Hi-
In this part of the woods a lot of builders have been adding custom backyard fountains to make the small yards more appealing.
I've been setting redwood 4x4 posts and piping up into bellboxes with GFI's and bubble covers to provide power to the 1/4hp cord and plug pumps the landscapers typically install in these fountains.
I've noticed about 1 in 5 of these pumps will start tripping the GFI within a few days to a few months of 24/7 operation.
I usually tell the owner or builder to confirm that the pump is the problem by using an extension cord to plug the pump into another GFI, like the kitchen or bathroom.
When it trips that one I'll send them to another GFI for final confirmation that the fault is in the pump and they need to call the landscaper for warranty.
Now I'm assuming the pump is developing a ground fault or high leakage current and is defective. Sometimes these faults take an hour to trip and sometimes it trips as soon as you plug it in.
I'm operating under the belief that ALL outdoor receptacles MUST be GFCI protected
AND
that it violates the UL listing for me to cut the cord cap off of the SJO cord and, using the correct connector, splice it directly to power in the bell box and apply a WP blank.
I bring this up because I've just received another call on yet another pump and while I haven't had any arguments with any of the landscapers yet I want to know that I have no choice in how I power these pumps up should that argument arise.
Any sharing of experience in this area would be appreciated.
Thanks
Vince