Septic pump keeps tripping gfci


  #1  
Old 04-28-13, 11:10 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Septic pump keeps tripping gfci

My septic pump keeps tripping its designated gfci outlet. I've been having this problem ever since Hurricane Sandy. I lost a couple gfci outlets due to the storm and have since replaced them with no problems except my septic pump gfci. Over the past few months I've had to reset the septic gfci twice and it worked fine for quite a while. And now today my septic alarm went off so I went out to reset the gfci and it reset then tripped right away. Never had this happen before. So I ran an extension cord to a gfci in my house and it trip that also so I eliminated that its not the gfci. But just out of curiosity I hooked the extension cord up to a non gfci outlet inside the house and its been working fine for a couple hours now. Any advice that could be the cause of this would be greatly appreciated ..
 
  #2  
Old 04-28-13, 11:56 AM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
It appears your pump is leaking current to ground. The GFI is tripping to protect you.
 
  #3  
Old 04-28-13, 01:01 PM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 4
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
What could be the possible reasons for current leakage?
 
  #4  
Old 04-28-13, 03:27 PM
ray2047's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 29,711
Upvotes: 0
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
Test the GFCI by disconnecting the wire to it.Does it reset and not? If so it is good. Disconnect the pump. Does the GFCI reset and hold if so the line to it is good. Most likely the pump winding insulation has failed. Take to a motor shop for testing or replace. It could be the float switch but that is unlikely. You can replace it first if you want to rule it out.
 
  #5  
Old 04-28-13, 04:52 PM
pcboss's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 13,976
Received 194 Upvotes on 170 Posts
I had one once where the insulation on the cord had a nick in it. Every time it touched dirt it would trip.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: