Quote:
Originally Posted by gshase
I have been told by several electricians that the life span of a GFCI is about 10 years. After this they either trip easily or may stop tripping all together. I have a general comment about this in every report. The same goes for GFCI & AFCI breakers. I have also noticed that in 9-11year old homes there seem to be at least 2-3 GFCI outlets that are not functioning properly.
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Thanks. I did replace the breaker with a new one, and it didn't change anything. So, in this case, it wasn't the breaker.
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Update:
Since the power plug on the end of the cord was the most exposed part of the electrical connection to the pump and the cord had to make a sharp turn due to the shape of the molded plug, I thought I'd try putting on a new plug.
Even though the plug on the end of the power cord looked fine, I cut it off along with several inches of cord. Installed a new plug. I applied a contact sealer to the screw connections for the wires and a silicone sealer to the power cord where it enters the plug.
Tested it 4 times today. The pump came on without incident. No blown breaker.
In some ways, the real test might be tomorrow once the pump has had time to fully cool. I ran it for several hours today on the extension cord. If the real problem is moisture in the submersible pump housing, the heat of operation might have put it into the trapped air inside the pump. But by tomorrow, sitting under water for the night, it should have been cool long enough to condense again (if that's the problem). Will see what it does tomorrow.
But for days, 100% of the time, it blew the breaker when I tried to run it on its regular circuit. And now, 4 times in a row, it's turned on without incident on the same circuit.
With any luck, it was a 10y/o plug that had gotten a little moisture in it or the first few inches of the power cord. Will see.
Thanks for everyone's input!