Help! My GFCI has kept on tripping

[africangrey]

Whenever the 400w metal halide is turned on by the timer, my whole circuit is shut off by the GFCI and it happens also when that particular ligth is turning off as well.
I just changed to luminarc reflector with the supplied socket and 15 foot cord, before this I never had any problem.
What should I check to ensure the socket and the wiring are not short circuited? I know it's not the amp drawn by the bulb because it has never happen to me before with the old reflector.
Could it be the extra 15 ft of power cord? Help please!

 

[africangrey]

no one ???

 

[africangrey]

could it be the timer

 

[scbadiver]

I'd bypass the timer for awhile and see if that helps. I am suspect of it.

 

[rustybucket145]

After a GFCI has tripped numerous times it is more prone to tripping under a lower circumstance than originally planned. Your GFCI might just be bad. Try another GFCI if you have one handy.

 

[africangrey]

The GFCI is pretty new, just installed 4 months ago, I will go get a new timer and see if that would help.
Anyone with better idea, any electrician out there can shed some light on this.

 

[africangrey]

Changed to a new timer which didn't help whatsoever.

 

[artis]

GFCIs do go bad. It might be worthwhile changing that and they aren't real expensive. If that is ineffective, then I'd be concerned that you have an electrical leak somewhere in the system. The cord and reflector change you made would strike me as suspect, if the GFCI swap doesn't help. I'm not familiar with that product so I don't know what if anything about the cord and such that could be swapped out. Perhaps it could be replaced?

One word of caution. Assume your set up is dangerous till you find the cause. Don't run it without the GFCI. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Bathel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7213202#post7213202 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by artis
One word of caution. Assume your set up is dangerous till you find the cause. Don't run it without the GFCI. Better safe than sorry.

I was just about to point out the same thing ....

You could try plugging it into a different GFCI in you Bathroom or Kitchen and see if it trips that one too.

If I read your post correctly, you just added another 15ft of length to your cord? I would think this would add to the resistance ... but I don't know if this would cause an issue.

Again ... I'd assume you have a ground leak until you find out otherwise.

 

[Ltlduc]

GFI's do go bad as stated above. There are only 2 other reasons a GFI will tripp. 1- A ground fault 2- If the GFI is smaller than the circuit breaker. 20A circuit breaker 15A GFI. Then the GFI will tripp before the breaker. The best way to troubleshoot this without the proper meter is unfortunately by process of elimination.

 

[jeffbrig]

Some GFCIs are more sensitive to false tripping than others. I had one brand that would trip every time an icecap 430 ballast turned on, yet had no problem firing three icap 250w MH ballasts on a single timer. I switched to a different brand, and haven't had a problem since....

 

[africangrey]

The GFCI would trip when the light goes on and off, and my tank would go without electricity for 8 hours because I goes to bed before the light turns off at night. Why the GFCI would trip when the light is turning off is puzzling.