Help with Light install/electricl.

[SeaJay]

I bought a 61" Aquatic LIfe hybrid and ATI bulbs from BRS and some Noopsyche LEDs from my LFS. I assembled the unit and tested it. Everything was good. Then I hung it and plugged it in and it immediately tripped my GFCI(it was not plugged in to GFCI when I tested it). I thought maybe the GFCI was overloaded as it was running my two return pumps, a wavemaker and my current LEDs, so I unplugged the pumps momentarily and the light still tripped the GFCI. When I plug it into a non-gfci, one side of the T5 workS. I switched the bulbs and the other side works, so I deduced that I must have a bad bulb, even though they are brand new and worked when I tested it. However, if I only plug in the side that's working, it still trips the GFCI.

I've got new bulbs on the way, because clearly one of them is bad, but do you think the light fixture is somehow at fault?

 

[naterealbig]

I bought a 61" Aquatic LIfe hybrid and ATI bulbs from BRS and some Noopsyche LEDs from my LFS. I assembled the unit and tested it. Everything was good. Then I hung it and plugged it in and it immediately tripped my GFCI(it was not plugged in to GFCI when I tested it). I thought maybe the GFCI was overloaded as it was running my two return pumps, a wavemaker and my current LEDs, so I unplugged the pumps momentarily and the light still tripped the GFCI. When I plug it into a non-gfci, one side of the T5 workS. I switched the bulbs and the other side works, so I deduced that I must have a bad bulb, even though they are brand new and worked when I tested it. However, if I only plug in the side that's working, it still trips the GFCI.

I've got new bulbs on the way, because clearly one of them is bad, but do you think the light fixture is somehow at fault?

Doubt it is the bulbs. You likely have a ground in the t5 wiring. If you're handy, and your GFCI is old, it would be quick and cheap to swap out the GFCI receptacle - these can also go bad.

 

[TheHarold]

+1 for probably being the fixture.

 

[SeaJay]

Doubt it is the bulbs. You likely have a ground in the t5 wiring. If you're handy, and your GFCI is old, it would be quick and cheap to swap out the GFCI receptacle - these can also go bad.

The gfci isn't old, but I do plan to change it. Cheap way to eliminate one possibility. In the meantime, I've been eliminating that possibility by running a cord across the room and plugging it into a non gfci outlet on a completely different circuit.

I agree that it seemed to be the fixture. I was actually in the process of contacting Aquatic Life customer service when it dawned on me that they are going to want to verify that it's not a bulb issue. So I swapped the bulbs and the problem swapped sides along with the bulbs. Since these are two completely separate light fixtures connected by some simple end brackets, that seems to eliminate the fixture as the culprit. The only reason I'm still even considering the fixture as the culprit is because it trips the gfci. Even when only the working side is plugged in, regardless of which side that is.

 

[SeaJay]

Been googling it and found plenty of people saying that T5s will trip a gfci.

I got the multimeter out and tested it and it doesn’t seem to have a short in it anywhere.

 

[naterealbig]

Been googling it and found plenty of people saying that T5s will trip a gfci.

I got the multimeter out and tested it and it doesn’t seem to have a short in it anywhere.

True - i wouldn't suspect the bulb, but if the fault is following the bulb, then that definitely points to the issue.

How are you testing for grounds?

The bulb itself also may not have a short - but upon startup may be causing an imbalance in current which the gfci "sees" as a short. based on your observations, it sounds like a new "good" bulb will fix the issue.

Keep us posted.

 

[GJak]

I would pop out the reflectors and take a quick look at the wiring on the two ballasts to see if there are any obvious faults. The most common issue would be one of the wire ends not seated all the way into the ballast and a stripped end being exposed and able to ark to the fixture itself on startup. Also make sure that the set screws that ground the ballast to the fixture didn't come loose and are touching the hot or neutral.

 

[SeaJay]

I would pop out the reflectors and take a quick look at the wiring on the two ballasts to see if there are any obvious faults. The most common issue would be one of the wire ends not seated all the way into the ballast and a stripped end being exposed and able to ark to the fixture itself on startup. Also make sure that the set screws that ground the ballast to the fixture didn't come loose and are touching the hot or neutral.

New bulbs won’t be here until next week. I’ll definitely do this before I put more new bulbs in it and risk having the same problem again.