GFCI, do you recommend one? Discuss...

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/use-driploop-82336.html
http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/pictures-gfci-fire-96962.html

 

The best thing to do is a have a separate unit that holds all your electrical and that is insulated from any water spill or splash. Dont put any plug or outlet in the tank stand and make sure you electrical stand is a few inches off the ground and you should be nice and safe. Also, put a ground probe in the tank.
GFCI trips too often for my liking so i wont use one.

 

Lol.....

 

And like I stated in that post, that GFI did NOT work correctly.. If it did, it would of tripped sooner & not cause as much damage.

 

GFIs are not to protect anything form catching on fire.... that is what circuit breakers are for.

GFIs are to keep YOU from getting ELECTROCUTED!!!

If that does not bother you... by all means keep working with water around electricity.

 

Yep.... the most common responses by those electrocuted around water.

Swear to God... I have actually seen people standing in water plugging something into a GFIC and after it continuously tripped plugged what ever into the wall :

GFCI trip due to stray current. The questions you should be asking is where is the stray current going and what is shorting?

 

Electrocution implies death, so IMO the most common response by those electrocuted would be nothing. ;D Honestly, it's up to the installer, if he/she feels a GFI is necessary. They can trip easily, and they may never trip. Depends on your equipment really. I have 2 GFI Breakers installed, and they have never tripped.

 

Every outlet in my house is GFCI protected. I assume your homes are not?

 

GFCIs do protect from fire. I have seen massive house fires where everything was destroyed or smoke damaged that were caused by a space heater malfunction and the breaker had not tripped. If it was plugged into a GFCI, I would have thought it would have tripped much earlier.

 

I had a fire that was started by an arc-fault on an el-cheapo powerstrip. The funny thing was that this was just a temporary measure....I had already purchased new GFCI outlets, romex, circuit breakers, etc. An electrician friend of mine was going to install it for trade.

I use GFCI but I put the return pump on a separate circuit from the powerheads. If one trips, the other one is still going.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/fire-safety-38360.html

BTW, this fire was in a 35 year old house and it spread fast.