GFCI Problems

It is some type of ground problem. I took all the ground wires off the power cords. I had each power cord ground screwed to the frame of the ballast. It works without blowing GFCI. So I am confused how/what do i do with the ground cords. Why is that causing the probelm??

 

Is any thing on a timer? if so the start up amperage will possibly cause the GFCI to over load. As well, a ballast that is going bad will also draw more amperage and could also cause this. A typical GFCI is normally not rated for motor drive circuts-, however they do make GFCI' that are designed specfically for this type of application.

What type/size of wire is going to your tank? Is it Romex, knob and tube? Is your panel bonded? Check at the panel and make sure the neutral is secure and also that the ground, and hot wire are as well. Just an FYI, Black is power, white is neutral, and bare copper or green is ground. Both the neutral and ground attach to the ground buss inside of your electrical panel.

Last thing- if you have access to an amp meter- the clamp on type- you can test, using this- it will tell you pretty close as to what you're pulling.

 

Do you have the wiring diagram and /or model number of the ballasts you are using? Not all ballasts are wired the same.

For a dual bulb ballast typically you will have black, red, white/yellow, blue and green.

 

Ballast are workhorse 5. They have four reds, yellow, black/white. I ran 12/2 romex. Its on a RKE controller. I have each ballast wired with its own power cord. I connected the green/ground wire to frame of the ballast. I have the ballast screwed down to a piece of wood. I just took all the ground wires off the ballast and they do not trip the gfci. I don't understand. Don't have clamp on type amp meter.

 

I have taken the ground wires off the system. I seem to be having stray voltage going to the frame of the ballast. Is this possible??? I took my voltmeter (digital) ground and touch the side of the ballast and i get approx. 65-70 volts!! Cannot figure out what is going on.

 

well thats messed up bro. Glad you put that 12/2 in there its alot better for the draw cuz there is alot. But on the other note about them kicking it still. Does it kick the breaker too ? maybe wire the regular outlets in there and see if it kicks the breaker. That will tell ya right there that its the lights for sure. I feel ya on all this its kinda a pain. but something is causing that thing to overload and trip what it is I have no idea. there is now way that tank is pulling enough load to trip a 20amp breaker unless there is something wrong with the balest it self. Just does not make any sense. does it trip when just the light is on it? or does everything else have to be plugged in?

Also have you tested you tank for shorts from pumps ect? Another thing is some balests are very picky about voltage. Not sure how ati is but some power companys run at 110 some at 120 this might have something to do with it not likely just shooting stuff out for you to check. on the balest it will say how many volts needed. some 120's will not work on 110v. But like I said not sure about how that works with those lights. Sometimes its the simplest things we dont look at that causes the problem. might want to start there.

 

Ok here is the wiring diagram for your ballast- http://www.fulham.com/PDFs/SpecSheets/WH5-120-L-2006-26SP-REV M.pdf

it clearly states the ballast must be grounded- this means a true ground- back to the panel- so in the 12/2 wire you have selected (way overkill for what you are doing) does this 12/2 have a ground? That is to say one black wire one white wire and a bare copper wire?

the copper wire must be grounded to the green lead of the ballast, this lead is a green pigtail that screws to the ballast itself, this lead then is attached to the bare copper of your 12/2 and there by back to your panel.

but from what I am seeing this balast is not rated for T5 HO bulbs, you didnt provde a model number for the ballast, there are several types of WH5's.

 

12/2 is hot - neutral and bare its a common mistake yes im sure he has it grounded. 12/2 gives you white black and bare 12/3 gives you black red white and bare for 220v

in a panel the ground as you say the white wire. And the true ground the bare wire or the common ground going to a water pipe or ground rod all connect to the same thing at the breaker panel. from there you have a bare wire going up your drop to the pole outside and most places have the other end of it going to a grounded water pipe comming from the street. Just FYI white and bare wire ground to the same thing in the panel. Most people will run the common wire to the frame of the breaker or frame of the conduit that is running throught the wall.

But you are right in the fact that there should be a bare or green wire in the ballest itself grounding to the frame (Must be free of paint to get a good ground) of the ballest. This is the common ground. or third prong plug wire. ect ect

And as for 12g wire being overkill. its never overkill when your other option its a ground short with a fire.

 

It's WH5-120L. I have been researching all night. I did come up with a post on another forum which states that the ballast will leak current to the ground which will cause gfci's to trip. Some of the manufactures don't recommend that this ballast be used with them. With that being said. I replaced the 20gfci outlet with a standard 20amp outlet and the lights seem to be functioning fine. The wire is a 12/2, white, black, and bare wire and yes they are all hooked up to the proper area's. My panel does combine the common and ground wires on buss like you guys have explained. What was weird last night i unhooked all the grounds off the ballast and tried it out. The breaker did not trip. Now i know you need a ground. I took the tester, held ground lead on another ground, red lead on the side of the ballast and there was voltage. I assume this is the leaking voltage that other forums discussed. Today, double checked the wiring, panel, ballast, lights, etc. Everything perfect. Plugged in after i changed out the outlet and they worked fine. It never has tripped the breaker only the GFCI outlet. I know I am not pulling that many amps. All pumps are new. Eheim 1262, maxijet 1200, three korila 1050's, new heater, new skimmer etc. I do have a ground probe and checked for stray voltage in the tanks and nothing. I just think these ballast leak some voltage and the gfci just doing its job. I may replace all the ballast for type that doesn't do this. Any suggestions on ballast???

 

Sorry forgot. I also checked the ballasts with the voltmeter to see after i grounded them if i got the stray voltage like before and nothing. So I guess that was the problem. Again maybe new type ballast. I heard these sometimes are not the best. I had two from previous tank so i figured that two more to match what i had. Looking into others but with what i have spent on this build i am feeling it. I will try to see if i can link the topic about the bleeding voltage causing gfci's to trip. Interesting read and help for others out there having this issue.