GFI keeps tripping?

[DamnPepShrimp]

My 120g reef is setup mostly on one GFI outlet, I have a couple other pumps on a different outlet on a different breaker. The tank has been set up this way since september with no changes and has be running flawlessly! Yesterday I went downstairs and noticed my lights weren't on yet, only my return pump, couple powerheads and heater which are on another outlet. I hit the reset button on the GFI and everything came on. Everything ran fine and lights went out on normal. Today, same thing, lights aren't on, judging by the timers, the GFI tripped about 4 hours before the lights were supposed to come on. I reset the GFI and reset the timers on the lights. I thought it was just a weird fluke, but it happened back to back days. Nothing new has gone on at the house, the only outlet on the breaker is used by the fish tank, nothing else on the same breaker, I don't know what gives? Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Michael]

well it seems to me as if there are 2 possibilitys.

1 the gfci is faulty

2 there is a earth leakage because of a fault from 1 of the connected appliances, as the gfci tripped 4 hours before the lights came on it seems to me as if the lights are not responsible, but from your post it also seems the lights are seperate from everything else, so perhaps the timer is to blame.

without the appropriate test equipment you cant test the gfci to confirm its faulty or ok, so perhaps you need to unplug the timer to start and phyisically switch the lights on and off for a couple of days manually to see if indeed the timer is resonsible, just to illiminate it so then you can try to find what else it could be

lastely are you positive the lights and timers are the only appliances connected to it?

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

No, my lights are connected to it, along with my phos reactor, skimmer and another powerhead. The whole strip went out. I just noticed it since my lights weren't on. When I hit the reset on the GFI, the lights came on, skimmer filled up etc. So I am thinking faulty GFI, how do you test for that? Something I can buy at the hardware store? I've never replaced a GFI before, but shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Michael]

well there is a test button on most of them, but even if it trips the gfci it doesnt mean the unit isnt faulty, it needs an expensive piece of electrical test equipment carried by electricians to fully test the unit to ensure its not tripping too quickly and that its not faulty

however its possible to illiminate the the working appliances to try to find the faulty 1, unplug the powerhead first and see if it trips over night, if not try the skimmer pump, then the Reactor, then the timer etc, im sure an appliance is to blame, is there any way you can test the water to an earth connection to see if there is stray current in the tank?

 

[mustang51js]

just check to see if your not getting any water or salt creep in any of the outlets.One other thing that could be causing the problem is the power strip, sometimes they go bad. As far as changing the gfci, you can get one at a hardware store or even a walmart and they are easy to change,shut the power off if you dont feel comfortable and replace the wires as they are, if its just to wires and a ground then they go on the line side if you have other wires they go on the load side but just look at the old one when you take it out.

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

I think I will replace the powerstrip first, since that is the oldest and saltcreep/humidity may have caused it to fail. All the equipment is new from september, my guess would be the strip. Weird it takes about 20 hours to trip it though, you'd think it wouldn't let me run anything at all? Guess I will be making a trip to the hardware store anyway today! Thanks for the help, hopefully a new strip will work!

 

[chimmike]

a faulty GFCI likely won't come back on without tripping again. do the power strip first and go from there.

 

[mustang51js]

it could be taking so long because it takes time for heat to build up, that doesnt mean the power strip is the problem but its a good place to start

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

Well my power strip was old and a cheap one. I got a new one today, a lot better one that actually had a rating/warranty on it. We'll see how it does.

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

Well today the lights came on fine and everything seems to be back to normal. Must have been the crappy out power strip. Thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated!