Mark wrote:
To the O/P

does the pump trip the GFI whenever the pump is underwater, or only
during the on/off surge?

I am the OP. I do not know for sure when the sump pump trips the GFCI. I
own the property but another family lives there, not me. When I checked the
basement recently, there was water in the basement in the sump pump area,
about 1-2 inches above the floor level. There was no power to the sump
pump, and resetting the GFCI made the pump turn on and it pumped out all of
the water without tripping the GFCI again.

The sump pump is on a dedicated circuit that goes directly from the main
panel (on its own 15-amp breaker) to the GFCI receptacle in the ceiling.
Nothing else is on that circuit -- no switches, no receptacles, etc.

The sump pump had been there for 3+ years and used to be plugged into a
regular, non-GFCI, outlet elsewhere in the basement with an extension cord.
During those 3 years, it never failed to work.

The new dedicated sump pump circuit with the ceiling GFCI outlet above the
sump pump was installed 6 months ago by a licensed electrician. I guess it
is possible that the pump tripped the GFCI some time during the last 6
months and no one noticed it. The family that lives there rarely goes into
the basement and may not have thought to check the basement for water after
a rain. But, my guess is that the GFCI was tripped more recently.

If it trips whenever the pump is underwater, then you may want to
investigate the source of the leakage. And don't put your hand in the
water when the pump is plugged in.


Mark