I hate GFCI's!

[leeweber85]

I decided to put one on yesterday, and stupidly I plugged everything into it. Well... I woke up this morning to notice the power was no longer on and the temperature was 63 degrees.

I'm guessing my refugium light tripped it last night which means it went from 11:30pm with no heat or water movement untill 11:30am this morning.

So far all the fish are swimming except that I can't find 2 of them...I'm sure they'll show up. I'm really impressed at how tough they are... I hope they pull through.

 

[got2lb]

From what I've read alot of people keep there heaters and return pump on a regular outlet for this exact reason. Hope everything stays alright for your tank!

 

[bgreenlee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9207619#post9207619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by got2lb
From what I've read alot of people keep there heaters and return pump on a regular outlet for this exact reason. Hope everything stays alright for your tank!

Thats how mine are set up now. Luckily I was in the house when the GFCI tripped previously.

 

[leeweber85]

I really hadn't planned on keeping it setup that way, I was just testing it out and forgot about it. It's been nearly 5 hours later and the temp is still 67. Only the royal gramma is missing so I hope he's just hiding. It's weird because I had a dream last night that my tank cracked and drained all over the floor.... I guess i'll know to get up and check from now on.

 

[waymack97]

a gfci should be on it's own circuit with nothing else on the same breaker.

 

[bgreenlee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9210455#post9210455 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waymack97
a gfci should be on it's own circuit with nothing else on the same breaker.

What do you mean?

 

[waymack97]

just what i heard from a friend of mine. maybe he his full of crap but it makes sense. too much load on that line would also trip the circuit. no more than 5 outlets on one breaker. thats just what i've heard. i no nothing.

 

[KnoxvilleIa]

GFI's

GFI's

I don't think they have to be on their own circuit.
as bathroom have them and there on the main breaker for the area.
as they sence current/voltage on the ground pin .
I have every thing on gfi outlets, if a pump trips it or my lights then I have a problem.
Since I value my life/house more than the tank ( it's close).
get a battery powered alarm that sounds if the power goes off.
their should never be power to the ground pin.

 

[vid151]

there is some reason that the GFCI tripped.

find that and fast....

I have heard that soem ballasts will trip GFCIs when firing, I cant speak to that ..

but it seems silly to put a tank heater on to a normal ( non-gfci) outlet as this is the main item I have had leak electricity in one of my tanks..

I also had an oceanrunner pump trip a GFCI before..

you are better off putting 2 seperate GFCI outlets in and this way you wont loose everything...

I hope all pull through... when I tripped one I was in Chicago and the tank was off for 8 hours .... lost 3 fish and all the soft corals in the tank..

it is amazing how resiliant some fish are though I still have several cardnals that came through that and a clown..

 

[bgreenlee]

It does make sense to leave a heater on a non-gfci breaker, it does not make sense to put ones hands in the tank while they still have power to them. Put your circulation pump and primary heater on a non gfci, when you are working in your tank, unplug them, or move them to a GFCI while you are there working in the tank.

Takes out both birds with one stone.

 

[leeweber85]

Everything seems to have made it. I also realized that there was a pump that wasn't plugged into the GFCI.... Otherwise I'm sure the fish would have died due to lack of O2.

 

[KnoxvilleIa]

Heater

Heater

I respectfully disagree that a heater should be on a non GFI
I lost a lion and a puffer and almost my life when a heater burned thru the case.
I never felt it, I had my hands in the tank many times, the fish stopped eating, and that was the only symptom.
Until I did a water change, spilled salt water on the carpet put my knee in the wet spot and my hand in the sump.
It would have tripped a GFI. It also has a dedicated ground rod now too.
All 3 prong plugs have the 3rd pin grounded to the case or similar. I have noticed some heaters do not have 3 pins if that’s the case then a GFI would be of no use.
But the main thing is the 3rd pin is hooked to something inside that should never have current to it. Unless the device has an issue. More than likely it would be headed for a failure anyway.

My issue is what if some one, ie a little kid put his hand in the tank. I think safty of both the tank and people can be achieved at the same time.
My personal lesson was not to skimp on safetey, good heaters, good pumps. tore my ballasts down and checked the wiring.