In article , Tony Rivas
wrote:

That is common. I just sat through a pond building seminar at the local
Aquarium Adventure storegiven by their resident expert pond builders. They
both said not to use a GFI on the submersible pond pumps as those pumps give
alot of false trips.

What pumps do they claim do this ? Or which ones do they use ?

Many homes are very, very poorly grounded. A good class A GFIC breaker
trips when it is required.

jay
Thu Jul 08, 2004



These guys build some $10,000 ponds , so they are not
just trying to save money.


"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Joan" wrote in message
...
Hi;

I have both of my pumps plugged into a GFI outlet. I know that I should
have run 2 separate lines so that if one trips, the other will still be
pumping, but I learned this too late. In the last month the GFI has
been
tripped twice. I go to the GFI switch in my garage that controls these,
flip the switch, and the pumps come back on. What could be the problem?
Fortunately, I have been home both times that this has happened.

I had an electrician out to the house for some work, and asked him to give
me an estimate on running a line and a GFI to the pond. He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend no
GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.

He sounded like he made sense, but it seems contrary to what I have been
told before.

BV.

"Tony Rivas" wrote in message
.. .
That is common. I just sat through a pond building seminar at the local
Aquarium Adventure storegiven by their resident expert pond builders.
They
both said not to use a GFI on the submersible pond pumps as those pumps
give
alot of false trips. These guys build some $10,000 ponds , so they are
not
just trying to save money.
snip

This meshes with what my guy told me. I tend to believe him, but am putting
a GFI in anyway. LOL.

BV.

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 03:29:51 GMT, "Tony Rivas"
wrote:

That is common. I just sat through a pond building seminar at the local
Aquarium Adventure storegiven by their resident expert pond builders. They
both said not to use a GFI on the submersible pond pumps as those pumps give
alot of false trips. These guys build some $10,000 ponds , so they are not
just trying to save money.



That makes no sense to me. The GFI trips when there is an imbalance
between the current flow in the hot and return wires. An imbalance
means that there is current flow somewhere else, where it is not
supposed to be (into the ground, etc.).

No pump, submersible or otherwise, should ever trip a GFI. Mine
doesn't.

Also, no electrical code anywhere would permit pond pumps without GFI
protection, nor should they.

JMHO

John

a good reason to replace pumps!!! my cal pump just died and The Pond Lady told me
the cords are where it is most likely to leak. so never, ever hold a pump by the
electrical cord or haul it outta the pond by the cord. leaking electricity is bad
for fish and people. mine are most definitely on a GFI protected circuit. Ingrid

Mark Bannister wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Joan" wrote in message ...
Hi;

I have both of my pumps plugged into a GFI outlet. I know that I should
have run 2 separate lines so that if one trips, the other will still be
pumping, but I learned this too late. In the last month the GFI has been
tripped twice. I go to the GFI switch in my garage that controls these,
flip the switch, and the pumps come back on. What could be the problem?
Fortunately, I have been home both times that this has happened.

I had an electrician out to the house for some work, and asked him to give
me an estimate on running a line and a GFI to the pond. He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend no
GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.

He sounded like he made sense, but it seems contrary to what I have been
told before.

BV.

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
I had an electrician out to the house for some work, and asked him to give
me an estimate on running a line and a GFI to the pond. He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend
no GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.
He sounded like he made sense, but it seems contrary to what I have been
told before.
BV.


Hi,
This guy is not an electrician and code calls for a GFCI anywhere there is
water and electricity. http://www.ecmweb.com/mag/electric_code_basics_3/
HTH -_- how
no NEWS is good

In article , "Benign Vanilla"
writes:

He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend no
GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.

my gfci rarely trips unless (as just happened) the bucket covering the plugs
has a crack in it or isn't on properly.

Karen
Zone 5
Ashland, OH
http://hometown.aol.com/kmam1/MyPond/MyPond.html
My Art Studio at
http://members.aol.com/kmmstudios/K....M.Studios.html
for email remove the extra extention

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
This is a joke ................. right????????????? - if not, I'd ask to
see
his electrician certificate
snip

Dead on serious.

BV.

