Ejector Pump Suddenly Tripping Gfi

HI all,



I have a rain barrel system with a pump (110v) and I ran a 3way switch to my patio and one by the pump (in a shed).  My wife now wants the pump on a timer (to water the garden).



So...I could just add a timer to the switched outlet, but I want to be able to override the timer with the switch (at the patio or shed), without interfering with the pump timer operation.



I've drawn up a diagram showing my proposed setup.



Question: can I rig up the pump with two power cords and plug one into the timed outlet and one into the switched outlet and not burn down my shed in the process?




      

I'm trying to figure out how exactly this should be redone... right now there is a NM cable going from the panel though the rim joist and outside straight down into the ground and out about 2 ft into the sump well then it jus dangles there with a female plug end connected to that which the sump pump then plugs into... well this actually shorted out the other night and created a wonderful noise and sparks...



how should I redo this? right now its not even GFIC... just straight into a 20 amp breaker...



I was thinking put an outside receptical on the side of the house run that straight thorugh the back of it into the rim joist and to the panel... have the outlet on that a GFIC outlet then run a underground line from that to the pump using UF cable with a similar female plug end inside the well (the well is about 11 ft deep and the plug is about 1 ft from the top right now... then that would just plug into the GFIC outlet on the side of the house... that outlet would of course have one of those clear enclosures around it that is water tight...



suggestions? comments? code violations?
      

I have a home that I only use from time to time.  At Christmas one of the GFCI outlets kept tripping.  This outlet has a TV/reciever/cable box/xbox/lights, etc. on the load side.  When I reset it, everything would be OK for 20 minutes or so, then it would trip.  I did not have time to investigate the problem so I just left it.  When I returned a week or so ago, the outlet was tripped and would not reset.  As soon as I pushed the reset button in, it would pop back out.  I replace the GFCI outlet but that did not help.  I removed all load outlets and inspected them.  Everything looked OK.  Anyone have an idea.  The strange thing to me is that the problem seemed to get worse over time.  (I.e. it stayed reset for 30 minutes at Christmas and now it will not reset at all).  Ideas?  Thanks in advance.
      

I live in the bottom unit of a 6 unit bldg. We have the filters and everything in a room off of our unit. We also have a breaker on our panel for the pump. I haven't tested it yet by shutting off the breaker (mainly due to long hours at work lately and nobody is awake when I am home), but is it possible/probable that the pump for the whole bldg is running off of our meter? There are 6 total units and 6 total meters outside, so there is no obvious meter for the pump circuit (plus the breaker is on OUR panel).
      

I am in the process of installing a submerisble pump into my well, but I have a few questions I'd like answered first.



The pump is a 1HP, 230V pump with 8.2amps and KW 0.75.  It is rated at 12/2 w/ ground. 



1) Is there any reason I shouldn't install a 230v wall mounted switch to turn this on/off if I want to kill the power.  For now a pump start will control it for my irrigation system, this would just be in addition if I ever wanted to shut things down and not have to rely on using the breaker, which I understand shouldn't be used as a switch.



2) What about installing this on a plug, so that I can plug it into a receptacle vs. hardwired.  (*I'll explain my reason later)



3) My understanding is 12gauge wire is rated for 20amp, but it looks like the owners manual calls for a 25amp fuse.  Should I use 20amp or 25amp?



*The reason I ask about the switch and the plug is because I plan on using some wiring that is already in place.  I already have 12/2 w/ground installed in the location of the pump start.  It is currently wired for 110v as it was placed there for a 3/4hp jet pump I planned on installing, but ended up going with a cased well instead, so I figure why not utilize the existing wire, but switch it to 220 instead of 110.  Basically, swap the 20amp 110v switch out for a similar rated 230v switch and replace the receptacle with a 230v receptacle and just plug this pump in. 



I question the use of the plug because I thought I had read somewhere it was ok to use one, but when unpacking the pump last night, I thought I read never to install it on a plug, so now I'm unsure.  Why would they not want it on a plug?  I guess it's not a big deal as I can always run wire into the j-box, but I hate using pigtails if I don't have to.



Thanks for any info on this...heading to the parts store in a while to grab the fuse and anything else I need.
      

Hello,

We're installing a steam shower unit & need to run new electrical wiring.  We have a few questions & hope someone can help!



We have three power cords (water pump, heat pump, steam generator) & none of them currently have plugs.  The specs are as follows:  3000W steam generator 110v - 30 amp GFCI breaker, 12 v lighting, 1.2 hp water pump 110 v - 30 amp GFCI breaker, & a 1500W heat pump 110v 12.5 amps.  It says you can run the heat pump off the same circuit as the rest of the unit.



Ok, so.. we're wondering what the easiest & cheapest way of going about this is.  We want it to be SAFE first & foremost, but also want to keep expense at a minimum.



Thank you for any advice you have!




      

I was cleaning my garage and think I got some water into an outlet. This caused 2 gfi outlets to trip, a regular outlet to stop working, and one side of a double pole circuit breaker to trip. Now the gfi's can't be reset by pressing the button, and the breaker can't be turned back on either. Does the breaker need to be shut off in order to reset the outlets? It's been like this for 3 months now. Please help!
      

Getting ready to replace my well jet pump with a 240 volt model (currently I use a 120 volt pump. Currently I have a 20 amp, 120 volt circuit that runs from the house to the pump house about 60 feet. I use that circuit for the pump, a light and a receptacle. I want to replace that circuit with a 20 amp MWBC using 12/3 UF cable from the sub panel in my detached barn to the pump house (about 20 feet).



Question: Can I use 1/2" seal-tite to run from the sub panel to a a junction box prior to going underground with the 12/3 UF? The seal-tight run would be about 30". (I have a bunch of seal-tite, connectors and #12 THWN that I bought cheap at a storage unit auction.) The seal-tite would be run in the stud bay and along side the ceiling joist to get from one side of the barn to the other.



Question: Can I use an unfused air conditioning disconnect at the pump house to disconnect the 2 ungrounded conductors of the MWBC.



I can find nothing in the NEC that would bar either of these items, but I am a code novice.
      

I am thinking of purchasing a WineKoolr used but after looking at the manual online it states that it must be plugged into a "Dedicated separately fused, grounded, 15 amp 100-120v line." The price I can get this at is awesome, but I live in apartment and am not sure, but think I only have 1 dedicated line at all, for the fridge. The previous owners said they just had it plugged into a normal outlet fine, but I want to know if it is a serious issue to do this? I really want a nice cooler for my beer cellar since I have no actual basement, so I am really hoping I can make this work in my home. Thanks for any help!





*Someone asked me on another forum what breakers I have for where I want to install it, and its in my second bedroom.  The breaker for those outlets is a 15A.  They also said that it probably says that in the manual to cover themselves legally but I should likely be just fine.





**

Well I turned off the breakers until I found which was for the outlets in the spare room.  As far as I can tell, the only things on this circuit are the spare bedroom outlets (not the lights), and 1 outlet in the hallway.  Nothing is plugged into any of these and its a 20A circuit.
      

I have a 1/3 horse sump pump. I've read it uses 1300-2900 starting watts (or I guess that means surge watts)



The generator I can get is for $140 and has 1400 peak watts and 1200 continuous. Now this will only be used to power the sump pump when power goes out.



Is it powerful enough? I have no way of testing it out prior to buying.



Its this brand, but a lower end model.



http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ357888894



the above model is sold out.



thoughts?