Electrical help please

[Paul B]

I ran the line and added the breaker so I know it's hooked up like the rest of the panel, the white and neutral are in the ground bar and the black runs into the breaker.

If you ran a new line and put a GFI breaker on it, the neutral from the receptacle does "not" go on the neutral bar in the panel. It goes on to the neutral terminal on the GFI breaker.
There should also be a white wire coming off the GFI breaker which goes to the neutral bar in the panel. Not the ground bar even though they are connected together.

 

[nereefpat]

If you ran a new line and put a GFI breaker on it, the neutral from the receptacle does "not" go on the neutral bar in the panel. It goes on to the neutral terminal on the GFI breaker.
There should also be a white wire coming off the GFI breaker which goes to the neutral bar in the panel. Not the ground bar even though they are connected together.

Why do you think OP is using a GFCI breaker?

Ground and neutral bar are the same thing in a main panel. They are only separate in a sub panel.

 

[Paul B]

Yes they are. That doesn't matter except in the code. But the neutral coming back from the receptacle must be wired to the GFI breaker, not the neutral bar. (or ground bar)

I ran the line and added the breaker so I know it's hooked up like the rest of the panel, the white and neutral are in the ground bar and the black runs into the breaker.

If I am reading what he is doing correctly, I think he installed a new line to a regular receptacle fed from a GFI breaker, which is fine, or am I reading something wrong?

 

[nereefpat]

We can wait for OP to confirm. I don't see him mention a GFCI breaker anywhere.

 

[Matt Miller]

If you ran a new line and put a GFI breaker on it, the neutral from the receptacle does "not" go on the neutral bar in the panel. It goes on to the neutral terminal on the GFI breaker.
There should also be a white wire coming off the GFI breaker which goes to the neutral bar in the panel. Not the ground bar even though they are connected together.

It's not a GFI breaker, just a standard 20a breaker. The outlet is the only GFCI, is that wrong?

 

[nereefpat]

You did it right. Black into breaker, white and bare into the ground/neutral bar.

Not sure why he thought you were using a GFCI breaker.

 

[Paul B]

I ran a new single GFCI outlet for my fishtank recently. New 20a breaker, the GFCI is also. I turned it on and tested it, all seemed fine.

OK, I am wrong. I got confused by his first line which I didn't read correctly. I thought he was installing a new line with a GFCI breaker. Never mind...

 

[Matt Miller]

Lol, well now I'm more confused about this whole thing. I thought it was the heater so I hooked only those up and it ran the whole time I was gone. So then I plugged it back into the power strip and the as trip back into the GFCI outlet, and it ran the rest of the day, and overnight without tripping.

The only thing that isn't on is my light, is it possible that my new light has a short, or its really just too much for the outlet?? It's an AI prime 16 hd if I didn't say that yet.

 

[Brew12]

I'm not sure what is going on with the power being read by the Widowmaker. You may have a voltage being induced that it is picking up. Not a fan of those things.
I recommend never using a surge protector with a GFCI protected system. Surge protectors work by shunting the hot line to ground during a voltage spike. If that surge suppression system leaks 5mA of current (not unusual in mass produced surge arrestors) it will trip the GFCI.
I would find a non surge protected power strip and use that for your loads.

 

[nereefpat]

If each device individually plugged into the gfci doesn't trip it, then the issue must be the surge protector...I believe.

 

[Matt Miller]

I'm not sure what is going on with the power being read by the Widowmaker. You may have a voltage being induced that it is picking up. Not a fan of those things.
I recommend never using a surge protector with a GFCI protected system. Surge protectors work by shunting the hot line to ground during a voltage spike. If that surge suppression system leaks 5mA of current (not unusual in mass produced surge arrestors) it will trip the GFCI.
I would find a non surge protected power strip and use that for your loads.

I can try a power strip instead, I didn't think about the redundancy with that. Hopefully you get what I'm trying to say there lol.

If each device individually plugged into the gfci doesn't trip it, then the issue must be the surge protector...I believe.

I will keep running my tests, pretty busy but luckily I'm still in cycling phase.

Thanks so much for all the help with this problem.

