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GFCI questions

Hello all,

I have an outdoor fountain, that uses a submerged electric pump to pump the water. It has worked flawlessly (but not continuously) for two years; I haven't done a thing to it. It is plugged into a GFCI outlet; this outlet is in a service space built into the fountain, and this space is bone dry inside. Today I was performing some routine maintenance on the fountain, no where near the pump nor GFCI. I have the pump running while I am working, and all of a sudden the pump quits. The GFCI button is out; I push it back in, and then the pump fires back up. About 10 minutes later it quits again; I go through this cycle a few more times. There is a second GFCI in the service space; same behavior as the first one. Two questions come to mind:

  1. What is the likelihood the GFCI is doing its job and protecting me from a bad (shorted) pump? My guess would be high.

  1. What is the likelihood both GFCI devices are flaky, and need to be replaced? My guess would be low.

Thank you for any and all responses!

Regards, Dan

Reply to
Dan Beck
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I'd agree with your guesses, Dan. One GFCI is for the pump. What is the other for? Are the two in series?

What happens when you use the test button the the GFCIs?

Chuck

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Reply to
Chuck

It's probably the pump. use an extension cable to get a third opinion.

Bye. Jasen

Reply to
Jasen

  1. What is the likelihood that a common source of moisture is causing both GFCIs to nuisance-trip? My guess would be highest of all, and the first thing I'd be checking (assuming these are located outdoors) is the gasket on the weatherproof cover.
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Regards,
        Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It\'s time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
Reply to
Doug Miller

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