MH now tripping GFCI, wasn't before

kaylo

kaylo

New member
I posted on the Digital Aquatics forums as well, but I need a solution a.s.a.p. I just started running the RKL yesterday.

My problem is that when my MH's trigger on, it trips my GFCI turning off my whole setup. I have the 2x 250watt MH's to each turn on 1/2 an hour apart from each other. I use to have them both on the same timer and triggering on both at the same time before I got the RKL and I never had this issue. I was also running more power through my system before than I am now as I upgraded everything. I don't know if this is a RKL issue, but I am assuming it is because it wasn't an issue before. Could it be a GFCI issue?

My setup is the following:
PC4 #1---ch1=hydor 3 (10w) ch2=MH 1 ch3=MH 2 ch4=hydor 3 (10w).....
PC4 #2---ch1=fuge and night LED's (on at night only) ch2= actinics (4x56w each and cooling fan) ch3=heaters(2x200w) ch4=canopy fans (set to come on when over 80 degrees)

I have a power strip controlling my refugium pump (maxi 1200), return pump marineland 3000, marineland skimmer, ATO (only on when low water) and the 2x PC4's.

I hope someone can help me soon as I am afraid to run my MH's for fear of my tank turning off while i'm at work.
 
GFI is less than 1 year old. It's a plug in one I got from home depot.

The ballasts are electronic. They are the ones that came with the Current Outer Orbit Pro Series HQI and the same ones I was running before I hooked up the RKL.

I added up wattage and with everything on at the same time before the MH kicks on (which of course is rare to happen...IE heaters and A.T.O.) and i'm at only about 653 watts.

With a 250w MH, does the ballast draw its own power outside the wattage of the light? Meaning that I am just drawing 250w per bulb or am I drawing more because of the ballast?
 
Yes it is. I have the Reef Keeper Lite 3 with the 2x PC4's. I don't know if those or the head unit draw much power to run their programs.
With the PC4's, each has 2x 8amp circuts and 2x 3amp circuts (fuses im guessing). I have each halide plugged into the 3amp ones as I read to do on the RK forums. I would have figured to plug into the 8amp ones but i'm nowhere near an electrician.

Also, I just checked the plug in GFCI. It is a 15amp unit. I don't think I am anywhere near the 1800 watt limit on it.
 
No I don't think your problem is the # of amps your drawing.

So you had your lights plugged into a timer and that timer was plugged into the GFI, right?

You then added the RKL instead of the timer, right?
 
That is correct. I use to have both ballasts plugged into one of those dial set timers. All the equipment is running off the same circut that it was before and the same GFCI.

I now switched everything over to the RKL and am having the tripping issue with the halides.

I did change the bulbs on all the T5's and halides. I don't know if this could be causing any issue. I tried warming the bulbs for about a half hour each off another circut across the room, but when I tried the timer again it tripped.
 
Boy that does sound like it would have something to do with the RKL but I'm not sure what exactly. For the heck of it have you tried plugging it (RKL)in the wall and eliminating the GFI? I would imagine it would work the way it should without the GFI.

I don't have a RKL.... but is there a GFI on it or is it just some circuit breakers like a outlet strip for a computer? I know you mentioned some fuses possibly.
 
Ballasts don't happen to pull more amps when they trigger vs. when they're running for a few seconds do they? Have you tried having them both trip at the same time again to see what happens?

I'd imagine if they still trip the GFI then it's the RKL...but if both of them coming on at once doesn't trip it, then maybe the ballasts are drawing on the heavy side for a split second when they power on...
 
Just got home from a 12 hour workday. I didn't get to play with it today, but I will try having them both trip at the same time and many other things tomorrow.

I spoke with an electrician at work and he said it sounds like there is something wrong with the ballasts.

I am confused because nothing really changed in my load. It's just all running through the RKL now and I replaced all the bulbs. Hardly anything that should give me the issues I am having.
 
alot of people seem to have problems with gfi tripping on MH. I think your getting a ground fault threw the rkl or a un even load when they kick on. Is there a way to turn the ballests on manually when they are in the rkl, if so try it the old way aand then try it with manually turning on the new way and if gfi trips then its not the ballast. Gfis are weird in that sometimes they can go bad or become more sensitive out of nowhere.Try and play around with it more and let us know what happens
 
Plug-in GFI run different than the wall socket GFI's. The plug in type will kick out faster than the socket type. I understand that you switched ballast types, and therefore how the GFI operates. When a ballast first fires up it initially pulls more than when its just running the lamp. Also, the older the GFI gets the easier it will trip out. Try a new one, but better yet, get the wall mounted socket and run 2 lines for everything, that will help the issues also.
 
I never switched anything with my lighting. I basically got rid of the 5 programable timers and nightmare of cable under my old tank and now have the RKL running everything through the same GFCI.

The crappy thing about the RKL is that when you have the lighting set to MH it waits 15 minutes for the cooldown period after tripping. So it's alot of sit and wait to see if something different worked. Mabey I can set it to a differnt type of lighting just to test this.

Does anyone know a reason why I shouldn't do this? The bulb is never striking, so I don't think there is any harm in trying to refire it after the GFCI gets reset.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14840436#post14840436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mustang51js
alot of people seem to have problems with gfi tripping on MH. I think your getting a ground fault threw the rkl or a un even load when they kick on. Is there a way to turn the ballests on manually when they are in the rkl, if so try it the old way aand then try it with manually turning on the new way and if gfi trips then its not the ballast. Gfis are weird in that sometimes they can go bad or become more sensitive out of nowhere.Try and play around with it more and let us know what happens
Click to expand...

I just re-read your post. This is a good idea. I can just leave the circut hot on the RKL and manually turn it on from the ballast to see what happens.
 
its not the ballast if it worked before he got the rkl,if you dont want to try another rkl i say just plug it into a normal outlet without the gfi, even if the light falls in it would trip the breaker anyway,but the easiest thing to do is start with a new gfi and work your way to the lights
 
you only need to wait if the light was on, you wouldnt have a choice anyway because the ballast has a timer in it for cool down.
 
I would try replacing the plug in GFI with a new in the wall receptacle GFI as mentioned before. Easy and cheap thing to try. Just make sure you attach the wires to the correct terminals.
 
Yeah, I was thinking of doing this. I wish I had thought of it before I put the 90g tank and the 20g sump right in front of the outlet. It's off to the side away from the sump so it may not be too bad.

I need to assess how much of a pain it will be to squeeze under my stand to try and change an outlet.

So the outlet ones run that much better than the plug in ones?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
I'm confused...
Replies
12
Views
639
wvned
wvned
Dogs442
NEED HELP WITH RO/DI SYSTEM
2
Replies
34
Views
4K
griss
griss
C
DIY Stand for Flatback Hexagon Tank
Replies
2
Views
2K
Drummer98
Drummer98
Reefing102
My wife’s 32 Gallon BioCube Build
Replies
12
Views
2K
Reefing102
Reefing102
D
Algae issue - and I feel like I've tried everything
2
Replies
21
Views
4K
JCOLE
JCOLE
Back
Top