Tripped GFCI

[HI SALENITY]

So I have my Apex (and the rest of my tank that's not on my controller) plugged into a GFI outlet. Twice in the last 2 days this has tripped. I just happened to be in the room wen it happened booth times. So I tried to reset the GFI and it would not reset until I unplugged the Apex. So I unplugged the only things the controller had on at the time and it was able to reset. Then I plugged the things back in and it all worked fine. One day it tripped at 12.04 AM and the other day it was at 10.31 pm . At those times the only things in the on ""state" were the Fuge light and the cooling fans and maybe 1 pump but I think it shuts off at 10.30 pm .

So why is this thing tripping my GFI? The fans are under 1 month old and have a fuse built into the cords like a string of x-mas lights. The fuge light is just a Home depot clip on with a CF bulb. And if the pump was on it is a week old double headed Coralvue powerhead. We are talking about a 1 amp load.

Could it be stray voltage? Could It be a probe going bad ? I have a BRS ORP probe that has never read correctly.


Ideas???

 

[Gold Stripe]

I'm betting on the "week old" powerhead.

 

[bigtex52]

Besides the above possibilities, GFCI's can get weak over time and start tripping for no reason. They tend to get harder and harder to reset after tripping. Just a thought. Hope you get it figured out soon. Another possibility to consider is anything else on that circuit unless it is dedicated to just your tank.

 

[Kerreefer]

unplug everything. grab a fluke meter (fieldpiece for the cheaper guys) and test all plug connection to grund. if there is any resistance there is voltage leaking.

other way is to stuff one probe of meter into ground and the other end in tank. (i read 75 volts to ground doing this once). then start unplugging till voltage 0's out.

sorry for the fieldpiece joke i had to kekeke

 

[HI SALENITY]

I checked and the weak old (ha ha) powerhead turned off 1 minute before the GFI tripped one if the times but the other time it had been off for 1 1/2 hours.

I'll check for the stray voltage later tonight but the ONLY thing that was on by the controller was the fans and fuge light.


As soon as I get a chance I am going to run 2 dedicated circuits to the tank and make sure each circuit has a powerhead on it so if 1 GFI goes off I still have flow in the tank.

 

[HI SALENITY]

Power Failed: May 31 2011 22:31:00

Ok, Again Tonight it tripped the GFI and it did it at the EXACT same time as it tripped it last night.

I have a 65w PC light and the Powerhead that both turn off at 22:30 that's exactly 1 minute before the GFI tripped.

 

[HI SALENITY]

This is my Powerhead Does it turn off at 22:30 or 22:31?

Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Time 08:00 to 22:30 Then ON
If FeedA 005 Then OFF

And by the way It does not trip the GFI after the feed cycle.

 

[swearint]

The Time command is only accurate to the minute, so the statement is FALSE at 22:31 and will turn OFF then. It sounds like the culprit is one of these two devices or outlets. By the way, you can check the XML Outlet Report to see exactly when outlets change state or you can use the Graph (assuming current firmware).

Todd

 

[HI SALENITY]

I am not sure I am following you on what statement is false?


This morning I was in the room wen the powerhead kicked on and I heard a buzz? as it kicked on. I am not sure if it was the controller or the powerhead but I think It's narrowed down to the powerhead or the outlet/controller

 

[swearint]

If Time 08:00 to 22:30 Then ON

This statement is TRUE from 08:00 until 22:30:59 so the outlet would be ON. It becomes FALSE at 22:31:00 and is subsequently ignored, leaving Set OFF as the prevailing state.

Todd

 

[HI SALENITY]

It's the controller that's bad. Friday I hit the feed cycle and it tripped the GFI. I unplugged the pump and tried to reset the GFI with no luck. so with only the controller plugged in it would not allow the GFI to reset.