GFCI weak link in system ?

tonythefish · 08/10/2011, 08:09 AM

As I am always looking at avoiding failures . I started to think about all the pumps , heaters and lights I have plugged in . They are split using two 20amp GFCI protected circuits. I also have a Ti grounding probe in the tank .

I started to think yes it is nice to be protected in the event there is current leakage (GFCI ) but what if I am not home and all the combined current leakage gets above 5mA ? (This is very easy to reach this level ) I am thinking of removing the GFCI protection so they don't trip when I am not home .

MJB1224 · 08/10/2011, 08:13 AM

I run my setup on 2 different breakers and on the one outlet is my powerheads and on the other is my return pump among other things. I don't use gfci outlets either since I've had them go bad and they pop prematurely under very little load.

KStatefan · 08/10/2011, 08:52 AM

I would use GFCIs. There is a tester to test them. The test button on the GFCI just test them at the max current leakage. The good testers will show the minimum leakage to trip. This is how the ones at work seem to fail. We test them monthly and replace when they get to a certain leakage point. Load does not have anything to do with tripping a GFCI.

tonythefish · 08/10/2011, 09:57 AM

I agree about load not causing it to trip . I just would rather have current leakage than a GFCI tripping on the second day of vacation . I wonder two things is my Ti grounding probe a good thing to use with or without GFCI protection . I will try to read current leak with my fluke meter has anybody tried that ?

alton · 08/10/2011, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonythefish

I agree about load not causing it to trip . I just would rather have current leakage than a GFCI tripping on the second day of vacation . I wonder two things is my Ti grounding probe a good thing to use with or without GFCI protection . I will try to read current leak with my fluke meter has anybody tried that ?

Scenero you leave on vacation and your heater goes bad with out grounding probe and GFCI protection, it explodes in your sump leaking water all over your house, things get wet with saltwater starting a fire.

Look at the post here on RC where heaters exploded and blew up sumps or leaked into the tank killing all or most of the fish. Put your return pump on its own GFCI circuit, or maybe add the lights to it. Keeping all heaters, power heads on the other.

bmkj02 · 08/10/2011, 02:15 PM

We had a bad storm today. Mine runs on a GFCI. Lightning hit the street light in front of my house and blew my TV and flipped the GFCI on my saltwater tank and flipped the breaker where my freshwater tank is hooked up. My mom was at my house when she called me saying nothing on the tank was working. Luckly she was there and I told her to run an extension cord to my main pump till I get home. The GFCI is behind the tank and she cant get to it. If I wasnt home I may have gone home to a lifeless tank. I have another regular plug nearby so I am going to run my 2 powerheads to that plug just in case this happens again.

levischilz · 08/10/2011, 03:58 PM

I would just like to post my experience that happen 2 weeks ago. I setup a 210g with a 100g sump. I ran most of my wiring to a seperate area so if a leak were to occur it would not get wet on the floor.

I had a small split in a pvc fitting take place over a 2 month period I was not aware of, I came home 1 night around 1 am and it must of got worse and ran down the pvc all the way to the end and dripped on the top edge of a surge protector and the surge caught fire and melt to almost nothing.

I lost 2 MH ballast and my skimmer pump and even fried my garbage disposal (on the same circuit) plus some odd and end items. The only thing I can think of is the leak must of got major enough the surge fire got put out by the water. Needless to say it was my mistake and I now have 2 gfci's splitting the load.

08/10/2011, 08:09 AM	#1
tonythefish Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 77	GFCI weak link in system ? As I am always looking at avoiding failures . I started to think about all the pumps , heaters and lights I have plugged in . They are split using two 20amp GFCI protected circuits. I also have a Ti grounding probe in the tank . I started to think yes it is nice to be protected in the event there is current leakage (GFCI ) but what if I am not home and all the combined current leakage gets above 5mA ? (This is very easy to reach this level ) I am thinking of removing the GFCI protection so they don't trip when I am not home . __________________ 180G 55g sump 15g refuge Etss 600 skimmer Phosban Reactor Carbon reactor Midwest denitrification unit 2 Hydor Koralia Magnum 6 Mag Dive 18 return 3 22x26 heat sinks with 40 Cree 3w XP-E's 2/1 ratio blue/white with 4 XP-G for high noon

08/10/2011, 08:13 AM	#2
MJB1224 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Pottstown PA Posts: 54	I run my setup on 2 different breakers and on the one outlet is my powerheads and on the other is my return pump among other things. I don't use gfci outlets either since I've had them go bad and they pop prematurely under very little load. __________________ 180 Mixed Reef, 3x250 Radiums/Reeflex ballast, 55 Gallon sump/fuge.

08/10/2011, 09:57 AM	#4
tonythefish Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 77	I agree about load not causing it to trip . I just would rather have current leakage than a GFCI tripping on the second day of vacation . I wonder two things is my Ti grounding probe a good thing to use with or without GFCI protection . I will try to read current leak with my fluke meter has anybody tried that ? __________________ 180G 55g sump 15g refuge Etss 600 skimmer Phosban Reactor Carbon reactor Midwest denitrification unit 2 Hydor Koralia Magnum 6 Mag Dive 18 return 3 22x26 heat sinks with 40 Cree 3w XP-E's 2/1 ratio blue/white with 4 XP-G for high noon

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08/10/2011, 08:52 AM	#3
KStatefan Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 172	I would use GFCIs. There is a tester to test them. The test button on the GFCI just test them at the max current leakage. The good testers will show the minimum leakage to trip. This is how the ones at work seem to fail. We test them monthly and replace when they get to a certain leakage point. Load does not have anything to do with tripping a GFCI.

08/10/2011, 02:15 PM	#6
bmkj02 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: FLORIDA Posts: 297	We had a bad storm today. Mine runs on a GFCI. Lightning hit the street light in front of my house and blew my TV and flipped the GFCI on my saltwater tank and flipped the breaker where my freshwater tank is hooked up. My mom was at my house when she called me saying nothing on the tank was working. Luckly she was there and I told her to run an extension cord to my main pump till I get home. The GFCI is behind the tank and she cant get to it. If I wasnt home I may have gone home to a lifeless tank. I have another regular plug nearby so I am going to run my 2 powerheads to that plug just in case this happens again.

08/10/2011, 03:58 PM	#7
levischilz Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 307	I would just like to post my experience that happen 2 weeks ago. I setup a 210g with a 100g sump. I ran most of my wiring to a seperate area so if a leak were to occur it would not get wet on the floor. I had a small split in a pvc fitting take place over a 2 month period I was not aware of, I came home 1 night around 1 am and it must of got worse and ran down the pvc all the way to the end and dripped on the top edge of a surge protector and the surge caught fire and melt to almost nothing. I lost 2 MH ballast and my skimmer pump and even fried my garbage disposal (on the same circuit) plus some odd and end items. The only thing I can think of is the leak must of got major enough the surge fire got put out by the water. Needless to say it was my mistake and I now have 2 gfci's splitting the load.