Lights on School Nano *Trip* the GFI -- Ideas?

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linda lee

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I set up the cube today, but the lights trip the GFI after being on less than 3 minutes, so I'm guessing this is a no-go and I'll have to swap out the cube. Unless there's something I can do that I'm not thinking of? A modification, or something?

Lights are just 24w PC's. Bulbs are new (Coralife brand) purchased yesterday.

Tank is the 12g JBJ
sys_12g_nanocube1.jpg
>here</a> (original, not the deluxe).

http://www.jbjnanocube.com/index1.html?lang=en-us&gclid=CMSOgbmcuZgCFRLoxgodThkWag">http://www.jbjnanocube.com/index1.html?lang=en-us&gclid=CMSOgbmcuZgCFRLoxgodThkWag</a>

Any ideas before I go swap out tanks? The teacher is going to check with the school on Monday to see if she can get any assistance. It's not like she's trying to run a huge piece of high voltage machinery in her classroom. This should be doable.
 
What else is on that circuit? That could be the problem, but I would doubt it... Since that tank is probably drawing much less than 1 amp...
 
Steve;282006 wrote: What else is on that circuit? That could be the problem, but I would doubt it... Since that tank is probably drawing much less than 1 amp...
Click to expand...

I don't know what else is on the circuit. Nothing else is plugged in along that whole wall, which is a counter with lab sinks, etc. and about 10-15 of these GFI outlets.
 
The circuit is GFI protected as the outlets are in a wet area.

This is what I think.....The cube has an external ballast which I assume is electric...I suppose it could be some type of magnetic ballast...either way I believe that the fuctioning of the ballast is such that the GFI perceives a short.

Same as a recent problem I had with a gfi/vacuum cleaner. The rotating brush on the vacuum cleaner would not start until the handle was lowered. When the handle reached a certain position the motor came on which the gfi saw as a short and tripped the breaker.

But here is the wrench in the works...it did not trip the gfi at home that I plugged it into while working on the bulbs.
 
ares;282022 wrote: did she try another outlet? just to rule that out.

Id start there.

do these nano tanks have a grounding probe built in? never had one, if so, see if it can be removed.
Click to expand...

We tried several outlets along the counter. All have GFIC's. All will trip shortly after the light is turned on. Spaced along the counter are lab sinks, which I guess is why they have the GFIC's.

No grounding probe.
 
Have you tried plugging into a surge protector plugstrip instead of directly into the GFI? It may help.....GFI's can be tricky.
 
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