vanz Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 An electrician wired an outlet in my fishroom but didn't use a gfci one. He connected a regular plain outlet to a gfci neighboring one which I thought was weird, but he assured me he knew what he was doing. He didn't speak much english though....He did two outlets, one was actually a gfci with the reset button, but it's not the one I'll be using for the fish tank. He also piggy backed that one from an outlet located on the exterior of my house. Will my fish tank outlet trip if anything should happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Aqua Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 easiest way to tell if its rite is to hit the test button when it pops the other outlets on that circuit should go offline, if that works it should work fine. Mind you im not an electrician i just have played with house wiring a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltfinsax Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 There is two ways to have them set up. If you trip the GFCI and all the plugs go dead then they all should be protected by the GFCI. If you trip the GFCI and all the plugs after it are still on then there not protected by the GFCI and only the GFCI is. But I am only a carpenter that knows just enough to get myself into trouble. Maybe a real Electrician will chim in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Did you have him wire this up just for the tank? If it is down line from a gfci then it will shut them all on that line past the gfci down. Should have had him run a new line just for the tank though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 easiest way to tell if its rite is to hit the test button when it pops the other outlets on that circuit should go offline, if that works it should work fine. Mind you im not an electrician i just have played with house wiring a bit. Woot! Didn't even think about testing the gfci. It tripped the other gfci as well...the one my computer was attached to LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I would run an extension from your computer to get it off that circuit. You don't want to put your computer through that if you don't have to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Did you have him wire this up just for the tank? If it is down line from a gfci then it will shut them all on that line past the gfci down. Should have had him run a new line just for the tank though. No, it wasn't specifically for the tank, I just wanted power around so I could hook things up. There was only 1 outlet in the area, go figure.(scratch) So are you saying that the test meant nothing since it was down line? How would I test the outlet? I would run an extension from your computer to get it off that circuit. You don't want to put your computer through that if you don't have to... Yeah, good idea. Now to find an outlet that isn't hooked up to this circuit(scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 the way he wired it should have been fine. If you are concerned about it call the company back and have them check it. I can come over and trouble shoot and test it for you if you want for a small fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 No, it wasn't specifically for the tank, I just wanted power around so I could hook things up. There was only 1 outlet in the area, go figure.(scratch) So are you saying that the test meant nothing since it was down line? How would I test the outlet? Yeah, good idea. Now to find an outlet that isn't hooked up to this circuit(scratch) Nope that test should work just fine. You're concern is if the tank is running on a gfci without being directly plugged into one right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 26, 2009 Author Share Posted September 26, 2009 Nope that test should work just fine. You're concern is if the tank is running on a gfci without being directly plugged into one right? I guess I still don't understand how electricity and gfci works...from my understanding, if the upline trips (which was the one I tripped), everything after it will too....but if the downline trips (the receptacle with the fish tank), the upline will be okay. Did I get that mixed up? I'm not sure how I would test to see if the fish tank receptacle would trip the upline, or gfci. Stick a screwdriver in the outlet?(laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 26, 2009 Author Share Posted September 26, 2009 the way he wired it should have been fine. If you are concerned about it call the company back and have them check it. I can come over and trouble shoot and test it for you if you want for a small fee. Thanks finch, but I think I should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Just trip(test) the GFCI. Anything that shuts down when it is tripped is covered by the GFCI. Anything that doesn't shut down isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 26, 2009 Author Share Posted September 26, 2009 I guess I'm good to go on the receptacle then! Time to start attaching new toys to the tank =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 glad to hear you got it all figured out. I assumed the electrician did the wiring right. We go through alot of training and licensing before we are considered electricians so most of us know what we are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Vanz, sounds like it should be fine. The GFCI protects all outlets downstream from it. If the outlet that is hooked up to your fish tank has a ground fault the GFCI will trip. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted September 26, 2009 Author Share Posted September 26, 2009 Thanks for the reassurance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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