"brown out" trips GFCI??

[JohnMzreef]

I came home from work yesterday, walked into the man cave, and was shocked and disturbed to find a dark, quiet room instead of the usual hum and blue glow. After much swearing the problem was traced to a tripped gfci.
My setup has a dedicated 20 amp circuit with a gfci outlet at the first box. The downstream boxes are all wired in. The circuit breaker was not tripped. The circuit has been running problem-free since the Summer.
After much questioning of the wife it seems there was a flickering of power in the house that afternoon. Could this have tripped the gfci? Any suggestions how to proceed? I want my equipment to come back on after brown-out/black-out....

 

[W1ngz]

Shouldn't happen. Replace the GFCI. Consider adding a second and splitting the load so if one trips, at least you keep some circulation.

 

[Brian_68]

GFCIs will fail or get flaky, it is just a matter of time. I would replace as mentioned as well.

 

[Joekovar]

I've got a new GFCI sitting here, so I did a little experiment to see if I could trip it by flickering power.

 

[NanoDJS]

Titanium grounding plugs to your house ground , not gfci for fish tanks. GFCI will trip on ANY signal noise, its probably the biggest killer of fishtanks. They are not even for this application.

 

[CK00020]

Could you elaborate on the grounding plugs, I agree gfci’s are a piece of crap

 

[W1ngz]

Both need to be used together to be effective.
GFCIs are a proven safety device written into every building code literally anywhere for use when line voltage is in proximity to water. Pretty sure the resident electrician @Brew12 would have plenty to say about simply dismissing them as 'crap'.

If you're buying cheap dollar-store plug in modules, yes, those most definitely are crap.

 

[NanoDJS]

Could you elaborate on the grounding plugs, I agree gfci’s are a piece of crap

Simple , if your water is grounded , you can NEVER get shocked or electrocuted , also your fish and corals will not. Even if stray voltage is leaking into the tank. A ground fault interceptor senses IF that ground connection fails on the line side which a brownout would emulate, also ALOT of other things non surge related or even dangerous WILL cause a GFI to trip and they all fail regardless of who makes it. A ground probe will ALWAYS work and keep you safe as long as its intact physically and correctly mounted (in water and on ground rod )

 

[Brew12]

Simple , if your water is grounded , you can NEVER get shocked or electrocuted , also your fish and corals will not. Even if stray voltage is leaking into the tank. A ground fault interceptor senses IF that ground connection fails on the line side which a brownout would emulate, also ALOT of other things non surge related or even dangerous WILL cause a GFI to trip and they all fail regardless of who makes it. A ground probe will ALWAYS work and keep you safe as long as its intact physically and correctly mounted (in water and on ground rod )

A ground fault interrupter detects when the hot wire has a different amount of current than the neutral wire. It will not trip on induced or "stray" voltages. Faraday's law shows this. The best thing to do for your aquarium is multiple GFCI's with a ground probe. Even if the electrical shock isn't a concern, the fact that a failed piece of equipment will leach copper into your system faster if it isn't immediately de-energized with a GFCI is critical imo.

 

[NanoDJS]

so your saying you/and fish corals can still get shocked with a GFI if you dont have a ground plug on the system correct.

 

[Brew12]

so your saying you can still get shocked with a GFI if you dont have a ground plug on the system correct.

Only at a slightly perceptible level. The main reason I use GFCI isn't for my safety, but to protect my reef. I've tried helping too many people who have had their tanks wiped because something failed but they didn't have a GFCI and ground probe to let them know.

 

[NanoDJS]

I also see so many people with the gfi tripped and everything dies scenario , so I choose to use ground plugs only and 15 amp surge protectors , personally . My point was EVERYBODY has to ground there tank please , for your saftey and your livestock. So many people have never even heard of this, its scary.

 

[Brian_68]

so your saying you/and fish corals can still get shocked with a GFI if you dont have a ground plug on the system correct.

You can certainly get shocked so much so it could knock you on your butt, not just a small perceptible level. The GFCI trips around 5ma which can be a painful shock, where 10 ma is enough to lock your muscles up. The actual current you get hit with before the GFCI trips can be way more than that, it just is designed to trip within 1/40 of a second which should not kill you. It does not mean it will not hurt, possibly even hurt bad. With a ground probe as well as a GFCI it would trip before you put your hand in the water since that path to ground is not you.

 

[CK00020]

Could u use arc fault breakers instead of gfci?

 

[Brew12]

Could u use arc fault breakers instead of gfci?

Each device serves a different purpose. GFCI's are designed to minimize electrical shocks. AFCI's are designed to prevent fires. All newer houses should have an AFCI breaker as it's main.

 

[theMeat]

As Brew12 has said a gfci paired with a ground probe is the way to go.
If you’re worried about the gfci tripping and turning off your entire tank, then again as Brew12 said, multiple gfci is a solution to that concern. As an example you could have your return pump on a separate gfci

 

[theMeat]

Will add that a tank that is grounded and not paired with a gfci is arguably worse than a tank that is not grounded. Because the ground completes the circuit, and it’s not the charge that gets you or your tank, it’s the current

 

[JohnMzreef]

If you're buying cheap dollar-store plug in modules, yes, those most definitely are crap.

No its a leviton 20 amp gray colored unit.

As Brew12 has said a gfci paired with a ground probe is the way to go.

Do people usually put the ground probe in the tank or in the sump? Or both? (and might that create a loop?)

 

[theMeat]

No its a leviton 20 amp gray colored unit.


Do people usually put the ground probe in the tank or in the sump? Or both? (and might that create a loop?)

Water is a conductor, so when return pump is on both are protected. Not a problem doing both if you wish

 

[AlexG]

Since there was a power event seen in the entire house it is possible it could trip the GFCI. I would just reset the GFCI for now and monitor it to see if it happens again. Having multiple circuits with GFCI & optionally AFCI protection is the best thing to do to protect your aquarium and people from harm. Just having a grounding probe in a aquarium without GFCI protection does not provide sufficient protection from electric shock and if the ground is not properly wired it will provide no ground protection. GFCI is a safety device that was designed and has been proven to save lives. If a GFCI continues to trip then it should be determined what the cause of the repeated trips are which could be a faulty GFCI or a faulty electrical device.

I run my aquarium system using 2x20amp circuits with AFCI and GFCI protection with critical equipment like power heads and return pumps on different circuits to help prevent a total outage of all equipment due to a safety device being tripped.