GFCI and Metal Halides

[HumanIMDB]

I've heard that Metal Halides should not be plugged into a GFCI but have not found the reason why. I would think that you would want all of your equipment on a GFCI.

The only reason I've been able to find is that when the metal halide fires, it may cause the GFCI to pop because of the initial load.

I plugged our new light (Coralvue 250w Electronic Dimmable Ballast) into our Coralife Digital Power Center which is plugged into a GFCI and it fired normally.

Just wondering why some people recommend that metal halides should not be plugged into GFCIs.

Please let me know.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I'm no electrician, but GFCIs pop because of ground faults, not high loads (which would trip a breaker or burn a fuse). IMHO all equipment should be on GFCI circuits, but trouble can arise is all of your equipment is on the same GFCI - since in that case, a trip caused by any single element would take the entire tank offline. That's the reason why many people run two GFCIs.

FWIW, I've run halides (of many types) on GFCIs for years and have never had a problem.

You'd probably get more help with this topic in the DIY forum, since that's where all the EE's hang out.

 

[Michael]

i think you have basically summed it up der_wille

 

[HumanIMDB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14822985#post14822985 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by der_wille_zur_macht
I'm no electrician, but GFCIs pop because of ground faults, not high loads (which would trip a breaker or burn a fuse). IMHO all equipment should be on GFCI circuits, but trouble can arise is all of your equipment is on the same GFCI - since in that case, a trip caused by any single element would take the entire tank offline. That's the reason why many people run two GFCIs.

FWIW, I've run halides (of many types) on GFCIs for years and have never had a problem.

You'd probably get more help with this topic in the DIY forum, since that's where all the EE's hang out.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I will leave them plugged in they way they are then.

 

[Flipper62]

der_wille_zur_macht

I agree with using a GFCI for everything, However I cant explain it, My 2 step sons ( both electricions ) could not explain it, nor could my neighbor who is a electrician.

We had a power surge ( we think ) one day & it poped the breaker....no big deal, I just went & reset it....Everything OK right. About 2 hours later I walked by the tank & there was nothing.....no pumps....no lights...nothing. I went and checked the breakers & they were fine. I went back up to the tank & both GFCI's were tripped.???????

 

[HumanIMDB]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1619299

 

[mustang51js]

i think most people that say not to put MH on gfci is because they can cause a problem with the gfci, not saying that it will but some of the cheaper gfci's might trip after a couple months of use. Ive had gfci trip because the wire was pushing to hard against the back of it in a box. I think also people say that because you hear it on here alot, someones gfci was tripping and the lights were plugged in, first thing they do is change where the lights were plugged in and theres no more problem,more than likly if they changed the gfci to a better one then they could have still put it on a gfci, i would say to try it and see what happens(alot of the gfcis are made in china now so there not as good as they were)sorry for my rambling

 

[WaterKeeper]

Most of the time it is turning the lights on or off that causes a trip. Especially with magnetic ballasts it causes a ground fault in the ballast casing and the GFCI trips. The actual load has nothing to do with it.

 

[reefergeorge]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14825269#post14825269 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WaterKeeper
Most of the time it is turning the lights on or off that causes a trip. Especially with magnetic ballasts it causes a ground fault in the ballast casing and the GFCI trips. The actual load has nothing to do with it.

+1 for what people are probably thinking, but I've never had problems because of ballasts. Larger motors will do the same thing. That is why we don't put refrigerators, or deep freezers on gfci outlets.