2 Year old house in Colorado. Two jobs I'm curious about a good price for:

1) I have an unfinished basement. The electrical service for the house is right outside the basement wall wood/stud construction, not masonry or anything). I have a bunch of electronics in the basement, which I'm using off of extension cables from upstairs! So, I want to have a circuit added for the basement and maybe 2-3 outlets put in. (I plan to finish the basement in maybe 2 years)

2) I have a fish pond in my backyard which has a pump running 24/7/365. It's plugged into an outdoor type outlet (with the spring-loaded covers that close the outlet when not in use) and routed using some sort of metal piping to the house. It's clearly connected to a GFCI outlet in my garage and also all of the other outdoor outlets on the exterior of my home. All of a sudden, the GFCI in my garage started tripping. Reset it and wait 10 seconds, and it trips. First thing I did was unplug everything (except the pond, don't want the fish to die) and it still tripped. Then tried replacing the GFCI outlet, still trips. Unplug the pond, doesn't trip! (Weird problem, because the pond has been running for 2 years w/o problem, but who knows). So, I'm thinking about maybe adding a new GFCI circuit exclusively for the pond as clearly it's using a lot of juice.

What do you think the cost would be for each of these two jobs? I know two electricians around town, but want to get a good idea what is a good price before calling them out.

Thanks for the help!

1) $727.84
2) $2879.14

Are these actual estimates, or are they just numbers pulled out of the air?

Curious,

JJP

1)good price $10 fair $200-$300

2)Open the box where the pump is plugged into. Is it wet inside? Full of foreign matter (bugs.. ect.)? If so this may be your problem. If not have your pump checked out. Close up the box and replace the cover with a "while in use" cover (cover can close over top of the pumps cord).

2b)Do you use the other outlets on the circuit with the pump? What size pump is it(HP/amps)? You may not need a separate circuit.
The GFCI won't trip from over current, "using a lot of juice" it trips due to voltage to ground (3-5 mA).

John

John:

I was being a smart ass. I do not think there is any way for someone to give a worthwhile estimate for this without a job visit. I don't think it is fair to have someone come out to your house and give you an estimate and then compare it to something you got off the web from someone who has never even been there.

Certainly there is some good advice being given about what might be the cause of the pump circuit problem.



This message was edited by QQQ on 04/20/02 00:36.06.

Blue, without seeing your basement, it's hard to give an estimate. Just attaching one or two receptacles at the panel sould cost no more than an hour of labor (which I charge @ $65/hr) plus $10 - $15 for materials. However, if the wall studs are in, I'd go ahead and wire the entire basement now, maybe for around $100 - $200 total (again a guess).

JW is correct, to a point. A GFCI breaker can trip either for overcurrent OR a ground leakage. A separate (feed thru) GFCI receptacle will only trip from a ground leak. Since the GFCI only trips when the pump is plugged in, it's not because of debris in the box. The pond pump is obviously the culprit. I've seen it happen twice. Once it was the cord, the other time it was the waterproofing of the pump itself.

Please understand that a tripping breaker or GFCI devise is doing its job when it trips. You need to have the pump serviced or replaced.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

I have a waterfall and had a lot of pump problems in the past and breakers tripping. It was always the pump at least in my case. Internal shorts.

Larry

OK, you got me. It's not in the outlet.
And I should have said "The GFCI receptacle won't trip from over current." He did say it was a receptacle.

John

Thanks for the best laugh I've had all day.

Thanks folks - I asked a local guy that was recommended to me and he quoted $160 for one new circuit (or $250 for two new circuits). As for the GFCI, we narrowed it down to a faulty pond pump, which I hope can get replaced under warranty (runs about $90 otherwise).

Love this forum! Thanks for the help!

Randy
www.BlueDo.com