Ground Fault circuit breaker
 

I am having a problem with my GFI circuit breaker. It trips. Now
perhaps it is working correctly, but I'm not sure. The circuit controls
the central vac in the garage (and a couple of outlets in the garage and
exterior of the house.)

I was told by a reliable electrician that one problem might be leakage
due to build up of dust in the vacuum, or in the outlet boxes. I
removed them all and blew the dust out, and took the vacuum apart and
cleaned it well.

The problem may have gotten better, but it is still there.

A new breaker is pretty expensive and may not be the problem. How can I
troubleshoot this? Is there anything that I can plug in to an outlet to
determine if 'this one is the problem'?

Rob

In article , Rob Mitchell wrote:
I am having a problem with my GFI circuit breaker. It trips. Now
perhaps it is working correctly, but I'm not sure. The circuit controls
the central vac in the garage (and a couple of outlets in the garage and
exterior of the house.)

What's plugged into those outlets?

Have you checked the outdoor outlets for moisture infiltration or
condensation?

I agree with Doug, whenever I've had intermittent tripping of GFCI breakers,
its always turned out to be an outside outlet with water getting in. Also
I'd question a central vac that's not on a dedicated circuit. The ones I've
wired require a 20 amp circuit by themselves
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
m...
In article , Rob Mitchell
wrote:
I am having a problem with my GFI circuit breaker. It trips. Now
perhaps it is working correctly, but I'm not sure. The circuit controls
the central vac in the garage (and a couple of outlets in the garage and
exterior of the house.)

What's plugged into those outlets?

Have you checked the outdoor outlets for moisture infiltration or
condensation?

I had a GFCI breaker go bad last year, so it happens. I replaced it with a
standard breaker and a GFCI outlet. Haven't had any problems since.

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 20:58:41 -0500, Rob Mitchell
wrote:

I am having a problem with my GFI circuit breaker. It trips. Now
perhaps it is working correctly, but I'm not sure. The circuit controls
the central vac in the garage (and a couple of outlets in the garage and
exterior of the house.)

I was told by a reliable electrician that one problem might be leakage
due to build up of dust in the vacuum, or in the outlet boxes. I
removed them all and blew the dust out, and took the vacuum apart and
cleaned it well.

The problem may have gotten better, but it is still there.

A new breaker is pretty expensive and may not be the problem. How can I
troubleshoot this? Is there anything that I can plug in to an outlet to
determine if 'this one is the problem'?

Rob


BTW, a good electrician should have had a gfci tester, not the $7 job,
but the one where you can dial in the 'leakage' to see if it's
tripping at the right set point.


Now GFCI's are suppose to trip so we need to also know what is also
occuring when it trips(example, running the vacuum, or plugging in
something).

hth,

tom @ www.ChopURL.com

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 03:37:53 GMT, "toller" wrote:

I had a GFCI breaker go bad last year, so it happens. I replaced it with a
standard breaker and a GFCI outlet. Haven't had any problems since.


Problem is it might be a receptacle that went bad, not the breaker.

later,

tom @ www.FindMeShelter.com

I agree.
BTW ...Is the problem more common after it rains?
Classic t/s is to divide and conquer. Disconnect central vac and observe.
Perhaps disconnect all load lines from GFCI c/b ... and observe.

"RBM" rmottola1(remove wrote in message
...
I agree with Doug, whenever I've had intermittent tripping of GFCI
breakers,
its always turned out to be an outside outlet with water getting in. Also
I'd question a central vac that's not on a dedicated circuit. The ones
I've
wired require a 20 amp circuit by themselves
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
m...
In article , Rob Mitchell
wrote:
I am having a problem with my GFI circuit breaker. It trips. Now
perhaps it is working correctly, but I'm not sure. The circuit controls
the central vac in the garage (and a couple of outlets in the garage and
exterior of the house.)

What's plugged into those outlets?

Have you checked the outdoor outlets for moisture infiltration or
condensation?

RBM wrote:
I agree with Doug, whenever I've had intermittent tripping of GFCI breakers,
its always turned out to be an outside outlet with water getting in. Also
I'd question a central vac that's not on a dedicated circuit. The ones I've
wired require a 20 amp circuit by themselves
"Doug Miller" wrote in message

That's what I thought too, and the code here probably requires it. I
didn't install the vac though, and it might have been ok all those years
ago. I'm not positive about the exterior outlets and I didn't remove
them to check because they are sealed with caulk. The seal looks good
but I guess this summer I know what I'll have to do.

Rob

BTW, a good electrician should have had a gfci tester, not the $7 job,
but the one where you can dial in the 'leakage' to see if it's
tripping at the right set point.


Now GFCI's are suppose to trip so we need to also know what is also
occuring when it trips(example, running the vacuum, or plugging in
something).

hth,

tom @ www.ChopURL.com






Good points. The circuit trips sometimes when the vac is running and
other times when it's not. Central vacs in the garage must have this
problem all the time because when you don't change the can dust blows
into the motor housing and in a garage in Canada (cold, wet 11 months of
the year, 40C 100% humidity the other month) that dust gets pretty wet
and stringy and probably conducts pretty well.

Rob

From painful experience: Sometimes GFI breakers just go bad. (The pain came
when it tripped when I was shaving and the electric shaver grabbed a few
gazillion whiskers when it stopped). Replaced the GFI breaker and no further
problems. (Also switched to a rechargable razor )

"Rob Mitchell" wrote in message
.. .
RBM wrote:
I agree with Doug, whenever I've had intermittent tripping of GFCI
breakers, its always turned out to be an outside outlet with water
getting in. Also I'd question a central vac that's not on a dedicated
circuit. The ones I've wired require a 20 amp circuit by themselves
"Doug Miller" wrote in message

That's what I thought too, and the code here probably requires it. I
didn't install the vac though, and it might have been ok all those years
ago. I'm not positive about the exterior outlets and I didn't remove them
to check because they are sealed with caulk. The seal looks good but I
guess this summer I know what I'll have to do.

Rob