Your Resident Electrician for all your electrical questions!
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Bthomas
Well-Known Member
I would have to disassemble the tank and stand to remove the sump in order to be able to replace that outlet 
Plus I would have to pay an electrician to come do it as I wouldn't know anything about doing it myself..
Not really something i wanna do unless i know thats the problem
Plus I would have to pay an electrician to come do it as I wouldn't know anything about doing it myself..
Not really something i wanna do unless i know thats the problem
Yeah, i hear ya. Hopefully there arent any nuisance trips while your away from home.I would have to disassemble the tank and stand to remove the sump in order to be able to replace that outlet
Plus I would have to pay an electrician to come do it as I wouldn't know anything about doing it myself..
Not really something i wanna do unless i know thats the problem
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
Yeah I know. I need to get the problem sorted before I add anymore livestock
Try and figure out what brand it is and find the manual for it. There are certain testers used for Gfci's. But the testing of them are brand specific. If you test them with the wrong tester you could damage it sussposedly. At least thats what most of the directions say. But who knows that may be a way for them to make more money. When i install them and test them its always to the manufacturer's specs
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I apologize for dropping out of this. Unfortunately, I'll be on very sporadically for a bit.
Most big box GFCI testers are a go/no go test and not designed for accuracy so any would be fine to use.
The fact it tripped more than 1 GFCI makes having a bad outlet unlikely.
Since it is tripping on the white and blue I would say there are two possibilities. Either it isn't installed right, or the problem is before the panels. If the problem was in the panel itself then it should trip only when that panel is turned on.
This is pretty accurate. GFCI testers are a device that that creates a conductive path between hot and ground with a resister installed. Based on design, this resister may have a slightly different rating between brands. Using another brands won't cause the GFCI receptacle to fail. The only time it is important is if you are trying to verify the accuracy of the trip current
Most big box GFCI testers are a go/no go test and not designed for accuracy so any would be fine to use.
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
So to update, everything has been running fine since last night. No trips this morning when lights came on.
I'm running it without the one light box that I suspected was the problem. Although it did still trip once yesterday without that box when i first plugged everything back in. And now when i plug that box in to a seperate outlet by itself it does not trip. So im still not sure that was the only problem/if that box even was the problem..
I'm running it without the one light box that I suspected was the problem. Although it did still trip once yesterday without that box when i first plugged everything back in. And now when i plug that box in to a seperate outlet by itself it does not trip. So im still not sure that was the only problem/if that box even was the problem..
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
So now I have a seperate issue.. I put the other light fixture back on the tank to see if it would still cause a trip and now the color is different on that fixture then the other two.. I haven't changed anything, they are all running blues and whites at same percentages. But the one that has been unplugged until now looks brighter then the other two..
Any ideas?
Could the outlet trips have done anything to dull the lights on the other two fixtures? I dont understand what's going on here
I tried to adjust the light on the 3rd fixture to match the other 2 but I cannot get the color to look the same
Any ideas?
Could the outlet trips have done anything to dull the lights on the other two fixtures? I dont understand what's going on here
I tried to adjust the light on the 3rd fixture to match the other 2 but I cannot get the color to look the same
Isn't all that running thru a controller? If so maybe contact them. Check the voltage going to the outlets and such. The ballast may be messed up and sending a different voltage as well to the lamps
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
I have an older model apex i dont think i can see the voltage for each outlet
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
Another update:
Just tripped the main outlet again when turning lights on (still running without the one light that I had taken off the system, which also did trip another outlet today)
So problem is definitely with the lights but now it looks like its more then one light fixture? Its just so hard to tell which ones are the problem cause they only cause a trip every once in awhile..
I'm thinking I should maybe just replace all 3 fixtures
Just tripped the main outlet again when turning lights on (still running without the one light that I had taken off the system, which also did trip another outlet today)
So problem is definitely with the lights but now it looks like its more then one light fixture? Its just so hard to tell which ones are the problem cause they only cause a trip every once in awhile..
I'm thinking I should maybe just replace all 3 fixtures
Can you borrow a light and send yours to reef bright for repair? another option is to buy aquatic life hybrid to start and get Leds 1 at a time down the road. Good Luck
defasum
Community Member
I started a new tank build so I installed a GFCI outlet on the wall where I was placing the tank. That was 3 weeks ago when it was cold and everything has been working without issue. two days ago, I flipped the switch to turn on the ceiling fan (getting warmer outside now) and it immediately tripped the outlet. Every time the ceiling fan is turned on the outlet is tripped now. Of course the tank (full of water) and all equipment is in place now. It's VERY difficult to get back there to troubleshoot it. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do at this point? I hate to be messing with the outlet now because the sump is about 6 inches away and I have very limited space to work with.
I'd appreciate any help.
I'd appreciate any help.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
You have two likely things to check. First, the fan being grounded and causing a legit trip on the GFCI. The second likely cause is that the ground and neutral wiring between the tank and fan is crossed.
Bthomas
Well-Known Member
Yeah. And i can buy 3 new black boxes fairly cheap. Just an expense i wasn't planning on having right now
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Do more troubleshooting first.Yeah. And i can buy 3 new black boxes fairly cheap. Just an expense i wasn't planning on having right now
Plug a light fixture into a powerstrip that is on a non-GFCI circuit. Use your voltage meter to test from the metal housing of the light to ground. Test for AC and DC voltage.
You can also unplug the lights and open the up. They may just need to be cleaned.
There is no reason to run a ceiling fan on a GFCI. What's likely happening here is that leakage current from the motor winding wiring to the grounded fan frame is causing the trip. The answer is to remove the fan from the load side of the GFCI. This might not be very easy to do. Either you have to pull the GFCI and change the wires coming from the load side over to the line side, or wire the fan to another circuit.
GFCIs have terminals on the back (and screw terminals) so that you can connect the line side (incoming power) to the screw terminals and then another set of wires to the same side. That means that the second set of terminals is also connected to incoming power and thus won't be affected by the GFCI, if that makes sense.
Onle loads that are connected to the load side of the GFCI will be subject to GFCI operation. This way, you can have one GFCI and then several receptacles that are then dependent on it (downstream) or you can "parallel" other receptacles on the incoming side that are not affected by it.
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