GFCI Tripped...

[Jimmy G]

Came home yesterday to find all my equipment on my 125 gall off. I checked the circuit box and none were tripped. I figure the GFCI must have tripped, problem is I reset all the GFI outlets in my house and still no power to about 6 outlets.

I can't for the life of me figure out why I can't get power to these outlets. Any suggestions? I think I might have to call an electrician.

BTW Tank has been up and running with the same equipment and lights for 6+ years.

 

[Mihai]

Is the fuse (or the circuit breaker) on? How about if you plug the tank in one of the working plugs (through a GCFI!), does it trip the GCFI? It may be just an overload and nothing to do with GCFI.

Also, it can be something else you put in (a new TV? Heater?) one of the other 5 plugs.


M.

 

[FragMaster]

Call an electrician. :wink:

 

[Sponge_Bob]

Depends on how the GFI are wired together. If you wired them yourself, and did it in a serie or parallel fashion, that could explain why some of your GFI are not working. I imagine that you built yourself some sort of "power box" and installed GFI outlets on them, maybe with timers on some. Identify which ones are not working by testing them with a light bulb or a small electric device. Then, check the wirering. It could be a simple GFI unit that has failed and is preventing the current from going to other outlets. Depending on how it's wired, the task can be easily done or be a nightmare. If it's a nightmare, call the electrician.

One last thing about breakers... if you notice a strange scent comming from your eletric box, a "fishy" scent (not kidding... it really smells like rotting fish), then there is a big chance that your breaker is cooked and needs to be replaced. Had that problem at my place a few years ago.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

I know this is silly but did you push the reset switch on the gfi outlet?

 

[Mihai]

I'm suspecting he didn't push a tripped circuit breaker.
M.

 

[trido]

If its not the GFCI check the breaker box again. Sometimes a breaker will tripjust enough that you cant tell. you physically have to turn it off the rest of the way and flip it back on. Or worst case scenario. The breaker just went bad. It does happen. Next Case, The wife put a nail through a wire and severed the nuetral. Soooo many possibilities.

 

[Jimmy G]

Well, I borrowed a Volt meter and checked the circuit going to the tank and it was getting power. I suspected the problem had to do with my lights( Aquaspace light 3X250MH) so I checked the outlet they were plugged into and the outlet was fried!
I always noticed the plug was kinda hot on that damn thing. Must have been a slow burn because the light has been plugged into the outlet for almost 4 years.
Anyways replaced the outlet and all is working fine. Thanks for the replies and heads up to Aquaspace light owners.

 

[Jimmy G]

Oh yeah, for some reason the circuit breaker never tripped, which kinda scares me. I had thought that that line was connected to a GFCI in the bathroom but it wasn't.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have allot plugged into that outlet?
_________________
Honda RVF750 RC45

 

[Jimmy G]

No, just the lights were plugged into that outlet. The only thing on that circuit is the fish tank, no other household appliances or lights.

 

[silverbandit]

If the lights were the only thing plugged in to that particular receptacle, I would think that the culprit was a loose connection on one of the screws. As far as the breaker not tripping, that's not uncommon. I used to see it all the time when I was a service electrician. Three 250's should only draw 8 amps or so, well under the 15 or 20 amps of the typical circuit breaker. One thing that may have compounded the problem is that feed-through receptacles see not only the current of whatever equipment is connected to that particular receptacle, but also all of the current of every other device connected downstream of said receptacle. Factor in a small area of metal-to-metal contact...end result is a melted outlet.