For those who have/have had trouble with GFCI breakers......

[chrisexv6]

Today I came home to find out that my GFCI breaker tripped sometime between last night and this morning. We had a rain storm, but nothing near like we've already had, so my thought is its not moisture.

Anytime I plug my pump into the GFCI circuit, the breaker instantly trips. If I leave a receptacle on the circuit, even without anything plugged into it, the breaker *eventually* trips (minutes, hours later, etc.) Currently have bare wires (covered of course) outside with the breaker on waiting to see if the breaker trips all by itself.

Any ideas? I know a couple people recently had issues liek this, would be interested to see what fixed it....and also anyone that may have had something liek this happen (this actually happened to me 2 seasons ago, I thought it was fixed because it worked fine all last year and so far 2 months this year).

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

[JohnT]

GFCI Breakers can and do go bad, but more than half the time it is moisture somewhere. It doesn't take more than a heavy fog to cause problems.

[adl6009]

I had a gfi socket do that to me. I had my low volt landscape lights plugged into it and every couple of nights, sometimes 2 weeks would go by, and the gfi would be tripped. I could never identify a cause. So I changed out the gfi socket and it hasn't happened since. (About a year now) They do go bad, I guess mine was tripping for no good reason.

[diwilson]

We had this problem with a GFI in the house. Changed out the switch and it continued. For weeks we searched for the problem. Drove me crazy. It was a new home and I was ready to call the builder. Finally I discovered the motorhome plugged into an extension cord which had fallen from it's hook and sunk into a puddle of water. Lucky my mom taught me to stay clear of mud puddles! Good luck.

[CarlD]

The message is, at the moment, NOT that the GFCI is bad, but rather that it's doing it's job and there is a "leak" somewhere of electricity, which is VERY dangerous. Unless you can PROVE the GFCI is bad, assume it's good and finding a problem.

[chrisexv6]

The GFCI *breaker* (not an outlet) only goes to the pool (about 100' directly from panel to equipment pad). Whats odd is that I havent dug, drilled, etc. anywhere near it. I agree that its probably a leak somewhere, but the 2 ends of the wire that I can see are fine (circuit panel end and equipment pad end).

To throw another wrench into the works, I re-installed the receptacle (the same one that tripped the breaker last night) and now not only does it not trip the breaker, I was able to plug the pump into it and the pump is running fine off the outlet.

Unfortunately Im not 100% sure this cures anything. Considering I thought this issue was fixed last year, short of re-running the whole circuit, how is there any way to be sure? Im hoping I just need to replace/re-wire an outlet every year or two, but that doesnt make sense (why didnt the pump run when connected directly to the wires feeding the outlet that now mysteriously works?)

-Chris

[matt4x4]

I also had a GFCI go bad after about a year of use, replaced it with a more expensive model, 2 years later, still going strong.

[mshumack]

There is a tester for GFCI breakers. Any electrcial company would have one. The cost to have it tested is probably about the same (or more) as just installing a new breaker yourself. If you are capable of changing a breaker I would suggest you do that first. If the problem dosn't go away then call the elelctrican. I would also speculate that the problem (if it isn't the breaker itself) is in the pump motor not the wiring.
Two short, relevant stories:
I had a GFCI breaker for my master bath Garden Tub/Spa that I never tested in five years. I only used the Tub a couple of times a year - if that much. One day my elelctrican friend reminded me that I should test the breaker annually. When I hit the test button the breaker tripped and would not reset. I ended up repalcing the breaker (about $45 bucks). The point is that these things do fail even when not used much.

I also had an outdoor driveway latern/light installed at the entrance to my driveway about 200 feet from the garage. My elelctrcian installed a GFCI outlet at the latern rather than in the garage where the power feeds from because he said a long wire run tends to cause the GFCI to trip whereas having the GFCI close the point of load still protects the device but is less prone to nuiscence trips.
Good luck, Mike

[chrisexv6]

I prefer not to go into the panel myself, but in the case that Id replace the breaker, I was planning on changing to a non-GFCI breaker, then putting a GFCI receptacle inline between the panel and the pump, thereby giving me GFCI protection without the "is the breaker shot" question (its a lot easier to replace a GFCI outlet than a breaker). In addition I was thinking of just moving the timer indoors near the panel, which leaves the minimal amount of connections exposed outdoors (obviously under the motor terminal cover).

I can get a replacement GFCI breaker relatively cheap, but after dealing with this now for a second time, I dont see any advantage to the breaker over the receptacle considering they provide the same protection (maybe the breaker is a tad faster?) I also think the long run out to the equipment pad isnt helping things, but I cant put the GFCI out there because then the underground wire is not protected via GFCI which I believe is against code. If thats not against code, that would be the easiest fix that would still give me GFCI protection.

I havent been able to check on the pump since I left for work....if its still running, thats about 5 hours now that its run fine after reinstalling the receptacle and plugging the pump into it. Perhaps there was a little moisture somewhere? I cant see what would have dried out overnight, considering this morning there was dew all over the place.

EDIT: 3:30PM pump is still running fine, 9 hours now. Im afraid to turn it off but its interesting that it was tripping instantly last night but this morning and afternoon works fine.

-Chris

[stualden]

If I follow your description correctly, I would suspect the problem to be either with

a) the wire connections to your receptacle (BEFORE you disconnected it and re-attached it - sounds like you have a better connection now), or

b) the receptacle itself.

So if it happens again, try replacing the receptacle with another plain (non-GFCI) receptacle.

If it still trips, then get a new GFCI (and yes, I would get a GFCI receptacle and a regular breaker - cheaper, easier, meets code. You're not protecting the wires, you're protecting yourself or someone else who is handling the motor and plugging it in or unplugging it).