gfci saved me

[kappa]

A GFCI saved me, and my tank. I was trying to catch my psudochromis with a ziplock bag, and I gave up and left the bag floating in mid water. I was looking in my sump for my royal gramma, and the next thing I knew was the water in the main tank started spill out the top of my tank, and I had no clue as to why?! I then spotted the bag on top of the overflow elbow about 5 seconds later, and by now about a gallon of water flooded out of the main tank. As I remiooved the plastic bag, The water got onto my power strip below the foot of the stand, and the whole system shut down thanks to the GFCI. I am glad I bought it.

[EtOH_is_good]

think safety first. wouldn't want a pic of electrocuted nanoreefer posted. haven't seen a nail through a finger recently, but they have been posted.

[seabass]

That’s a good lesson. I definitely recommend using a GFCI; however, it is not that uncommon for them to trip when you do not want them to. A total power shutdown for your tank can crash it, as it will quickly lose oxygen.

 

Always use drip loops for all of the power cords, and power strips should not be lying on the ground (or any other flat surface that can collect water). I personally don’t plug my pumps into a GFCI (to prevent a tank crash should it trip); however, I do plug my other equipment into one (like my lights and heater).

[kappa]

Yeah, thanks for the tip, I will try to fix the powerstrip issue asap by monting it undeneath the table or on the wall.

[Hwarang]

after my cat knocked my fuge light into the fuge by playing with the cords and it wiped out my $2k/29gallon reef I figured it would be wise to shell out for a GFCI. it started on fire and everything. it could have burned my place down.

[kappa]

Seabass, you say it is not uncommon to have the gfci trip unintentionally, but you do not give any examples to support your argument. Ofcourse during a power outage, everything that needs power will shut down whether or not a gfci is used. Please give me some examples on how a gfci will trip unintentionally.

[seabass]

Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of specific information about motors from aquarium pumps and other tank equipment. However, I have experienced nuisance trips of GFCI outlets in the past. Say you experience one at night, during a storm (even if the power doesn’t go out), loss of power to your tank could cause a crash. This would be a problem even if it happens once every 3 years.

 

Again I recommend using a GFCI as they can save your life, which is more important than saving your tank. Also, it is important to test to make sure that the GFCI is plugged into a grounded outlet (just because it has three prongs doesn’t ensure that it is properly grounded); use an outlet tester to make sure the ground terminal is connected.

 

The following are a couple of searches I did that somewhat relate. I’m sure that you can easily find more. It would be nice if someone could add some information specific to reef keeping.

 

We suggest you DO NOT plug any critical appliances, such as a refrigerator or freezer into a GFCI protected outlet because of the high risk of loss due to accidental “tripping” or tripping due to an electrical storm in your area….If you are going to have a freezer in your home, be very sure not to use it with a GFCI circuit. GFCI’s will trip unexpectedly with capacitive and inductive loads (compressive motors).

 

GFCI receptacles can occasionally go bad and trip for no reason. Should this become a problem, replace the receptacle.

 

It's common for things with electric motors to trip GFCI's. I believe it's due to inductive loads and leaking current to ground. Thats why you don't put refrigerators and freezers on GFCI's, in case they trip the circuit and thaw out all your food while you're at Disneyland.

 

Refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers or garage door openers plugged into the basement or garage outlets are often the cause of the problem. These devices are not meant to be plugged into a GFCI circuit and will eventually cause the GFCI to trip. These appliances should be moved to a non GFCI protected location or a non GFCI protected outlet should be installed by a qualified electrician.

 

Occasionally, if there is a nearby lightning strike, the GFCI may ‘trip’ and disconnect the power to the receptacle… When lightning strikes…the GFCI senses that there are unexpected currents in the ground circuit and ‘trips’ open.

[seabass]

I’m thinking about adding a ground probe. Here is some more info from Reef Central:

 

A ground probe is absolutely a must with a GFCI if you are trying to prevent current in your tank water. The only way for the GFCI to trip when voltage hits the water would be for the current to find a path to ground. If you do not have a Probe with a GFCI and your water becomes charged you risk the potential of becoming ground yourself.

 

The purpose for a GFCI is to turn off the electricity if the powers traveling over the hot and neutral leads are not balanced. This indicates that there is a short somewhere. The ground probe will aid in removing stray electrical voltages in the tank. In addition if there is a short in the tank the ground probe will provide a path to ground for that short rather than you when you put your hand in the tank. To make a long story short the ground probe not only provides a method of neutralizing stray electrical currents from things such as lights, but also provides some additional protection when used in conjunction with a GFCI.

 

Be very careful with the external GFCI. Every one that I've ever seen is "non-latching" what that means is that if they are unplugged (or you loose power) they trip and must be manually reset. If the power goes out for 15 seconds and you're out of town - your tank is toast.

 

Certain inductive devices (such as electric motors) can impart an inductive surge on the AC mains that will sometimes falsely trip a GFCI. The better GFCI devices are built to resist this false tripping while still providing protection against a legitimate ground situation. The plug-in style of GFCIs are often some of the most susceptible to false tripping. I would recommend having a qualified electrician install an outlet or breaker style GFCI.

 

GFCI's come in two types. "Latched" (also known as "manual" or "passive") which will switch back on after a power cut. "Unlatched" (also known as "automatic" or "active") which will switch off in a power cut until reset. This characteristic has nothing to do with quality or socket versus adapter, but with purpose….Don't put everything on the same GFCI or one bad piece of equipment may cause everything to be cut.