Breaker life expectancy ??

[tstex]

Happy New Yr

How many times can a 20amp GFCI breaker trip before it loses its integrity?

Are there any special conditions or other that can accelerate the loss of integrity?

I am referring to the VSP and what is happening to the breaker that supports it.

Thank you

 

[VTSoundman]

Don't keep resetting the breaker. You have a problem.

Most likely the breaker is not the cause of the trip. Gfci are incredibly reliable. If you've reset the breaker more than a handful of times, you should plan on swapping it out once you have solved the problem.

It is not the fault of the GFCI...Your pump is bad, or more likely, you have a problem with the wiring.

Residential breakers are only meant to trip a handful of times - especially if it is on overcurrent. If the GFCI is causing the trip, the mechanism is different and you can get more operations out of it...But not that much more.

I am a electrical engineer who has taken power protection products through UL.

sent via the cone of silence

 

[chiefwej]

While I've had no issues, I do know that many who changed over to a VSP have had trouble with GFCIs tripping. Pentair even sells a particular breaker that they recommend for use with their VS pumps.

 

[pooldv]

That is right, the Pentair breaker appears to be a Siemens breaker. Do a search on Siemens in the upper right corner, there is quite a bit of info about it.