 

[Brew12]

I can try a power strip instead, I didn't think about the redundancy with that. Hopefully you get what I'm trying to say there lol.

Yup, a power strip would be better. It's not so much redundancy as it is a trade off. I feel the GFCI protection is much more important than the surge protection. Hopefully that change will get you on the right path. That way you can move on to the next stress inducing problem that reefing seems to create!

 

[Brett S]

The only thing that isn't on is my light, is it possible that my new light has a short, or its really just too much for the outlet??

Remember that a GFCI won’t trip on a short or over current. That’s what a breaker is for. A GFCI will trip if some power is ‘leaking‘ to ground, which could indicate a dangerous situation.

It is certainly possible that your light has a problem and is tripping the GFCI, but it wouldn’t be a short or drawing too much power.

 

[Ray Laneville]

It sounds to me that some piece of equipment is tripping the GFCI, and the GFCI is doing its job. Usually it's a heater or a powerhead (if the powerhead is AC and not a controllable DC one like MP40).

I guess it could be something with the surge protector/ power strip. I would individually plug in each piece of equipment directly into the GFCI and see if you can get it to trip.

As far as checking voltage with the pen...hard for me to say. I have one that I like, but I've tried to use other peoples' and some are finicky. Of course a multimeter is better.

a megger would be the best thing to use to find leaking current.

 

[Matt Miller]

Remember that a GFCI won’t trip on a short or over current. That’s what a breaker is for. A GFCI will trip if some power is ‘leaking‘ to ground, which could indicate a dangerous situation.

It is certainly possible that your light has a problem and is tripping the GFCI, but it wouldn’t be a short or drawing too much power.

Ok, I won't have the lights on for a while so I can work on changing the surge for a power strip. Then I will be able to do some testing with the light if I don't have any more tripped outlet troubles.

Thanks for the clarification, I don't really understand how all of it works I just know the basics.

 

[Matt Miller]

a megger would be the best thing to use to find leaking current.

Well until I can get some proper testing equipment, I'm trying to find a good power strip that isn't a surge protector also.
I thought I would get this, but it's a surge protector also...

 

[Brew12]

Well until I can get some proper testing equipment, I'm trying to find a good power strip that isn't a surge protector also.
I thought I would get this, but it's a surge protector also...

I use these.
Amazon.com: Belkin 6-Outlet Power Strip With 3ft Cord, White: Electronics

Edit: I will also add that surge protectors are very hit or miss on if they will trip a GFCI. My experience is that you could take 6 identical power strips with surge protectors and some would work fine on GFCI, others won't. The 5mA trip on a GFCI is extremely small so even small differences in manufacturing can cause issues.

 

[Matt Miller]

I have had my inkbird plugged straight into my GFCI outlet and the surge protector plugged in the other slot with no trips for a few days. It's possible it was the tree, but since my kasa came today I plugged it all into that and into the GFCI.

Hopefully that's the end of this problem.

 

[Sabina]

I ran a new single GFCI outlet for my fishtank recently. New 20a breaker, the GFCI is also. I turned it on and tested it, all seemed fine.

I started my cycle and it stayed on till I went to sleep, and it tripped. I reset the outlet and it stayed on again 30+ minutes. It tripped again while I was at work, so I decided to get a new outlet and try that.

I flipped the breaker off and went to take out the outlet but now it's showing there's power in the line, with the breaker turned off.

I'm just confused what to do right now...

Induced currents likely. You can get rid by plugging something in then use a volt meter NOT voltage detector “wand”. Basically one wire acts as an antenna transmitting to the wire next to is.

I talk about GCFI and trip issues in this video.

 

[vetteguy53081]

gRAB

I ran a new single GFCI outlet for my fishtank recently. New 20a breaker, the GFCI is also. I turned it on and tested it, all seemed fine.

I started my cycle and it stayed on till I went to sleep, and it tripped. I reset the outlet and it stayed on again 30+ minutes. It tripped again while I was at work, so I decided to get a new outlet and try that.

I flipped the breaker off and went to take out the outlet but now it's showing there's power in the line, with the breaker turned off.

I'm just confused what to do right now...

A FLASHLIGHT and turn off the main. There will be Zero power.