GFI Breaker trips when Surge Protector is turned off

[telman]

Hi,

I bought a cheap surge protector ($20AUD) and connected brand new Sony HDTV and Playstation3 to it.

It's totally working fine, but few days ago I switched off the "master switch" on the surge protector, and the GFI breaker (outside of my house) tripped. I cannot remember clearly but the HDTV and Playstation3 was Off or on Standby when I switched off the Surge Protector.

So, I reset the GFI breaker and turned on the surge protector and when I turned off the switch again, GFI tripped again.

I took out the surge protector and plugged in different outlet and hooked the PC, router, cable modem, and mini component and switched on and off the surge protector few times, but GFI did not trip.

I put the surge protector back, and plugged HDTV and Playstation3 again. I fliped switch on the surge protector on and off 2 times, GFI didn't trip! Bit later I unplugged everything out again, and plugged everything back, switch off the surge protector, it tripped the GFI!

I borrowed my friend's more expensive ($50AUD) surge protector, fliped switch few times GFI didn't trip at all.

Can anyone please explain why switching off the surge protector trips the GFI?

Should I get rid of my surge protector? Or use it somewhere else where it doesnt trip?

Could this surge protector Damage my TV or other electrial equipments by just using it? Or could it damage my equipments while GFI gets tripped?


Thanks for the help~~!!


PS: It has been raining for 2 weeks and very humid outside of the house.
GFI outside of my house it labelled as "Core Balance Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker, tripping current 30ma, Made in Germany"

 

[roger]

To all replying, please keep the conversation to the reason this may be occurring and a possible solution, let's not go into "how to" instructions on trouble shooting the premise wiring.

Thanks

Roger

 

[masterinbama]

had something similar with a power conditioner. When the power was switched off the internal circuitry would short the capacitors to ground. This momentary spike would trip some GFCI's fed from the same panel.

 

[ptonsparky]

Throw away the cheap surge protector. You get what you pay for sometimes. Could be the design, could be just a bad apple.

Personally, if I had several thousand dollars worth of equipment plugged in, I would spend more than $20.

 

[weressl]

had something similar with a power conditioner. When the power was switched off the internal circuitry would short the capacitors to ground. This momentary spike would trip some GFCI's fed from the same panel.

The GFCI correctly interprets the draining current as an out of range unbalance between the phase and neutral. The circuit you have problem with most likely to have other shunt capacitors on it fro equiepment protection.

 

[whillis]

had something similar with a power conditioner. When the power was switched off the internal circuitry would short the capacitors to ground. This momentary spike would trip some GFCI's fed from the same panel.

I've sen the same thing with a floor heat thermostat that had a built in GFCI. It had been wired into an existing circuit and spikes from turning the computer system on/off would trip it out.

 

[telman]

Thanks all for your help! This forum is really helpful! :smile:

The circuit you have problem with most likely to have other shunt capacitors on it fro equiepment protection.

Yes that makes sense, because it only happen with the HDTV and PS3 connected, it could be the transformer in these devices even though they are in off state the current can remain inside right?

had something similar with a power conditioner. When the power was switched off the internal circuitry would short the capacitors to ground. This momentary spike would trip some GFCI's fed from the same panel.

You mean when current is suddenly cut off, it can cause the spark to activate the capacitors that shunt voltage to ground right? My surge protector's switch seems stiff and solid, switching on off is like snapping plastic.. could that be the case of sudden cut of current?

Throw away the cheap surge protector. You get what you pay for sometimes. Could be the design, could be just a bad apple.

Personally, if I had several thousand dollars worth of equipment plugged in, I would spend more than $20.

I should have bought the expensiver one.. I was fooled by the package saying life time warranty. I am going to go out and buy new better one this weekend. Lost the receipt for the $20 one.. there goes $20 in the drain :smile:

 

[telman]

I have done some research on the net.
I think I found the possible cause,

I think my GFI breaker tripped because of Neutral-Ground short. I'm thinking possibly it was caused by MOV that connected between neutral and Ground in the surge protector.

From this website: http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=11502&page=2&pp=15

- If the MCB is turned OFF (no live current) and the appliance is turned OFF, would it trigger the ELCB if I manually short-circuit:

(a) the neutral line (between the MCB and the appliance) to the earth?

(b) the neutral line of the socket (without the appliance) to the earth line of the same socket?
Answer:
Yes... Neutral shorted to earth will also cause a trip in both instances.

This look like similar case as me because the GFI tripped when the power was switched off, so there is no current coming in from live wire. And possibly only neutral-ground short can cause this tripping because there was no live current.

what do you guys think? good answer?