GFI is tripping---

I think you better find another electrician and have that one's work
reinspected.... did he by chance do the work for you without getting a
permit? ~ jan

I had an electrician out to the house for some work, and asked him to give
me an estimate on running a line and a GFI to the pond. He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend no
GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.

He sounded like he made sense, but it seems contrary to what I have been
told before.

BV.


(Do you know where your water quality is?)

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
s.com...
I think you better find another electrician and have that one's work
reinspected.... did he by chance do the work for you without getting a
permit? ~ jan

In his defense, this guy was just out to do the estimate for labor for the
company, so he may have just misspoke. He won't be doing the work. Either
way, I told him I am not worried about the circuit tripping occasionally, so
I want the outlet to be a GFI. I am thinking he was just confused, because
the main reason he was here was to an estimate for a pool, and he said he'd
put a GFI for my second outlet near the pool for the lights. So he gets the
GFI concept.

BV.

Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad. There are many devices
that you cannot put on a GFI because they leak voltage (there is a
reason you don't install whole house GFI). Pumps that work fine at fist
may start tripping a GFI as they age. Typically you wouldn't want your
pump to turn off on you on a whim. But you also don't want to be fried
when it really fails.
Reminds me of the brilliant plumber who installed a sump pump in our
crawl space (before we bought the house). He dutifully put in a GFI,
but to reach it you had to crawl on your belly for 50 feet under the
house. Since he also used a cheap pump it tripped the GFI continually.
Needless to say I was not amused to have to crawl through the dark and
wet every time it rained.
Mark B.


Benign Vanilla wrote:
"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
s.com...

I think you better find another electrician and have that one's work
reinspected.... did he by chance do the work for you without getting a
permit? ~ jan


In his defense, this guy was just out to do the estimate for labor for the
company, so he may have just misspoke. He won't be doing the work. Either
way, I told him I am not worried about the circuit tripping occasionally, so
I want the outlet to be a GFI. I am thinking he was just confused, because
the main reason he was here was to an estimate for a pool, and he said he'd
put a GFI for my second outlet near the pool for the lights. So he gets the
GFI concept.

BV.

"Mark Bannister" wrote in message
. ..
Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad. There are many devices
that you cannot put on a GFI because they leak voltage (there is a
reason you don't install whole house GFI). Pumps that work fine at fist
may start tripping a GFI as they age. Typically you wouldn't want your
pump to turn off on you on a whim. But you also don't want to be fried
when it really fails.
Reminds me of the brilliant plumber who installed a sump pump in our
crawl space (before we bought the house). He dutifully put in a GFI,
but to reach it you had to crawl on your belly for 50 feet under the
house. Since he also used a cheap pump it tripped the GFI continually.
Needless to say I was not amused to have to crawl through the dark and
wet every time it rained.
snip

Good point. I agree, which is why I am having the GFI placed out at the
pond, where it is easily accessible.

BV.

a good reason to replace pumps!!! my cal pump just died and The Pond Lady told me
the cords are where it is most likely to leak. so never, ever hold a pump by the
electrical cord or haul it outta the pond by the cord. leaking electricity is bad
for fish and people. mine are most definitely on a GFI protected circuit. Ingrid

Mark Bannister wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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