T5 Fixture tripping GFCI instantly

[Charley75]

So today's the day.....been slowly buying pieces for the past year. Tank has been up and running (dark) for a couple weeks now. My bulbs came in today (early) after me researching bulb options 4 ever. Beyond exited to finally have everything up and running.........plug in lights and turn on and my GFCI instantly pops. what the heck!!!!! I tried plugging them into a non GFCI outlet....they all worked, but I started hearing a sizzling noise and figured I better turn off. I'm using a 6 bulb T5 fixture ( Tek Light by Sunlight Supply Co ) I picked up probably 6 months ago for a good deal. When I bought the fixture it had just regular bulbs in it, but it did work. I knew I was taking a risk with a used fixture, but also know that this a reputable brand. I'm at a loss as far as how to trouble shoot this problem. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ndrwater]

You may be overloading the circuit. 6 bulbs can be a lot of juice. What else is plugged into the same outlet/circuit?
You may need to split up the load

 

[Wiskey]

GFCI is not the same as a breaker,.. My guess is that water got into the fixture at one point. Usually when you pop a GFCI it's a power leak to ground somewhere.

Does it have multiple switches? Or cords? If so I would plug in/turn on one at a time to get a clue as to which ballast or light set is the issue. When you figure that out look for salt creep that might be shorting power to the fixture's grounded case.

Whiskey

 

[Charley75]

Not the breaker.....I put a dedicated 20 amp circuit just for my tank. Fixture does have 2 cords and switches. Does that suggestion involve a regular outlet or the GFCI?

 

[Charley75]

The whole looks dry too....no salt creep. Why would it trip the GFCI? Both turned on with normal outlets, but starting making a sizzling noise

 

[jordan10]

The whole looks dry too....no salt creep. Why would it trip the GFCI? Both turned on with normal outlets, but starting making a sizzling noise

Turn off plug in to gfci one at a time and turn on one at time and if it pops when. U turn it on there something shorting it out the GFI is doing what it should. My guess wires are touching inside some where and that's what sizzling when it's on

 

[Wiskey]

The whole looks dry too....no salt creep. Why would it trip the GFCI? Both turned on with normal outlets, but starting making a sizzling noise

Try plugging only one cord into the GFCI and see if one trips and the other doesn't. It doesn't have to be salt creep, but something is leaking power to ground. The good news is that those fixtures use fairly standard ballasts, and for $20 or so you can replace one, but somehow power is leaking to ground. It goes without saying that you need to be careful, it's possible that the fixture's case is energized and can shock you on the bad channel. That GFCI is protecting you, the goal is to find the problem and correct it.

Whiskey

 

[Phil D.]

Need to take fixture apart and find out what is shorting. Sizzling noise is possibly electric short.

 

[jelazar]

Why would it trip the GFCI? Both turned on with normal outlets, but starting making a sizzling noise

The outside might be free of salt creep because someone wiped it down. Did you take it apart and verify that the inside is free of any salt creep? Fans or just circulation can pull in humid air that condenses on the inside of your fixture, leaving salt deposits behind. Those salt deposits grow large enough to short to ground, or arc inside a wire connector. The GFCI senses that and turns off power right away. When you plug it into a regular outlet, the power arcs until (a) a wire melts through and stops conducting power or (b) it arcs long enough to catch fire.

You need to take the fixture apart, find the problem, and clean it well. If anything looks burnt, you should replace/repair it.

 

[Charley75]

So should I have it turned on while taking it apart to see where the sizzling is coming from?

 

[Charley75]

I have taken part but still don’t see any salt creep on the inside. It’s hard to take it completely apart because the ballasts are attached somehow. Also, I noticed that there parts of the end caps that appear to be broken....The green parts where the pins insert. Does this matter?

 

[Crustaceon]

I’m willing to bet you have an electrical short in the fixture. It sure sounds like a poor connection on either the ballast or bulb connectors.

 

[Charley75]

Could those green parts on the end caps have anything to do with it? Just curious.

 

[Mikeltee]

Electrician here. Tripped breakers can mean several things.

1st- calculate the load on the circuit. If it's a dedicated circuit add it all up or put a kill a watt on it. Make sure your conductors are sized enough to carry the load. Make sure nothing else is on the circuit

2nd- look at the breaker. I will put a known good breaker on the circuit and see if it trips. You would be surprised to see how many brand new or slightly used breakers go bad. Make sure your conductors are screwed down tight to the panel and breaker.

3rd- you got a short. Trace all wires from circuit breaker to tombstones for lamps. This is time consuming. First verify the receptacle is good by plugging something else in. If that's good, its your device. How we do it is go half way through the circuit. If it tests good (120v on a meter) than it's the second half. Go half way up the second half. I have also seen tombstones cause shorts as well. It very well call be a ballast too.


When troubleshooting you always start out with the most simple device that can go bad.

 

[Albertan22]

Electrician here. Tripped breakers can mean several things.

1st- calculate the load on the circuit. If it's a dedicated circuit add it all up or put a kill a watt on it. Make sure your conductors are sized enough to carry the load. Make sure nothing else is on the circuit

2nd- look at the breaker. I will put a known good breaker on the circuit and see if it trips. You would be surprised to see how many brand new or slightly used breakers go bad. Make sure your conductors are screwed down tight to the panel and breaker.

3rd- you got a short. Trace all wires from circuit breaker to tombstones for lamps. This is time consuming. First verify the receptacle is good by plugging something else in. If that's good, its your device. How we do it is go half way through the circuit. If it tests good (120v on a meter) than it's the second half. Go half way up the second half. I have also seen tombstones cause shorts as well. It very well call be a ballast too.


When troubleshooting you always start out with the most simple device that can go bad.

I believe his issue is a gfci outlet popping, not the breaker.

 

[Mikeltee]

Overload or short. Same applies. It's probably the gfi. Gfi just trip faster than a normal breaker. It doesnt necessarily have to be water induced.

 

[oreo54]

Could be anything from a bad GFCI to a short...
Really needs a total tear down and look see.
Tombstones should be easy to replace..

T5 Lamp Holder Non-Shunted Bi-Pin Socket

This Satco socket is item number 80-1944. This is a T5 lampholder (otherwise known as a T5 socket). This particular socket is a slide on, rotary locking socket for rapid start applications. This is a non-shunted G5 miniature bi-pin tombstone socket for your fluorescent or LED T5 tube lights. It...

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light

 

[Charley75]

GFCI outlet didn’t trip until light was added. Unplugged everything else from circuit and still tripped the GFCI. Assuming not a “load” issue or an outlet issue.....at least that’s what I think.

 

[ROB2005]

Most signs point to a short somewhere in the fixture causing current to leak to ground and tripping the GFCI. Take apart the fixture, use a digital multimeter to check wires to see if you are getting continuity to ground (make sure fixture isn’t plugged in when you do that though)

 

[Parent_usmc]

Fastest way to test the gfci is to plug something other than the light into it. See if it trips. If the lights the only thing that trips the gfci then open the light up and check for poor connections or a short.