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holtjv · Oct 22, 2006, 02:00 PM

I am nearly exasperated trying to splice in a new fountain pump. Here's what I did:

1. bought a new pump (190gpm), cut the cord near its plug
2. threaded the power cord through the bottom of the fountain "tub"
3. spliced it to the power cord which runs under the rock patio to the gfci outlet. The splice resides under the tub in the base, so it's not submerged
4. Here's how I did the splice: I twisted the appropriate wires together, soldered them, then taped with electrical tape. Then I painted each with scotchkote for waterproofing. After about 15 minutes (the scotchkote wasn't completely dry) I wrapped the bundle of 3 wires together with electrical tape and scotchkoted the bundle.
5. as soon as I plug it in, it trips

Now, the pump with the current 'downstream' cord to the gfci worked before--in fact, the last time I tried to splice in the pump with the splice submerged, it worked for about 5 hours before it tripped. The things I did different this time: 1) wrapped the bundle in tape and scotchkoted and 2) the splice is not submerged.

Any ideas? Many thanks, I'm about ready to call in a pro--by the way, I know NOTHING about electricity, grounds, etc. Jack

tkrussell · Oct 22, 2006, 02:29 PM

Everytning you did sounds great, as long at each splice is black ,white, and green, and nothing is crossed.. Is is possible the FI is defective? Can you try another one?

Is is possible the pump is defective also. You may need to call in a pro to do some troubleshooting with a multi-meter.

holtjv · Oct 22, 2006, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by tkrussell

Everytning you did sounds great, as long at each splice is black ,white, and green, and nothing is crossed.. Is is possible the FI is defective? Can you try another one?

Is is possible the pump is defective also. You may need to call in a pro to do some troubleshooting with a multi-meter.

Thank, TK. I tried plugging it in in a different gfci outlet and it tripped that one, too. I've also plugged other appliances into the same outlet and it works fine. The pump is brand new but I guess could be defective.

I just cut and re-spliced--same thing happened. Thanks anyway... if you think of anything I could be missing let me know--Jack

tkrussell · Oct 22, 2006, 03:10 PM

OK seems you narrowed it down to the motor, or a leak in the motor or cord.

bhayne · Oct 23, 2006, 09:10 AM

You should check the cord. Cut the last 1' off and reterminate a waterproof plug. Wrap the whole plug assembly in rubberized electrical tape. Make sure no moisture gets into the connections.

Field splices are the source of 90% of electrical problems!

doug2011 · Sep 28, 2011, 12:13 PM

GFCIs kick when there is an imbalance between the current flowing from the hotside to what is flowing in the return back to the circuit box. There is a current leak to ground somewhere, i.e. to the case of the pump or somewhere else. Try isolating the pump from everything and see if the GFCI still kicks. If so the pump has an internal leak to ground. Good luck.