New Intex pump trips GFCI

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Vince-1961

Well-known member
Jul 1, 2014
242
St. Simons Island, GA
I just bought a new Intex pump & sand filter model SF60110 (the 2460 GPH model). It keeps tripping the built in GFCI and thereby shutting itself, after running for a few hours. I can't figure out why as the GFCI and the SWG isn't tripping and neither is the GFCI on the electrical outlet which they share.

Any ideas?
 
Vince,

My understanding is that you are not supposed to have two GFCI circuits in series. Try running your "built-in" GFCI from a non-GFCI outlet and see if that solves your problem. It might not, but it can't hurt to try it.

Jim R.
 
If the outlet is GFCI protected, cut the one off of the pump and replace it with a normal plug.
 
You'll have that problem if you plug the Intex GFCI on the end of the cord into a GFCI receptacle. It seems the two together can make that happen. You'll also find that if you plug the Intex cord with the GFCI into an automatic timer the same thing will happen. It appears the timer trying to turn the pump on or off causes a power spike which trips the GFCI on the Intex cord.
 
A couple of thoughts here. Georga has adopted the 2014 NEC.

First while we may think it's silly, the double GFCI configuration is required by the NEC. So if you remove the cord mounted GFCI your installation no longer complies with the curret code.

Second GFCIs react to downstream faults. So I strongly doubt it's a series problem. If so the first GFCI would trip. Either the plug is bad or the motor is bad. That's my observation.

So before loping off the plug I would call Intex and make a warranty claim. Have them send you a new pump and cord.
 
Re: the two GFCI being used together: I've been plugging the GFCI'd cord into the GFCI'd outlet for over two years without any problems.
Re: cutting cord: I kept the cord with the built in GFCI from the old pump that died. I suppose I could swap them out.
Re: warranty claim: I was hoping not to have to do that.

If it makes any difference, all I do to get it started up again is push the reset button on the corded GFCI.

So, I'll run an extension cord from another non-GFCI outlet tonight and see if it's still on in the morning.
 
Vince-1961 said:
Re: the two GFCI being used together: I've been plugging the GFCI'd cord into the GFCI'd outlet for over two years without any problems.
Re: cutting cord: I kept the cord with the built in GFCI from the old pump that died. I suppose I could swap them out.
Re: warranty claim: I was hoping not to have to do that.

If it makes any difference, all I do to get it started up again is push the reset button on the corded GFCI.

So, I'll run an extension cord from another non-GFCI outlet tonight and see if it's still on in the morning.
Click to expand...

Same pump, same setup, same problem. That was my original pump. I ran it for 3 years and had to cut the gfci cord and put a standard cord on it the first year. Toward the end of the third year, the gfci on the wall started popping and would take multiple attempts at reset to get the pump running, especially after a rain or the sprinklers ran. So I would have to assume the problem was in the pump all along and just got progressively worse. The new pump works with the standard plug for this whole year without a reset.
If I had the benefit of hindsight, I would have tried to get the pump motor replaced to begin with. It might have lasted longer.
 
If you got 3 years out of an Intex pump, I'd say that's par for the course. I don't think I've ever had one that lasted any longer than that.
 
jeffchap said:
If you got 3 years out of an Intex pump, I'd say that's par for the course. I don't think I've ever had one that lasted any longer than that.
Click to expand...

I didn't like reading that! Fooey. At any rate, we have a major case of "DOOFUS STRIKES AGAIN!" This thread is a case of operator error. Instead of flipping switch to "on", Dingbat me was, unknowingly, flipping the switch to "timer", which was set to 2 hours.

DUH!

It's been working perfectly, non-stop, on the two GFCI setup ever since (but the water is still cloudy white, which doesn't really matter much since I am past due to cover it for the winter.)
 

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Sorry, but ya' gets what ya' pays for. I'm not complaining - I think Intex pools are a bargain and that's all I've ever owned. But I went in with eyes open, expecting that I'd have to replace most stuff every few years.

I did break down and buy a (hopefully) better third-party pump and sand filter this year. So far I'm quite happy with it.
 
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