GFCI issues - Coralife

Good find on the adapter, never seen of those before
+k

 

the problem is is the PC electronic dual ballast trips a GFCI recep. The only way I see around this about not having all the outlets in the kitchen GFCI protected is by swapping the outlets back the way they were, making the outlet by the tank (in living room, same chain as the GFCI kitchen outlets) a regular outlet, plugging the power compact ballast into one outlet, making the other receptacle a single GFCI and then plug everything for the tank into that one receptacle (through the use of a power strip) and/or drape the power cords into the kitchen.

Hmm...although I do have an idea...instead of having a 100 cords plugged into a GFCI outlet in the kitchen (through the pass-through bar area) I suppose I could get an extension cord, plug it into the kitchen recep. then plug everything into a power strip.

wattapita

 

So it doesn't trip when it's plugged directly in the actual GFCI...
did you ever look into buying a new GFCI outlet all together?

 

You should only have 1 GFCI receptacle per circuit. If you double up that could have been causing your issue. the first receptacle on the ciruit should ahve the GFCI, and all others following it will be protected. Having a 15amp GFCI on a 20 amp circuit is ok provided you are not overloading the receptacle. A 20 amp to match the breaker would be best.

Also, check the ground in the fixture. Often that is your culprit. I ahve 2 coralife aqualight hoods and sure enough, 1 of them the PC ground was floating inside.

Last..if you are running 2200 watts on that circuit from the lights, you are overloading the circuit. Straight line calculation (which is good enough for this) would show you using a little over 18 amps. A circuit should be left with at least 15 to 20% overhead. So a 20 amp circuit you would not want to draw more than 15 on. The overhead is necessisary for when units start up (that causes a spike in draw) to prevent a borwnout condition for other things on the circuit, as well as concern about the recepticle itself heating up and causing issue. SPlit your light s off or have an electrician run a dedicated circuit for you.