Easy Heat Floor Heat GFCI tripping

Status
Not open for further replies.

sparkyrick

Senior Member
Location
Appleton, Wi
Here's an odd one. Easy Heat floor heating system works just fine, until you turn on the fluorescent lights. As soon as you turn the lights on, the built-in GFCI in the Easy Heat FTS-2 thermostat trips. If you reset the stat with the lights on, the built-in GFCI remains set. If you turn the lights off and back on again, the built-in GFCI trips again. Any clue whats going on here?
 

steve66

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Engineer
Are they on the same branch circuit? I'd put them on separate circuits.

I've seen lights cause cheap GFCI's to trip before when the lights were turned on or off. If it were a GFCI receptacle that was tripping, I'd suggest replacing it with a name brand receptacle, but you probably can't replace the GFCI on the easy heat.

I suspect the lights let a surge of a small amount of current flow to ground when they are first turned on.
 

Sierrasparky

Senior Member
Location
USA
Occupation
Electrician ,contractor
Heat tape is new, lights are three years old. Re-feed the lights with an extension cord and it still trips, no matter where you plug it in.

Lift the ground from all areas of the light. Make sure no metal is touching the light. Then repeat with extension cord with no ground as a test.
 

sparkyrick

Senior Member
Location
Appleton, Wi
Thanks for the input so far. I'm not the one doing the work on-site, this is all coming from a co-worker that decided to work today and I'm the research department!

Some more information.....the lamps in the two fixture that are causing the GFCI in the stat to trip are high luma T8's, but the fixtures only have regular GE 4N ballasts. I tried calling Easy Heat tech support, but they are closed for the holiday.
 

StarCat

Industrial Engineering Tech
Location
Moab, UT USA
Occupation
Imdustrial Engineering Technician - HVACR Electrical and Mechanical Systems
Unsound Engineering

Unsound Engineering

Take a serious look at all the " Tek " thats being " forced " on everyone that not only does not work, but wastes everyones time into infinity and people then consider it all " normal " and necessary which is definitely is not.
Its bad engineering and politics attempting to " control " everything out there.
IN fact the more that the politicians in the electrical field attempt to Engineer around common sense rather than educating the end users, the more problems are going to ensue.

IN industrial sectors there is a known and unspoken tenet.
If you want a critical system " not to work " be dead sure its on a GFCI.
Failure is gauranteed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top