A GFCI tripping mystery

[magiccannabus]

Hey everyone. I'm starting a new cabinet. My old one was 512W of T8 shoplights. Now I have a 250W overhead and 256W(so far) of fluoros. They run on the Intermatic HC800RCL digital outdoor timer plugged into a GFCI outlet(which according to my tester is wired correctly). I plugged in a separate power strip for the HPS and the fluoros. I started up the fluoros, but then turned the fluoro power strip off. When I went to start it up again, the GFCI breaker blew, and pushing the rest button would not work until I switched off the strip the fluoros were plugged into. Then just the HPS was on it and it reset. Do these outlets have problems with inductive loads? I am worried about this as the whole point of this cabinet is to surround the plants with light.

 

[Dr Dog]

that circuit should be on a 15 amp breaker, should be able to handle well over 2000 w.

I suspect the culprit is other things on that circuit in your house, or a faulty strip

Last year, I had a situation where my breaker was going off during the night. Turns out I had accidentally turned up the small space heater I was using. That pushed it past the circuit tipping point, so everything would seem fine until the heater clicked on

 

[magiccannabus]

Could a disconnected ground lead on the power strip cause the problem, even if the devices themselves are functioning as intended?

 

[Dr Dog]

sure a ground could do that

are you trying to use ungrounded plugs or receptacles?

but if I were to bet, I would look at other things in your place that may be on same circuit, fridge,ac unit etc

 

[S_a_H]

Offhand how old do you think the GFCI outlet is ?

I would replace the outlet.

S_a_H

 

[Aerohead]

Offhand how old do you think the GFCI outlet is ?

I would replace the outlet.

S_a_H

Yes, they can get weak and go into reset mode easier than the original design.

I plugged in a separate power strip for the HPS and the fluoros

I would get that HPS off of the power strip, it needs to be plugged into an outlet to be safe.

 

[magiccannabus]

The GFCI is brand new, box is brand new, wires to it are brand new. Only the power strip the fluoros is very old. I'll definitely replace that. I'm using 3 wires for all of it, 12 gauge wiring for all my additions. There's no other appliances whatsoever on that circuit. Only the GFCI breaker trips, the one at the panel does not do anything at all. I'll report back once I have tried new strips. Maybe I should run my polarity tester on the strips too.....

 

[NorCalFor20]

why are u plugged into a GFCI do you think u might accidently drop ur hps into a bucket of water or something, i thought GFCI 's were saftey plugs

 

[mrred]

my old house, the same breaker was used for 2 bedrooms 1 living room

 

[mrred]

i had a faulter gfci(i think same kind you see in bathrooms right?) it would just breaK at anytime for no reason what so ever, i thought it was haunted, replaced the outlet and no problems so far.

 

[pitbill]

repace the outlet.....i had the same problem- replaced it and never happened again----i imagine that they are cheaply made and basiclly just fail after time

 

[ItsAllOver]

I noticed above someone saying that with a 15A breaker, you should be able to get upwards of 2000w, but that's not such a safe suggestion. I could be wrong, and if so, prove it, but my calculations: (P=IV)
15A x 120V = 1800w
And considering that it is recommended that you only move up to ~80% of your total load, you're left with 1,440w available.

So yea, where is the confusion?

 

[Philosophelon]

First off, I'm not an electrician, so if I'm wrong on this, someone please correct me immediately.

It is my understanding that a GFCI works by detecting a difference in current between the energized and neutral conductors. So current leakage from a defective power strip (to a ground or other condutor, etc.) could cause a GFCI to trip. However, I think that a load with a low power factor (ballasts, blower motors) can also trip a GFCI. Lol, in hindsight, that probably wasn't a very helpful answer, but maybe an electrician (or physicist) could chime in regarding GFCIs and inductive loads.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Will you guys just stop it? Gahhhh!

MC.... Go get a new power strip and try it again. If it still trips.... look at the GCFI but I doubt that's the problem Duh!

 

[magiccannabus]

How odd, my last reply submitted and was showing up and now it's like I never posted it. Wonder if the forums got reset or something..... Anyway, I guess it might make sense if such a switch might trip under certain inductive loads, because I think the GFCI and panel breakers are essentially magnetic. I fired 256W of fluoros with the HPS tonight. So far no GFCI tripping. The real test will be at 3pm tomorrow when they kick on.