Circuit keeps popping

KatesReef13 · Mar 16, 2020

Hi all!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this and the below wall of text :/

I'm at the end of my rope troubleshooting and don't know what else to check. Here is the situation, I think it was Tuesday that I got my additional EB8 connected, I didn't plug anything into it till Thursday when I plugged in my T5s. Everything on the tank was fine. On Friday I finally got my Trident working, Saturday I finally got my UV Sterilizer pump setup and running to test for leaks, didn't plug the bulb in until Sunday morning once I confirmed no leaks in the tube. Later that afternoon is when the circuit popped for the first time. I reset it and went about my day, I checked in Fusion the total amps never got higher than 12 in the logs, but the first reading when i got connectivity back showed the EB8 at 65 amps. I couldn't find that spike in the logs so I thought it was a fluke and now I'm kinda questioning is that number next to the EB8 in Fusion is really amps?

Anyway, everything was fine the rest of the day and I checked before bed around midnight and the amps were under 3 total between both energy bars that I have (entire circuit is 20 and is dedicated to the tank). Then somehow after 1230 it popped again and the tank didn't have power for 8 hours!

Luckily the tank is fairly new and the 6 fish that are in there are all fine. Concerned I moved the UV light and pump to the EB832 I've had running for a couple of months 1 because I believed it to be more reliable and 2 to see the power draw, they hadn't gone higher than 150w total so I don't think they're the issue.

Then it happened again, but this time the EB8 showed 10 amps. I put in a support ticket with Neptune and unplugged the EB8 from the wall forgetting to unplug it from the apex. I kept monitoring and saw it reading 50 amps, but didn't think it would affect the tank, but it did. So this time I made sure it was disconnected from everything. But it happened again! I went to look through logs and before I could even start it did it again!

This time I unplugged everything that was new with the exception of the Trident. I even unplugged a 100w heater and nano Tunze powerhead I have in my saltwater mixing tank. So far it hasn't happened again, but it's only been 30 minutes since then.

Anybody have any advice for how I can figure out what's causing this?

Thanks in advance!

Retro Reefer · Mar 17, 2020

Don’t have any suggestions myself but let’s get some more eye’s on this.. @Brew12 #reefsquad

Brew12 · Mar 17, 2020

KatesReef13 said:
Hi all!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this and the below wall of text :/

I'm at the end of my rope troubleshooting and don't know what else to check. Here is the situation, I think it was Tuesday that I got my additional EB8 connected, I didn't plug anything into it till Thursday when I plugged in my T5s. Everything on the tank was fine. On Friday I finally got my Trident working, Saturday I finally got my UV Sterilizer pump setup and running to test for leaks, didn't plug the bulb in until Sunday morning once I confirmed no leaks in the tube. Later that afternoon is when the circuit popped for the first time. I reset it and went about my day, I checked in Fusion the total amps never got higher than 12 in the logs, but the first reading when i got connectivity back showed the EB8 at 65 amps. I couldn't find that spike in the logs so I thought it was a fluke and now I'm kinda questioning is that number next to the EB8 in Fusion is really amps?

Anyway, everything was fine the rest of the day and I checked before bed around midnight and the amps were under 3 total between both energy bars that I have (entire circuit is 20 and is dedicated to the tank). Then somehow after 1230 it popped again and the tank didn't have power for 8 hours!

Luckily the tank is fairly new and the 6 fish that are in there are all fine. Concerned I moved the UV light and pump to the EB832 I've had running for a couple of months 1 because I believed it to be more reliable and 2 to see the power draw, they hadn't gone higher than 150w total so I don't think they're the issue.

Then it happened again, but this time the EB8 showed 10 amps. I put in a support ticket with Neptune and unplugged the EB8 from the wall forgetting to unplug it from the apex. I kept monitoring and saw it reading 50 amps, but didn't think it would affect the tank, but it did. So this time I made sure it was disconnected from everything. But it happened again! I went to look through logs and before I could even start it did it again!

This time I unplugged everything that was new with the exception of the Trident. I even unplugged a 100w heater and nano Tunze powerhead I have in my saltwater mixing tank. So far it hasn't happened again, but it's only been 30 minutes since then.

Anybody have any advice for how I can figure out what's causing this?

Thanks in advance!

When you say "it popped" are you talking about overload protection on the EB832, a GFCI, or the circuit breaker that feeds the system?
Do you run your system on a GFCI?

KatesReef13 · Mar 17, 2020

Brew12 said:
When you say "it popped" are you talking about overload protection on the EB832, a GFCI, or the circuit breaker that feeds the system?
Do you run your system on a GFCI?

Sorry! The GFCI and I've checked the outlets, nothing is getting wet. But I think I've at least narrowed down the problem. It hasn't happened again since I unplugged the UV stuff and that's the newest equipment I've added and now removed.
I'm going to wait till I'm planning to be home for awhile and attempt to plug just that back in and see what it does. Can't really think of another way to figure it out.

KatesReef13 · Mar 17, 2020

Retro Reefer said:
Don’t have any suggestions myself but let’s get some more eye’s on this.. @Brew12 #reefsquad

Thanks so much!

