Electrical Issue (Help please)

[hampmp]

So I woke up this morning and went down stairs to find my tank drained to the return line. Went downstairs and the good news is that I had tested a couple times to make sure my sump had capacity. Now on to the bad news... the GFI on the plug had been tripped. I tried resetting the GFI and it immediately tripped. I unplugged everything and tried plugging in the return pump and it immediately tripped. I tried plugging a few other things in and it worked without an issue. All of this has been on the GFI for close to 3 months. Electrical is one of those things I don't know much about so if anyone could help me with this issue I would highly appreciate it.

Will the inhabitants and coral in the tank suffer? The sump and all the guts are downstairs. I have powerheads keeping water flow going up stairs.

 

[oshanickreef]

make sure you have a heater in the tank as well! but they should all be fine if you have some surface flow.

 

[hampmp]

I'll move the heater into the tank when I get home tonight.

 

[oshanickreef]

good deal... as far as electrical goes... im not the guy to answer... lol

 

[Aqua Man 07]

It could be a bad gfi outlet I had one go bad not long ago.

 

[u4ick]

Sounds like your pump is the problem. What kind of pump is it?

We needs the details....

 

[hampmp]

The pump is a Reeflo Trident III. Only used for around 3 months it was new.

 

[hampmp]

http://www.reeflopumps.com/trident3speed.html

 

[Flippers4pups]

+1 sounds like something in the sump is pulling excessive current or you have been running close to the gfci capacity.

 

[hampmp]

With everything unplugged it instantly trips when I plug the pump in. I plugged in a power strip with a heater, mag 9.5 and a Par 38 light and it was fine. On high the pump pulls around 220W.

 

[jtrasap]

sounds like your pump is the problem.

+1

 

[Damon.Webb22]

Check the capacity of the GFCI. I know some are rated at different power ratings. The other issue could be grounding. A GFCI basically trips if the grounding is bad too.

 

[hampmp]

I also have a email out to reeflo emergency response on the matter. Where would I find the capacity of the GFCI?

 

[jtrasap]

A gfci is made to trip if the current coming back to it is not equal to or within xmA of the current leaving the outlet. I would bet the pump has a short somewhere.

 

[Damon.Webb22]

A gfci is made to trip if the current coming back to it is not equal to or within xmA of the current leaving the outlet. I would bet the pump has a short somewhere.

+1 was trying to edit my post to say that but had to go into a meeting.

 

[EDJFA]

Stupid meetings. They always get in the way of really productive work...or tank conversations.

 

[Pife]

I've seen this issue with that pump before. I seriously tapped on it with a screwdriver handle and it fixed it. I'm sure there is a winding shorting out to ground in the pump.

 

[Pife]

Fyi. Most people don't have a meter that can pick up 6 milli amps and that is what gfci's must be set at per code.

 

[hampmp]

Per Reeflo they believe it is a faulty motor and gave me the option of switching out the pump (which is now discontinued) or upgrading to the Reeflo Goby for 150 bucks.

 

[Boosted Rxp]

My spare pump has 1" in 1" out fittings,if u need to borrow until u get your new one give me a yell