Hospital grade GFCI tripping??

[joec]

I think it's a bad heater, trying to isolate and confirm.

 

[AlexG]

Testing each device with a GFCI or unplugging a few devices at a time is the best way to isolate the malfunctioning equipment. Its not worth the risk to run without a GFCI on an aquarium.

 

[deadhead_45yrs]

IMHO the return pump and the heaters should not be run through a GFCI.
Those two pieces of equipment are just to critical to the tanks survival and GFCI trips are just too common (at least they are in my house).
I have these two things on a UPS on my tank...
The lights, ATO, skimmer and wave pumps are connected to the GFCI.

 

[KStatefan]

IMHO Everything in your tank should be on a GFCI

Your family and friends life might depend on it.

 

[joec]

If my heaters had not been plugged into a GFCI, I would not know I have a problem with voltage leaking into my tank.

I think I've isolated the problem heater of three.

 

[ScooterV]

If my heaters had not been plugged into a GFCI, I would not know I have a problem with voltage leaking into my tank.

I think I've isolated the problem heater of three.

Yep, a tripping GFCI means something is wrong. Good job chasing it down!

 

[BZOFIQ]

I bought a few Blank-Face GFCIs recently and the manual on the Eaton branded ones said that at some point the unit will reach end-of-life and will not be able to be reset.

That said, they do go bad internally.

Replace it, they are cheap enough and see what happens. You don't want it to trip if faulty when you are away or..... worse, not trip when you need it to.

To expand upon previous response...

Called Eaton today to clarify some indicators (there are 2 on the Blank-Face units) and while I hate the fact that there is no indicator that shows when power is ON, they instead show when its tripped and also have a blinking red led indicator that indicates end of life for the GFCI taking the guessing game out of equation.

I asked what would cause end of life, he said there could be different reasons but mostly it would be caused by surges/brownouts.

With that said, I'll stick to Leviton units because I like to see green or white light to confirm power flowing to outlets downstream.


Furthermore, I really recommend these blank-face GFCIs that could be installed away from the tank in a drier location with protected outlets downstream.

This arrangement makes it easier to monitor/reset and/or replace it then if it was installed in super tight places right behind the tank.

Here is a picture of one. I have 5 installed in remote/dry utility closet away from the tank with regular outlets behind the tank and within utility closet wired into the LOAD side of the GFCI