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[Brew12]

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?

It is more likely to trip as soon as plugged in with a ground probe.

It is possible, especially if it is a motor, that it needs to reach a certain operating temperature to trip. The motor heats under use causing the internal components to expand. This expansion may open a crack in the housing allowing electrical current to pass through.

 

[Brew12]

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

Its possible, but it seems unlikely, Couldn't rule it out though. Do you think the return pump may have run dry also? Or could heaters have become uncovered? Not sure of your sump/tank layout.

 

[Bthomas]

Its possible, but it seems unlikely, Couldn't rule it out though. Do you think the return pump may have run dry also? Or could heaters have become uncovered? Not sure of your sump/tank layout.

No I don't think that could have happened. There would have to be a good amount of evap to get the water level to uncover pumps or heaters

 

[Bthomas]

Im trying each item on the gfci for half hour to see if anything causes a trip. But what if i go through each item this way and no trip? Then what? I'm going to order a ground probe but I don't have anywhere local where i can get one quickly.

Luckily theres no fish in the tank yet only inverts and a couple coral so i think the only thing i need to worry about is temp correct

 

[Brew12]

Im trying each item on the gfci for half hour to see if anything causes a trip. But what if i go through each item this way and no trip? Then what? I'm going to order a ground probe but I don't have anywhere local where i can get one quickly.

Luckily theres no fish in the tank yet only inverts and a couple coral so i think the only thing i need to worry about is temp correct

Without fish you can go longer without the oxygen exchange so temperature is your major concern. You could end up with pH issues if it goes too long.

If you don't get a trip I would plug the power bar into the non GFCI receptacle with the return pump. I would only plug one heater into the powerbar. If you feel safe doing it, you can plug the other one into the GFCI outlet. I would run with one device in the GFCI as much as possible but in a way that won't hurt if you aren't there to pay attention.

 

[Bthomas]

Without fish you can go longer without the oxygen exchange so temperature is your major concern. You could end up with pH issues if it goes too long.

If you don't get a trip I would plug the power bar into the non GFCI receptacle with the return pump. I would only plug one heater into the powerbar. If you feel safe doing it, you can plug the other one into the GFCI outlet. I would run with one device in the GFCI as much as possible but in a way that won't hurt if you aren't there to pay attention.

And then leave it that way until I get the probe? And that should allow me to figure out what's at fault?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

It's a process of elimination, placing each device on the GFCI by itself and then seeing what causes it to trip

 

[Jason P]

first plug in a hair dryer or electric drill, something with a heavy load to see if its the supply side. then plug all your stuff 1 at a time to find your troublemaker

If it is a problem with the line side the GFCI should not work at all, it would trip and then not be able to be reset. If it was overloading the line side it would trip the breaker. I would start with your plug strip and make sure that it doesn't have any issues.

 

[siggy]

If ato pump ran dry all night I would look there . Can you lift the ato sensors to tell it to pump?

 

[Bthomas]

If ato pump ran dry all night I would look there . Can you lift the ato sensors to tell it to pump?

Yeah it does still pump

 

[Bthomas]

If it is a problem with the line side the GFCI should not work at all, it would trip and then not be able to be reset. If it was overloading the line side it would trip the breaker. I would start with your plug strip and make sure that it doesn't have any issues.

How do i check the plug strip for issues?

 

[Jason P]

3 black box leds (one cord for blue, one for white), skimmer, return pump, 2 heaters, another power strip with a gyre and a reactor pump, ato (which is still unplugged at the moment cause i knew it would go crazy with the water level in the sump)

What is the size of the heaters? What is tripping the GFCI, or the breaker?

 

[Bthomas]

What is the size of the heaters? What is tripping the GFCI, or the breaker?

300w cobalt aquatics heaters. The gfci is tripping not the breaker

 

[Jason P]

How do i check the plug strip for issues?

Did you say everything was plugged into an Apex unit? I would plug everything back in and let it run for awhile and feel the strip after a couple hours, see if it feels warm. You could be over loading the unit. You could try a standard power strip for the night and see if the same issue accurs. Is the Apex setup to run something by at night?

 

[siggy]

like floyd said get a cord and plug into gfci, then plug each piece of equipment in 1 at a time and make shure each piece turns on and runs for a minute or two then do the next piece until you find the troublesome piece of equipment, if you are still unsuccessful you will need the ground prop to discover the problem

Jason, pardon the semantics , test the Gfci integrity using a hair dryer

 

[Bthomas]

like floyd said get a cord and plug into gfci, then plug each piece of equipment in 1 at a time and make shure each piece turns on and runs for a minute or two then do the next piece until you find the troublesome piece of equipment, if you are still unsuccessful you will need the ground prop to discover the problem

Jason, pardon the semantics , test the Gfci integrity using a hair dryer

Tried this already. I placed each item on the gfci by itself and everything ran fine individually.. no trips. Right now I'm trying each item on the gfci again but I'm leaving them plugged in for about half an hour to see if that causes a trip

 

[Jason P]

like floyd said get a cord and plug into gfci, then plug each piece of equipment in 1 at a time and make shure each piece turns on and runs for a minute or two then do the next piece until you find the troublesome piece of equipment, if you are still unsuccessful you will need the ground prop to discover the problem

Jason, pardon the semantics , test the Gfci integrity using a hair dryer

How would a hair dryer test the integrity of the GFCI. A GFCI will trip when there is a ground fault, not an overload situation. Hence called ground fault circuit interrupter.

 

[siggy]

How would a hair dryer test the integrity of the GFCI. A GFCI will trip when there is a ground fault, not an overload situation. Hence called ground fault circuit interrupter.

I may be wrong but I thought it measures an imbalance between the hot and return...excuse me, the supply and the neutral

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

Same thing. Current on the hot and neutral should be the same. If it's not, then some current is going to ground. That's what a ground fault is.

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.

So putting a hair dryer on the GFCI will (should) not cause the GFCI to trip. Unless you put the hair dryer in the water. Then it should trip.

 

[Jason P]

I may be wrong but I thought it measures an imbalance between the hot and return...excuse me, the supply and the neutral

It senses an imbalance between the hot and the neutral. It's like .2mA that will trip GFCI. But it's not an over current device.