. Start with the heaters.

And really, you can touch the tank and a light fixture. The GFCI will prevent a serious shock, and even if the GFCI would fail it might hurt a little but is very unlikely to cause any serious harm unless you have a heart condition.

What exactly would a ground probe do in a situation like this? Keep it from tripping? If i have something thats failed isnt it still bad with a ground probe lol
Sorry to sound like a noob i just know nothing about all this electrical stuff

I think im gonna pass on touching the metal with my hand in the tank the thought of that scares me lol

 

[Brew12]

What exactly would a ground probe do in a situation like this? Keep it from tripping? If i have something thats failed isnt it still bad with a ground probe lol
Sorry to sound like a noob i just know nothing about all this electrical stuff

A GFCI trips when the current on the hot prong doesn't match the current in the neutral prong. Normally, the path the "missing" current takes is through ground.

Our aquariums are glass or acrylic boxes which act as insulators. Even if you have 120VAC in the saltwater the GFCI may not trip because there isn't a path for current to flow to ground. Then, when we put our hand in the tank, get salt creep, or even some splashing, we get that ground path and the GFCI trips. The ground probe provides a constant path to ground so that the GFCI will trip immediately on a failure.

 

[Bthomas]

A GFCI trips when the current on the hot prong doesn't match the current in the neutral prong. Normally, the path the "missing" current takes is through ground.

Our aquariums are glass or acrylic boxes which act as insulators. Even if you have 120VAC in the saltwater the GFCI may not trip because there isn't a path for current to flow to ground. Then, when we put our hand in the tank, get salt creep, or even some splashing, we get that ground path and the GFCI trips. The ground probe provides a constant path to ground so that the GFCI will trip immediately on a failure.

Ok so if im understanding correctly. I'm unable to figure out what's faulty since i dont have a ground probe. That's why u say to leave each item plugged in for half hour or so and hope thats enough time to cause it to trip?
With the ground probe it would trip as soon as a faulty item was plugged in?

 

[Bthomas]

One other piece of info. The first time this happened I woke up to it being tripped and the ato resivouir completely dry. Could running that pump dry have caused it to be my problem? Its a tunze ato