Dan789
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- Mar 6, 2017
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Just became aware of a problem that I experienced earlier in my grow that gave me a reset regarding our reliance on electricity and how to stay safe and maintain our grows.
So about a month from the end of my last grow I experienced a couple of unanticipated GFI trips, which at the time I assumed to be from some older timers (two years old). I reset the GFI circuit breaker several times over the course of a few days, then split up my lighting load between two available circuits. I bought two new timers and had no further problems. That is until I moved my clone tent and noticed the condition of the receptacle I’ve included a picture from.
I have test equipment (meggar, meg ohm meter) to determine the cause and found that the reason the GFI had tripped was the over current occurring because of an internal fault in the receptacle itself. No fault was found anywhere else.
This has caused me to add an important if overlooked step in our grows, checking equipment afterwards so we’re ready for the next season. It should include some visual inspection of all the extension cords and receptacles we’re plugging in all our equipment, as even that will uncover many problems and without the aid of more specialized elelctrical test equipment. It should also include as a minimum a test tripping of all GFI receptacles/and or circuit breakers we’re relying on. You can do that with an inexpensive circuit tester that has a GFI test button. Stay safe, test and examine your electrical cords and equipment at least once a year.
So about a month from the end of my last grow I experienced a couple of unanticipated GFI trips, which at the time I assumed to be from some older timers (two years old). I reset the GFI circuit breaker several times over the course of a few days, then split up my lighting load between two available circuits. I bought two new timers and had no further problems. That is until I moved my clone tent and noticed the condition of the receptacle I’ve included a picture from.
I have test equipment (meggar, meg ohm meter) to determine the cause and found that the reason the GFI had tripped was the over current occurring because of an internal fault in the receptacle itself. No fault was found anywhere else.
This has caused me to add an important if overlooked step in our grows, checking equipment afterwards so we’re ready for the next season. It should include some visual inspection of all the extension cords and receptacles we’re plugging in all our equipment, as even that will uncover many problems and without the aid of more specialized elelctrical test equipment. It should also include as a minimum a test tripping of all GFI receptacles/and or circuit breakers we’re relying on. You can do that with an inexpensive circuit tester that has a GFI test button. Stay safe, test and examine your electrical cords and equipment at least once a year.