"Mark Bannister" wrote in message
. ..
Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad. There are many devices
that you cannot put on a GFI because they leak voltage (there is a
reason you don't install whole house GFI). Pumps that work fine at fist
may start tripping a GFI as they age. Typically you wouldn't want your
pump to turn off on you on a whim. But you also don't want to be fried
when it really fails.
Reminds me of the brilliant plumber who installed a sump pump in our
crawl space (before we bought the house). He dutifully put in a GFI,
but to reach it you had to crawl on your belly for 50 feet under the
house. Since he also used a cheap pump it tripped the GFI continually.
Needless to say I was not amused to have to crawl through the dark and
wet every time it rained.
snip

Good point. I agree, which is why I am having the GFI placed out at the
pond, where it is easily accessible.

BV.

Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad. There are many devices
that you cannot put on a GFI because they leak voltage (there is a
reason you don't install whole house GFI). Pumps that work fine at fist
may start tripping a GFI as they age. Typically you wouldn't want your
pump to turn off on you on a whim. But you also don't want to be fried
when it really fails.
Reminds me of the brilliant plumber who installed a sump pump in our
crawl space (before we bought the house). He dutifully put in a GFI,
but to reach it you had to crawl on your belly for 50 feet under the
house. Since he also used a cheap pump it tripped the GFI continually.
Needless to say I was not amused to have to crawl through the dark and
wet every time it rained.
Mark B.


Benign Vanilla wrote:
"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
s.com...

I think you better find another electrician and have that one's work
reinspected.... did he by chance do the work for you without getting a
permit? ~ jan


In his defense, this guy was just out to do the estimate for labor for the
company, so he may have just misspoke. He won't be doing the work. Either
way, I told him I am not worried about the circuit tripping occasionally, so
I want the outlet to be a GFI. I am thinking he was just confused, because
the main reason he was here was to an estimate for a pool, and he said he'd
put a GFI for my second outlet near the pool for the lights. So he gets the
GFI concept.

BV.

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 15:04:44 -0400, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

He suggested that
the pumps are prone to tripping GFI's and that they typically recommend no
GFI for ponds, as the pumps are designed to handle this.

He sounded like he made sense, but it seems contrary to what I have been
told before.

Haw! Haw! The smartest and bravest man I ever met was a blind man who
did his own electrical work and woodwork. He insisted you only need
two wires to run 110v so long as everything works right. He's right
too, but I'm not getting into a pond without a GFI! I believe if it
can happen, it probably will happen to me.

Regards,

Hal

On Fri, 09 Jul 2004 03:29:51 GMT, "Tony Rivas"
wrote:

That is common. I just sat through a pond building seminar at the local
Aquarium Adventure storegiven by their resident expert pond builders. They
both said not to use a GFI on the submersible pond pumps as those pumps give
alot of false trips. These guys build some $10,000 ponds , so they are not
just trying to save money.



That makes no sense to me. The GFI trips when there is an imbalance
between the current flow in the hot and return wires. An imbalance
means that there is current flow somewhere else, where it is not
supposed to be (into the ground, etc.).

No pump, submersible or otherwise, should ever trip a GFI. Mine
doesn't.

Also, no electrical code anywhere would permit pond pumps without GFI
protection, nor should they.

JMHO

John

"Tony Rivas" wrote in message
.. .
That is common. I just sat through a pond building seminar at the local
Aquarium Adventure storegiven by their resident expert pond builders.
They
both said not to use a GFI on the submersible pond pumps as those pumps
give
alot of false trips. These guys build some $10,000 ponds , so they are
not
just trying to save money.
snip

This meshes with what my guy told me. I tend to believe him, but am putting
a GFI in anyway. LOL.

BV.

a good reason to replace pumps!!! my cal pump just died and The Pond Lady told me
the cords are where it is most likely to leak. so never, ever hold a pump by the
electrical cord or haul it outta the pond by the cord. leaking electricity is bad
for fish and people. mine are most definitely on a GFI protected circuit. Ingrid

Mark Bannister wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm no electrician.
Also in his defense MANY submersible pumps leak far too much voltage to
use a GFI. Older ones in particular are bad.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.