Pump trips GFCI breakers continually

[regvdtl]

Howdy

Intex 18' x 48" Easy Set with stock filter pump.

Ran all last summer no problems. Added salt water conversion in the Fall. (We're in Texas, swam year round.)

This week the wife reported that the pump was not running so I reset the GFCI at the plug head. After about 5 minutes, GFCI in the garage tripped.

I reset the GFCI again, motor runs about 2 minutes and trips GFCI in the garage again.

Lather, rinse, repeat - ad nauseam.

Is the pump motor bad or do I have a ground fault problem?

If I replace the pump, do I go sand?

Thanks!

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! The GFCI receptacle is the cheapest to replace so I would try that first. They will go bad from time to time, however if you replace the pump with the sand filter/pump combo you will be much happier with how well it filters the water!

 

[gtty]

I agree with ZEA3. Those GFCI outlets are extremly prone to malfunctioning. I've changed all of mine out over the last few years and have a spare on hand. My electrician brother in-law states that the really low end (cheap) ones he has seen usually only last a year or less. Pay a little more and buy the better quality device.

You could have a wiring problem, but the outlet is the easiest and cheapest (and most likely) to try.

I have a hayward cartridge filter unit with a 1hp pump on my 18ft x 48in ultraframe and it works great. cartridge or sand would be a huge upgrade from the Intex junk. I have the 550 Easy-Clearâ„¢ | Hayward Residential and Commercial Pool Products

 

[danpik]

The problem may be that you are running two GFCI's in series (cord end GFCI and the GFCI in the garage). Most newer ones will work OK that way, but older GFCI's do not like to share duties. Try plugging the Cord GFCI end into a non GFCI protected circuit and see what happens.

 

[morzh]

My GFCI outlets are 4 in series after GFCI breaker (no, not my idea, quid stupid actually but I left it in place). The pump (1.5HP hayward) is at the end of the line. Was bought this way. 10 years ago. In all these years 1 outlet (not the one for the pump which is outside so exposed to elements to a degree (covered)) quit after 1 year and had to be replaced. The rest are still (where's that wood when one needs it) fine.
Trips happened at the rate of 2-3 in a season. And my season is from April to January (and it did happen mostly during the cold part).

 

[jmcdtucson]

Mine does the same thing. I'm going to cut it off and replace with a straight plug - the whole system is plugged into a GFCI outlet anyway.

 

[cowboycasey]

My house is wired the same way with 4 plugs after 1 GFCI wall plug to normal breaker in panel... It has tripped before and had to track down the GFCI, what a pain that was.. house was built in 2006 and I think at that time it was normal to think it would work ok...

 

[morzh]

My house was built in 1980.

Also, GFCIs get kinda warm when the pump is running, sometimes if I was in doubt if my pump was running or not and too lazy to go outside to check, all it took was placing the back of my hand against it and then I could tell immediately whether or not it was.

 

[regvdtl]

No joy in H-Town.

Two evenings ago I swapped out the GFCI receptacle with a new "professional" grade model from Hundred Dollar Depot.

Everything ran for about 5 minutes before the GFCI tripped. Reset it about 4 times and no luck.

Tonight I cut off the end of the cord and replaced it with a waterproof straight plug.

It ran for a good 20 minutes before it tripped. I did the reset boogie 3 or 4 times before giving up.

I hate to buy a new pump if this turns out to be electrical.

 

[lefty51]

If it is at all possible (in most cases it's not) try to gain access to every outlet on the GFCI circuit. Sometimes if all connects to the outlets (whether the are screw tighten or push in) aren't tight, the loose terminal can generate enough heat to trip the GFCI. They are touchy and looking for anything that looks like grandmas' getting toasted Good luck.......and be careful, YOU may trip it !

Oh yeah, one more thing.. you can overload the GFCI with too many things hooked up. It is a breaker after all

 

[danpik]

GFCI's work on a very simple principle...They monitor current flow out and current flow back. If at any point in this travel some of the current leaks out (ground Fault) and it is more than 4-6 milliamps the GFCI portion will trip. If all of the wiring is good,...no bare spots, cracks, etc and it is dry then there should be no trips...unless, there is something wrong with the load. In this case the load is the motor. Motors, especially cheap ones tend to have bad windings over time and that is where the current leakage is. The best way to test if it is the pump motor that is the problem is to load up the circuit with some known good loads. One good example is a hair dryer. Plug it in to a GFCI that is not causing you a problem such as a bathroom GFCI and ensure it does not trip that GFCI. If it is good, plug it into the one you are having trouble with. If it holds, then the problem is most likely the cord or the motor for the pump.

 

[gtty]

I agree, run something like a hairdryer or shop vac on the outlet and see if it trips. In my case, the problems have always been the GFCI outlet, but it may be just a bad wiring connection in the GFCI chain of outlets. I saw where Harbor Freight was selling outlets the other day. No way in Hades I would buy anything like that from HF.

 

[morzh]

Well,

I will re-post what hapoened to my pump. I was opening my AGP beginning of this month, and my pump tripped GFCI. I found out it only did it when water was flowing. When I stopped water from entering the pump it was fine.
I figured (never proved it) the was some way for the water to somehow contact something inside the motor. Possibly through some crack in the pump. As luck would have it I had a spare new motor/pump and after I repaced it it worked. (I do plan to eventually look inside).

So, after you prove your GFCI, (if you do) what if you have some very slow sippage through the pump? Not sure how and why, but if it takes time for water to go and reach something inside and then it trips. Shot in the dark it is, if all your GFI are good.....also make sure all wiring is dry wherever it goes.

 

[regvdtl]

I ran a hair dryer (thank you "Hello Kitty") for about 30 minutes, no tripping.

Academy Sports just put pool products on sale, I'll be getting new pump.

Once I do the swap I'll tear down the old one looking for a leak; because yes, it only trips when there is water flow.

Thanks