GFI breaker protected controlled outlet

[tmbrown97]

mikefamig - reading closer, I have to think this was something at the pump - if some of the current starts traveling down the ground instead of the neutral, that'll trip a GFCI - and I'm sure the pump is outdoors getting wet?  Even if not, maybe the windings getting close to giving out was sending some amount of the current back via the ground.  As I understand it, the GFCI senses the imbalance between the hot and the neutral and will trip if they're not basically even.

 

[ano]

Swimming pool pumps can be a problem with GFI because while they are designed for outdoors, which includes rain, they also need to have holes for heat to escape.  If its a direct wired pump (as apposed to requiring a plug) it probably doesn't require a GFI but its probably a good idea to use one. When it rains it will likely trip, so if you can protect the pump from rain somehow, that is best. What scares me about a pump without a GFI, is that if something would happen to the ground, the pump could be an electrocution risk. Its better to be safe and deal with some trips. When rain enters the pump, it is causing a ground fault, so the GFI is doing its job.

 

[RAL]

If its a direct wired pump (as apposed to requiring a plug) it probably doesn't require a GFI but its probably a good idea to use one.

 
The NEC requires a GFCI for all pool pumps, whether connected through an outlet, or direct wired. Section 680.21( C )

 

[mikefamig]

Swimming pool pumps can be a problem with GFI because while they are designed for outdoors, which includes rain, they also need to have holes for heat to escape.  If its a direct wired pump (as apposed to requiring a plug) it probably doesn't require a GFI but its probably a good idea to use one. When it rains it will likely trip, so if you can protect the pump from rain somehow, that is best. What scares me about a pump without a GFI, is that if something would happen to the ground, the pump could be an electrocution risk. Its better to be safe and deal with some trips. When rain enters the pump, it is causing a ground fault, so the GFI is doing its job.

 
I wish it was a matter of a few trips. The breaker wouldn't reset for a day after a rain. I didn't wait any longer to see if it came back because the pool needed filtering. I was told that even if I covered the pump the moisture would probably trip the ground fault.
 
Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

In my pool system the electric pump and all electrical equipment is about 20' from the pool and the only conductor between the electrical equipment and the pool is a ground wire buried in the earth and the earth itself. I don't see how current can get to the water or pool ladders even if the equipment develops stray current.
 
Interestingly I have GFCI outlets on my patio outside and they work fine. They are in metal outlet boxes with rain-shielding lids over the plugs but completely exposed to weather.
 
Mike.