Brew12 · Mar 17, 2020

KatesReef13 said:
Sorry! The GFCI and I've checked the outlets, nothing is getting wet. But I think I've at least narrowed down the problem. It hasn't happened again since I unplugged the UV stuff and that's the newest equipment I've added and now removed.
I'm going to wait till I'm planning to be home for awhile and attempt to plug just that back in and see what it does. Can't really think of another way to figure it out.

I keep something like this near my tank to help with troubleshooting.

3 Wire GFCI Outlet Adapter

I will run equipment on it one at a time for at least a few hours and see if I get a trip. Sometimes equipment won't trip a GFCI until they heat up. Using a ground probe is also important to make the testing go well.

dadnjesse · Mar 17, 2020

What brand UV. I have heard other people on here having problems with their UV popping GFCI's.

UV keeps tripping GFCI??

So starting yesterday and now today as well, ive noticed that my 40W Pentair SMART UV seems to be tripping my GFCI outlet. I have the UV itself and the feed pump for it (Maxijet900) both hooked up to the same GFCI outlet (controlled by my apex, the gfci is the DIY in-line type that @Brew12 made...

www.reef2reef.com

Brew12 · Mar 17, 2020

KatesReef13 said:
Sorry! The GFCI and I've checked the outlets, nothing is getting wet. But I think I've at least narrowed down the problem. It hasn't happened again since I unplugged the UV stuff and that's the newest equipment I've added and now removed.
I'm going to wait till I'm planning to be home for awhile and attempt to plug just that back in and see what it does. Can't really think of another way to figure it out.

I should have mentioned that total load has no impact on a GFCI. It has no idea how much current is flowing through it. The only thing it does is make sure current in the hot leg matches the neutral. It doesn't care if it is 1A, 15A or 100A.

KatesReef13 · Mar 17, 2020

Brew12 said:
I keep something like this near my tank to help with troubleshooting.

3 Wire GFCI Outlet Adapter

I will run equipment on it one at a time for at least a few hours and see if I get a trip. Sometimes equipment won't trip a GFCI until they heat up. Using a ground probe is also important to make the testing go well.

This is a great idea, I'm going to have to get one to do this going forward, thanks!

KatesReef13 · Mar 17, 2020

dadnjesse said:
What brand UV. I have heard other people on here having problems with their UV popping GFCI's.

UV keeps tripping GFCI??

So starting yesterday and now today as well, ive noticed that my 40W Pentair SMART UV seems to be tripping my GFCI outlet. I have the UV itself and the feed pump for it (Maxijet900) both hooked up to the same GFCI outlet (controlled by my apex, the gfci is the DIY in-line type that @Brew12 made...

www.reef2reef.com

I think this is exactly my problem, I have the exact same UV! Thanks so much, I didn't even think that it would be a common thing, I thought it was just me.

Brew12 said:
I should have mentioned that total load has no impact on a GFCI. It has no idea how much current is flowing through it. The only thing it does is make sure current in the hot leg matches the neutral. It doesn't care if it is 1A, 15A or 100A.

I didn't know that, thanks again!

Johnd651 · Mar 17, 2020

Aside from the UV is it a Gfci outlet or breaker? Is it only gfci or afci or combi gfci/afci?

Just useful info to have for future issues/troubleshooting.

KatesReef13 · Mar 17, 2020

Johnd651 said:
Aside from the UV is it a Gfci outlet or breaker? Is it only gfci or afci or combi gfci/afci?

Just useful info to have for future issues/troubleshooting.

Umm, I think it's just a GFCI outlet. I had my contractor put it in for me and he didn't mention the AFCI one at all.

dwest · Mar 18, 2020

KatesReef13 said:
Umm, I think it's just a GFCI outlet. I had my contractor put it in for me and he didn't mention the AFCI one at all.

I’m not an electrical guru. But I had a GFCI tripping a couple of months or so back. I had no idea what was causing it. I replaced the GFCI and it hasn’t tripped since. They can go bad as well. I will also say that a long time ago, I couldn’t run my UV (different circuit) without tripping the GFCI.

K7BMG · Mar 18, 2020

Yes I would agree the UV light is the issue.
If your contractor used a cheap GFCI that could be the problem as well.

But like Brew12 says.
It is not the overall current or amps that trips a GFCI its the imbalance between the Hot and Neutral.
The breaker in the panel protects the circuit against over-current.

KatesReef13 · Mar 19, 2020

I plugged everything back in with the exception of the UV and just moved that to a non-GFCI outlet I had nearby, it hasn't happened since. Fingers crossed that was it.

I'll have plenty of time at home to watch it so by the time I do leave the house I'll feel okay with it

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it!

Slawman · Mar 19, 2020

Salt/humidity can get onto the plug (between the prongs) and sometimes create enough of a connection to pop a circuit. I have had this happen from time to time on my system. Clean all the plugs with RO/DI water, pay particular attention to the areas between the prongs. Thoroughly dry them and bingo. Do not submerse anything in water (use a cloth damp with RO) and do not do any of this until the plugs are physically out of the wall and there is no power connection to anything.