6060 Shorting Out.

[Rook]

Roger,

I have a Tunze 6060 that is roughly two years old (I can provide the serial number which should provide more accurate age.) It has been running in my tank the entire time without fail or problem. Last week I noticed that my GFI was tripped. Upon some examination I determined that the 6060 was causing the GFI to trip.

As some background information, I had an electrician run a new dedicated circuit for the tank, which includes a GFI grounded outlet.

I ran the pump in a bucket of 30% vinegar water overnight to clean it, and tested it. It appears to work fine. Except that when I place the pump in the tank and plug it in, actually the second the plug toughes the outlet, the GFI trips. To add to the facts, even if I have the pump in the tank and attempt to plug it into a different outlet on a different circuit, the tank circuit will trip.

This leads me to believe there is a short. Upon inspection I cannot find any problems with the wire. The pump will work on a non-GFI outlet if it is not running in the tank. And, I cannot detect any stray voltage with my hand in the water. Thus, I've concluded that there is an internal short or voltage leak that is causing the GFI to trip.

Does this sound right? And, what can I do about this other than thosing it out?

Thanks for the help.

 

[rvitko]

You can buy a new motor block at a reduced price if you contact me by phone. GFI's can be tempermental and they don't work with every appliance. Contrary to popular belief they don't indicate a short or stray current to ground. They only react to a delay or difference in current in vs current out, motors and ballasts frequently have such delays and it doesn't necessarily indicate a short or fault of the product. My guess would be that the motor is older and there may be a few weak windings in the coil and this is causing a delay in current that trips the GFI. This is not uncommon, an older pump has likely locked up once or twice and gotten hot and has some minor internal damage. I can't explain why it would trip the GFI on another circuit, I would suspect it is the same circuit and the entire circuit is protected by the GFI.