GFCI problems..

[NetFish]

Okay, after running my tank for 3 months without any I finally got two GFCI adapters and connected my power strips to them. After all they're recommended by everyone and for good reason that is.

They started to trip every time I turned them back on and I knew something was not working the way it should. It turned out, it trips only when my Actinics are on. I have 4 powerheads, skimmer, MHs etc and everything else is fine. If i turn the actinics on, they run for about 30 minutes to a couple of hours and then trips. This happens even when I connect just the actinics to a dedicated GFCI. Now that i have narrowed it to this, is there anything i can do to correct this problem apart from replacing the whole actinic setup and ballast??

Please help.

[Entropy]

Chances are it is your ballast. It is sending a signal (could be false) or a load imbalance to the GFIC which is causing it to trip. You might need to either replace the ballast, or not run it off the GFIC. You are taking a risk not plugging it into a GFIC, but since it is not actually in the water, the risk is less IMO.

[hot4teacher]

I had a thread on this a few weeks ago. I have a Coralife Aqualight Plus Deluxe 4x96W. It trips the GFCI when I turn on the 2 96W 10,000K PC's. There are three fans wired to turn on as well. I run everything else through the GFCI except the white PC's.

Dana

[NetFish]

Thanks Entropy,Dana. I was not sure if I should connect the ballast directly, maybe thats what I'll do.

[jdieck]

If the actinics are mounted to a metal reflector or a metal hood try grounding it. Also ground the ballast body. If the problem continue you will need to install an electrical noise filter.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104173&cp=2032057.2032187&cp=2032057&f=Taxonomy%2FRSK%2F2032187&categoryId=2032187&kwCatId=2032057&kw=filter&parentPage=search

[NetFish]

Yes, the actinics are mounted onto the metal reflectors. I'll try it tonight and see if that fixes the problem. Ideally i would like to have it work through the GFCI adapters!

[jeffbrig]

Believe it or not, some GFCIs are more tolerant than others in how they detect a fault. I had some Chicago Electric brand GFCIs that would frequently trip when using an icecap 430 ballast (even being fully grounded), but had no problems with any other equipment or even icecap MH ballasts. I swapped a few GFCIs for a different brand (Leviton), and haven't had a problem since. I think someone else had a similar complaint with Stanley GFCIs, and had success after switching to a different brand.

[thegeneral]

well, i just got home to find only one of my three 250w mh on. gfci was tripped.tested one of my sockets, and guess what. 240v instead of 120. I am using a sola multi tap ballast. I am bringing a new one home tomorrow and this will solve the prob....i hope....lol.

[xinumaster]

I had that same problem too with my hamilton 4x55w pc actinic. I end up not connecting my pc to gfci.

[hot4teacher]

Interesting about the different brands of GFCI. FWIW, I use the "Shock Buster" from Marine Depot. Granted it might not be the best product out there...

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TW38085

Maybe I should pick up another brand and see what happens.

Dana

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6712533#post6712533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thegeneral
well, i just got home to find only one of my three 250w mh on. gfci was tripped.tested one of my sockets, and guess what. 240v instead of 120. I am using a sola multi tap ballast. I am bringing a new one home tomorrow and this will solve the prob....i hope....lol.
What is the voltage in your wall outlet? Test between Hot to neutral, hot to ground and neutral to ground.
Hot ot neutral = 110 to 120 V
Hot to ground = 110 to 120 V
Neutral to ground = 0 V

[jeffbrig]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6712533#post6712533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thegeneral
guess what. 240v instead of 120.

I'm really hoping you measured something wrong, but I can't imagine how. To get 240V, you have to pull a hot from each leg of your electrical service. It's not as simple as mixing up wires at the socket. This would be a SEVERE mis-wiring at the breaker panel. I wouldn't plug anything else into that outlet until you confirm and resolve this.

[NetFish]

Thank you all for ur help. FYI I tried grounding the metal reflectors but it didnt fix the problem. So i bought a new GFCI adapter from a different place couple of days back and it seems to be holding up. So i'm gonna return the one I got from homedepot :)

[jjowen]

I am having a very similar problem with my IceCap 660 running T5s and a retro kit running 2 x 110 VHO actinics. When the IceCap goes on or off, the other retro kit trips its GFCI. I have them on different outlets, but the same circuit. The GFCI on retro kit will sometimes trip when its switched off, but the IceCap turned on. The lights run just fine by themselves. The retro kit has two ballasts and they have independent plugs, so I was doubting that both ballasts are bad. I guess I will try changing the outlets. I am pretty sure that I used the cheapest 15amp outlets I could find.

[jjowen]

Replacing the cheap GFCI outlets from Menards ($4 a piece) with industrial grade outlets ($10 a piece) fixed my problem. I tried to save a few dollars and ended up wasting a number of hours trying to track down the problem. :rolleyes:

[NetFish]

Not sure about that :)
The one i replaced were more expensive ($20) than the one that fixed the problem ($10)!!