Electrician in Calgary?

DigitalWeight · #1 09-11-2013, 01:05 AM

Need some advice on the electrical for my 120 - my GFCI keeps tripping when I plug anything into it. Right now everything is running through two separate outlets - Ecotech Radions seem to take a lot of juice! - they are running through a separate outlet - while all other pumps etc are going through the other outlet.

I believe the issue is with the GFCI as when I plug all pumps into another outlet it runs fine. Any advice? Is it just a matter of changing the GFCI plug? I want to keep using the GFCI for safety, but if that is the problem then perhaps I should go to just a standard plug?

Electricity is not my forte so any advice would be appreciated? Are there any electricians on the board here in Calgary?

Magma · #2 09-11-2013, 02:41 AM

Did you install the GFCI yourself? if so did you install it correctly? Also turning on motor loads all at once can cause GFCI's and breakers to trip due to the current needed to start the motors.

gregzz4 · #3 09-11-2013, 02:50 AM

Is the GFCI new ? If not it may need replacing
If it's new, the labels on it are;
Line - which is house power
Load - which is the hardware unit(s)
And you must have the green screw connected to the bare copper ground wire (plus a jumper to the box for the ground to protect you if the box gets shorted)

As mentioned, you may be overloading it

DigitalWeight · #4 09-11-2013, 03:12 AM

Thanks guys - I had someone install it so I am pretty sure it is right. That being said, it was working so perhaps it is a bad one. I am going to see about plugging in one pump at a time to see if that works - will let you know.

kien · #5 09-11-2013, 03:05 PM

Sounds like a faulty GFCI. I had one that did that too. Replaced it and haven't had any issues since.

michika · #6 09-11-2013, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien

Sounds like a faulty GFCI. I had one that did that too. Replaced it and haven't had any issues since.

^^ This also happened to me. Solution was a new GFCI as well.

KrazyKuch · #7 09-13-2013, 03:26 AM

If you want to test if its a bad GFCI, plug something in that's not part of your system...ie a hair dryer...if it trips replace it...if not then it could be something with your equipment...some GFCI's are overly sensitive...is this receptacle a dedicated circuit or does it power other things aswell....if its dedicated i would suggest putting in a GFCI breaker meant for motor loads as the trip setting on them is 70ma instead of 7ma like GFCI plugs are(or atleast i believe its 7ma) then you wont get false alarm trips, but in the event that some equipment gets dropped in the water it will still trip!!

DigitalWeight · #8 09-14-2013, 10:47 PM

Ok - got things all working again. It was a bad GFCI switch. tested with a hair dryer and popped off every time. Switched it out and all is good. Did plug in one thing at a time to lessen the load all at once.

Ecotech Radions do not play well with GFCI! I have those plugged into another outlet far away from tank with no issues.

Thanks for all the help.