vac pump tripping gfi outlet and breaker

[dano2840]

my vac pump keeps tripping my gfi outlet and some times it will trip the circuit breaker at the same time, i dont know much about electricity but does any one have any ideas? it could be my extension cords are bad, i have 2 to get out to the shed, and neither one will run my block heater on my tractor either with out tripping the gfi, or they wont trip it but just wont run the block heater. bad extn cords? or bad cords and a short on the pump? the pump isnt huge i doubt its any bigger than a couple hp

[maplecrest]

vac pumps need voltage. you are loosing with extention cords. use #10 or 12 house wire with a non gfi plug and that will solve your problem for a 1 hp or smaller 110 motor

[Haynes Forest Products]

GFIs dont trip because of overload they trip because it detects a differental from one leg to the other. If you use voltage tester on a GFI it will trip because of that differance. Tripping the breaker is from a overload. Under rated extension cords can kill your motors by overheating from lack of full amps.
If you plug into a circuit that is far from the Breaker box you already have alot of wire between the motor and the source. Try and keep the distance short. Also the larger the better when it comes to wire.
Extensin cors get small amounts of moisture in them and they can cause this. Winding cords around your arm for storage will end up causing the inside wire to start to reverse twist and will lead to seperation of the coating and failure. Make a cord from DIRECT BURY wire 10 guage or smaller you wont be sorry for the out lay.

[dano2840]

we maid a extn cord out of the wire that electricians install in your walls to the outlets, its down at the farm and is like 100 ft long, maybe that will work, there is a light switch type switch on the pump but the switch was removed, i havent really taken it apart to look at the electrical parts, i know that it feels a loose though, if worse comes to worse theres an old pump down to the farm that milked 20 cows that i can always snatch

[Haynes Forest Products]

A bad motor can trip the GFI if the coils start to short out but still works. Dano dont be fooled just because the wire is the same as in the walls doesnt make it a "GOOD" extension cord. Its all about resistance. In this case SIZE does matter.

[ericjeeper]

Using romex for Outdoor extension cord. Romex uses paper along the wire. Outdoor/direct bury wire does not..
Dano any cord end that can get the slightest moisture in it will trip the GFI.
The length of the run and the load on it will determine the wire size needed.

[DS Maple]

If it's a vac pump you're running, try moving the pump closer to the power source and instead of making a long cord make a long vacuum line. I have seen this done in plenty of setups to get vacuum to a remotely located releaser.

[Amber Gold]

Dano, put the vacuum pump at the garage/barn and run a vacuum line over to the releaser. That's what I do and it works good. My vacuum line is 800' and I only lose 0.5" of vacuum.

Also, by electric code, electric motors larger than 1/2 hp (don't quote me on the hp level) should be connected to a motor starter. All it is is a switch with a relay in it. If the electric motor starts to overheat it trips the relay and shuts disconnects the switch. I got mine from Grainger for $64 for the switch and $13 for the relay.

Well worth the additional safety measure.

[maple flats]

What is the motor rating amps? What is the distance or length of the cord? With these two we can tell you what gauge wire you need. It may even be larger than 10 ga depending on distance and amps needed. Also, test your actual voltage with a meter, if your is lower that 120 it needs an even heavier cord, 125+ is best but you have no control of that, just the power company, you need to work with what you have. If it is less that 120 I would call the power company to try to get them to adjust their transformer. They can tune the voltale and you should be guarantied at least 120 volts, I have seen some as low as 115 and one at 112 in the past and not during a brown out.

[Amber Gold]

Also, I think if you run it on 220V that may solve some of your problems.

Am I correct that it'll cost less to run as well? Not sure on this one.

[maple flats]

It doesn't cost less to run but the wire is less costly. Doing so you only need half the amps on each leg so the wire can be much lighter gauge. If you could go 3 phase the power would be less costly. Most of use don't have that as a possibility.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Its **** neer impossible to trip both A GFI and the breaker at the same time Plus overloading a Circuit should not trip a GFI. A GFI should only trip when there's a amprage differantial between the Line and common/ground. Having undersized wire will burn up the moter and trip the breaker. If the GFI is tripping you have other problems. Could be bad GFI, bad ground, improper wiring of the GFI, moisture in the outlet box or wire.