To GFI, Or Not To GFI.....

The OP wasn't looking for alternative devices to GFI's. His main concern was it tripping while he was away. The corded GFI's and the plug in GFI's trip just like standard hard wired versions. And yes...it WILL trip while on vacation...just because. ;D The GFI is for YOUR safety, not your fish tanks. I would personally change the receptacles to GFI's if it were my home. That being said, make sure you take all the proper precautions while changing these out. Also, make sure you understand the difference between Line/Load sides and determine which is which in the string.

 

Ok, here is my input.

I did not have a GFI, but I had a GFI extension cord. My Tank Cracked. Which resulted in gushing water that, you guessed it, went straight into my outlet. Smoke started running out of it, sparks. It was about the scariest fish tank accident I could have imagined, times ten. I ran down to the breakers and, not knowing which my tank was on and in a panic, flipped them all off, ended up having to save everything in buckets, in the dark, at 11pm. As a result, I will never run a tank without a GFI outlet installed. Had I not been home, who knows what would have happened (electrical fire?).

Yes, I have had my GFI switch off accidently. Yes it has happened while I was on vacation, and yes, I had to explain to a family member how to swap it back. But, it's not worth the risk to my house, or me, not to use one. They're easy to reset. Just be sure you show your tank sitter how to do it

Note: I really like the idea of splitting the pumps between two circuits. It's not possible on my current tank, but if I ever can afford to do the build I've been thinking about, I'll def see if I can arrange that.

 

To Zechenia and Renee, thank you both. You've both given me the best pro's and con's so far. And another shout to FOD, lol.....you're right on, I was aiming for a straight yey or ney on the devices in general, but alternative options are always welcome. I think if I were going to rewire my setup, I'd simply install a straight GFI outlet after hearing Z's history, but I'm still stuck on the fence with Renee loosing a 15 year old companion. That's rough. Perhaps installing a GFCI breaker in the panel is the best of both worlds. For $60 , I would hope they have some reliability..... Does anybody have these installed in their homes?


Edit...
Also, in case of emergency, I suppose I could get a battery backup for my DT power heads for surface movement. That'd buy my tank a few more hours...

 

Also, mine tends to go out when the power comes back on from an outage. I'm currently thinking of reprogramming my Reef Angel to have a less intense start up (slowly switching things on). I've got a 28 gallon tank with LPS and Softies that was entirely without power for probably 8+ hours without any issues. I feel comfortable with people checking on it every other day. You situation might be different, but just wanted to throw my 2 cents in there .

Also, another instance where it's been helpful. I don't have a sump, I have my ATO feed directly into my tank. ATO hose came loose while I was working on it, popped the GFI before zaping me.

 

You can always leave your standered plugs and install a gfci breaker for that circuit. If you dont mind spending 60.00 bucks....If you install a gfci outlet as stated you need to make sure its installed properly. If its the first outlet in the circuit the power coming in need to land on the line side of the outlet and the wires going to the next outlet need to be on the load side...You cant just pigtail the wires and land them. It wont work.

So before you can just swap out any outlet with a gfci you need to determine witch outlet that is in the circuit so you can hook up your line and load correctly.

some of these issues you guys are having may be due to incorrect wiring.

When installing a GFCI breaker at the panel you also need to locate the neutral wire as well. The neutral wire is going to land under the second screw on the breaker. If you leave the neutral on the bus bar the breaker will trip instantly.

 

FYI - This was kind of brushed on already, but to clarify, GFCI's are meant for your protection as mentioned, while breakers are meant to save equipment. GFCI's monitor current from hot to neutral, which should be equal. Once an imbalance is found (meaning current is "escaping") it will trip. If too much current is being drawn and the circuit is overloaded (based on the size of the breaker), the breaker will trip. Two completely different purposes, both necessary!

 

Very good point. I've always tried to build things with 3 steps in mind.

step 1: Self preservation (most important)
step 2: preservation of others around me (Very Important)
step 3: preservation of property involved (We all like having stuff)

In that order.....

I think I will give the GFCI outlets a go, but the first time they fail, Believe me, I'll be right back on this thread to let you folks know about it.

As well, I'll also throw the GFCI breaker, and the battery back up just because. (no offense cosmo, but I'm going to pass on the gfci extension chord, just because I've done all this work on my new build, (foreshadowing) I'd rather have the solid wiring in then buy add on's externally) but thank you, if I weren't building from scratch, that sure looks like a good safety feature.

 

GFIs are to save your life, not your equipment's. And breakers do not save your equipment, they keep your house from burning down. They protect the wiring, not the equipment. Your pump may draw 1 amp, but it gets jammed and draws 10 amps... guess what, your pump it going to smoke, the breaker will never trip. the breaker is to keep your house wiring from drawing more amps than it is rated for and catching your house on fire.

I would advise against a GFI breaker. A GFI will trip here and there. Mine mostly did when I unplugged something. I would unplug my skimmer and then everything goes. Yes it was irritating. But the reset was right on the wall. I didn't have to go out to my breaker panel. So a breaker GFI can be pretty inconvienient.

A socket or a cord is no different. As was mentioned, if the GFI trips, then all the sockets down stream will be off too. But the directions go over that pretty well. It was not difficult at all. I did the socket due to not wanting another thing plugged in and having both sockets covered. My tank was split up on two circuits and I had GFIs on both.

As far as tripping out of town... they don't just trip for no reason. Mine only did plugging something in... other than that they trip when there is a leak somewhere. everyone should know how to reset a GFI, and everyone should know if it won't reset then there is a problem.