I had a bad day…GFCI randomly went out in the tank.

[Miami Reef]

Around 4pm the entire tank electricity went out. I got a notification from Apex that it was disconnected, but I thought it was just the WIFI that went out.

I arrived home at around 7pm, and when I noticed the tank lights and entire system was off, I panicked.

I tried resetting the GFCI, but it wouldn’t turn on. We checked the breakers and it was off for the tank, but turning it back on didn’t put power to all of the outlets that the tank uses, and besides, the ones that did get power tripped once I plugged something in it.

This is extremely strange because my tank was chugging along perfectly, and I’m positive NO water spilled anywhere. Especially not at a random time like 4pm.



I got extension cords and connected the entire tank to a non GFCI outlet and the tank is back in power. The corals and fish are well.

We called an electrician to come over tomorrow, but I have no clue what this means for my tank. First, the sump is blocking any clear chance to work on the outlet directly. It‘s even difficult just to plug something in, let alone potentially needing to work on it.

Does anyone have any ideas why this would happen?

I don’t need sympathy. I just want someone to help me understand why this happened. I am tempted to plug the tank into a working GFCI outlet and testing if it will trip it, but I’m not sure if I want to risk anything. I understand that nobody can diagnose the issue without knowing seeing it in person.

Ps, I don’t have electrician experience. I am a complete novice. I hope everything will work out tomorrow. I’m just worried.

 

[PeterC99]

Maybe the outlet has gone bad? Have you thought about replacing it?

 

[Miami Reef]

Maybe the outlet has gone bad? Have you thought about replacing it?

Maybe that could be the issue. It’s about 20 years old. Thank you for responding.

I will see what the electrician says tomorrow. I kind of made this thread to get some possible answers as to what it could/might be.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

. I am tempted to plug the tank into a working GFCI outlet and testing if it will trip it, but I’m not sure if I want to risk anything.

What exactly would you be risking? I'd use the extension cord(s) and plug everything into another outlet. Worse thing that will happen is it trips...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

And I'm sorry this is happening but glad that none of your friends died

 

[dennis romano]

Probably the GFCI went bad. They should be checked every month or so.

 

[Tamberav]

Do you have a grounding probe? If not the outlet... maybe something went bad (heater?) and it is tripping because the GFCI is working?

Good chance it is just worn out too.

 

[FoD]

Either the receptacle is no longer functioning properly or you have a ground fault in a piece of equipment that is hooked up.

If you unplug all devices to the GFCI, and reset it, you’ll get your answer on the receptacle being the faulty piece. If it resets and holds, plug in the pieces of equipment one at a time until you find the culprit.

 

[Miami Reef]

What exactly would you be risking? I'd use the extension cord(s) and plug everything into another outlet. Worse thing that will happen is it trips...

Thank you.

I just plugged the tank into a completely different GFCI and it’s working (it did not trip).

So this means all my equipment is good, right? Something is wrong with the outlet itself?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Maybe the outlet has gone bad? Have you thought about replacing it?

This. GFCI outlets will fail eventually. Downside is that you speak of poor access...

 

[Sfork]

Hopefully there’s access behind the wall

 

[Vested]

dang unlucky week with the return pump as well, hopefully this is an easy fix for the electrician.

 

[Miami Reef]

dang unlucky week with the return pump as well, hopefully this is an easy fix for the electrician.

I’m doing my best. Some weeks are good, and some weeks are hard.

I hope I can get through this. I’m not worried about the return pump. Echotech has it and they are going to resolve that issue. I have a backup return pump, so I’m safe there.

A failing GFCI was the last thing I expected. At least the tank is safe and the corals are good.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I’m doing my best. Some weeks are good, and some weeks are hard.

I hope I can get through this. I’m not worried about the return pump. Echotech has it and they are going to resolve that issue. I have a backup return pump, so I’m safe there.

A failing GFCI was the last thing I expected. At least the tank is safe and the corals are good.

I would say try plugging your extension cord back into the GFI outlet under the fish tank. This happens to me sometimes the GFI will pop and keep popping for 10 minutes and then all of a sudden resets and it’s fine for a couple months. I believe there’s something shorting inside one of my Apex energy bars.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I say this because you just said it’s working on a different GFI outlet so it could either be the outlet or an intermittent short like I was having

 

[Tathamet]

I would say try plugging your extension cord back into the GFI outlet under the fish tank. This happens to me sometimes the GFI will pop and keep popping for 10 minutes and then all of a sudden resets and it’s fine for a couple months. I believe there’s something shorting inside one of my Apex energy bars.

I say this because you just said it’s working on a different GFI outlet so it could either be the outlet or an intermittent short like I was having

Exact same thing happened to me on my new gfci adapter after a power outage. It kept tripping until I unplugged everything and started plugging things back in one at a time to try and figure out what was going on. Nothing set it off after I got each piece of equipment running separately.

 

[Lavey29]

Do you use power strip surge protectors for all your various equipment and then this plugs into your GFCI outlet? If so, is it possible something is faulty there and causing the outlet to trip?

 

[FurrierTransform]

To reiterate what others have said, it is possible for a GFCI outlet to go bad. 20 years is a decent lifetime for such an outlet, even if you've never had a fault before. It's simple to replace, just be sure to (1) turn off the circuit breaker to that outlet, then (2) remove the outlet and check the current or amperage rating (e.g. 15 Amps, 20 Amps, etc.), then (3) go to your local hardware store and buy a GFCI outlet at the same rating, and finally (4) swap out the outlet, paying attention to which wire goes to which terminal on the outlet. Good luck!

 

[Miami Reef]

Update: The electrician could fix 2/3 of the GFCI outlets by resetting them.



The 3rd one is broken and will need to be replaced. The only issue is that I need to remove the entire sump.



I plan to do this project, but I wanted to wait until I got my return pump and recharged for a few days. I have a trip coming up this coming week.



The tank is fine with only two outlets, so technically, I don’t need the 3rd one to work, but the electrician wanted to move the outlets higher because it is too low and pretty inaccessible (I agree). It can also allow them to work on the outlets in the future, which can prevent disasters.



Imagine if one day water splashed everywhere, and they could fix it because the outlets are easier to access. In a time of dire need, I wouldn’t be able to move the entire sump.



He said he couldn’t make new outlets; he wanted to bring the power from the current outlets because, apparently, those three outlets are drawing a lot of power.



I’m trying to reiterate as best as I can understand. The electrician only spoke Spanish, and while I’m decently fluent, I had trouble understanding him. In addition, I don’t know much about plumbing.



If the logic sounds weird, I can ask him to explain it again.

 

[TokenReefer]

How much room is there between the sump and the outlet?