I keep having a problem with the GFCI tripping and was hoping someone might know what could cause it. I don't see an obvious cause for the tripping because the gear runs for several hours and sometimes days before tripping. During my last (and first) grow it would trip once in a while, a pretty rare event. Towards the end of the grow it started tripping more often. Now I'm starting up a new grow and it seems to trip almost every day. I only have two things plugged into it, a 400w HPS light which is plugged into a timer and a 6" fan. When I reset it everything starts up fine and runs for a while, probably at least a few hours if not longer before tripping again. Any idea what could cause this? Do I have a bad light maybe?
Don't plug the light into that circuit, run an extension cord to another outlet The startup is tripping it up Report back
Problem is all my outlets are GFCI. The light does start up fine, it can run for a few hours and sometimes even a few days without tripping. Also my light is a cool tube so I'm kind of nervous to run my fan on a different outlet than the light just in case the fan's outlet trips.
Then your gonna have to run a power line just for your grow, or replace the plug so it does not have the GFIC
Odds are pretty good that its the a capacitor on the line side (usually for PF improvement) that is leaking to ground. The imbalanced load on the GFCI will then cause it to trip. Discharge lighting will randomly trip 6ma GFCI devices - Fluorescent or HID. Must be the lamp's charge state "falling" back through the Grounded Conductor, which comprises the imbalanced load, and ultimately trips the GFCI (that's the only thing I can see causing the random trip issues). As to the continuity between Line and Equipment Ground, there should be an extremely high Resistance value - above 10 Meg Ohm. Should find a very low Resistance between L-N, unless the Ballast is a straight Linear Reactor without an Autotransformer section, in which case there will be a very high L-N Resistance; not >10 MOhm, but above 100KOhm. Check all wiring and connections also. Perhaps a loose connection could cause this also if it gets to a high impedance state.
The line I have is actually dedicated to the grow. Is it a good idea to have a non-GFCI outlet for this? Everywhere I've read people say its needed since theres water involved. What do you guys think? Should I replace the outlet with a non-GFCI one?
Ummmmmmm, TBM is an electrician or works in construction... LOL I only use GFCI for the outlets which my pumps are plugged into... My ballasts get non-GFCI outlets...
You have a breaker, good enough...adding a GFI plug is just a little more protection....but its actually doing you a disservice right now Maybe take your ballast to a local shop to have them check it out...i have a local guy who repairs them for 50....this way you don't die
