# gfci trips when the bath fan is shut off



## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

It is voodoo but seriously I would change brands of GFCI and see what happens. I have no idea why something on a different circuit would trip the gfci. I had a situation with a small garden pond where the motors keep tripping the gfci every so many days. I finally removed the gfci from the panels and installed a gfci receptacle just above the panel and never had an issue again. I changed gfci breakers, moved them in the panel to different phases, etc. No luck til I used a reg. breaker with a gfci recep.


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## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

Dennis Alwon said:


> It is voodoo but seriously I would change brands of GFCI and see what happens. I have no idea why something on a different circuit would trip the gfci. I had a situation with a small garden pond where the motors keep tripping the gfci every so many days. I finally removed the gfci from the panels and installed a gfci receptacle just above the panel and never had an issue again. I changed gfci breakers, moved them in the panel to different phases, etc. No luck til I used a reg. breaker with a gfci recep.


funny this happened to me recently: had a client say that when he turned on his kitchen lights, his countertop GFI would trip. Changed it out and everything was fine. Shared N's and the GFI could sense the blip in current? or something...strange.


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## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

Dennis Alwon said:


> It is voodoo but seriously I would change brands of GFCI and see what happens. I have no idea why something on a different circuit would trip the gfci. I had a situation with a small garden pond where the motors keep tripping the gfci every so many days. I finally removed the gfci from the panels and installed a gfci receptacle just above the panel and never had an issue again. I changed gfci breakers, moved them in the panel to different phases, etc. No luck til I used a reg. breaker with a gfci recep.


I tried my p and s 1595trw and it still tripped, just like the lowes special. It is on the same circuit, just not on the load side of the GFCI. The wire (i think) went from the knob, to the GFCI which was pigtailed, to the switch, then to the fan/light.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

mbednarik said:


> I tried my p and s 1595trw and it still tripped, just like the lowes special. It is on the same circuit, just not on the load side of the GFCI. The wire (i think) went from the knob, to the GFCI which was pigtailed, to the switch, then to the fan/light.


 
When the switch is opened under load it creates a spark. Maybe with there being no EGC the GFI's are just seeing it as a big surge. I've seen lightning strikes trip every GFI in a house, with no load side wiring and all on different circuits. I'd be willing to bet the problem goes away if you feed it with a grounded circuit.


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## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

Wholly crap! I did a thread on this a month or so ago. I was going back next week to try and figure out this odd phenomenom too ???


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## PWC Chief (Nov 3, 2011)

You have a loose neutral. More than likely at the fan connection or within the unit itself


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## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

PWC Chief said:


> You have a loose neutral. More than likely at the fan connection or within the unit itself


why would that cause a gfci to trip?


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

mbednarik said:


> why would that cause a gfci to trip?


 
It was a shot from the hip. No way you've given enough info to make that guess.


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