GCFi's

[TheDucks]

28 minutes ago, Orville said:

That's how I had wired mine, each one was independent of the others on the same circuit.  Although I noticed that those that have dual lights, red for tripped and green for working, the green "working" lights did not function when there was no load wired to any of them, but the red light still lit when tripped. 

I thought that was kind of odd, as I had expected the green light to work to show it was functioning correctly.  But when tested, they did what they were supposed to do.  So I guess that's all that counts, doing what they were supposed to do when wired that way {Line only side}.

Yes, very odd. You did wire all 3 leads (Black/gold, white/silver and the Green)?

I had some that would not reset (latch) unless there was power on the branch. But I also agree that the TEST is still king 😛

[MikeERWNC]

This is a helpful topic. 

I have one with only one 16 channel box hooked to 16 small 300 LED trees, which trips several times each night... Even when dry out. I think I will replace the controller next year and see if it works properly.

[caniac]

20 hours ago, rcktpwrd said:

We also have issues with popping the GFI's in the rain. I think our main issue is that I have 3 controllers all on the same outlet and the voltage leaks add up... I am planning on adding additional circuits to separate the controllers. I will also go over everything as we take it down to check for nicks/cuts in any of the wiring. Power/amp wise we don't need the extra circuits but spreading out the GFI load should help. I have the tomato cage trees off the ground on pvc pipe, all the plugs are elevated on stakes and any female plugs that are facing up have the outlet cover plugs in them.

dielectric grease is your best friend.  We added 12 dedicated show circuits when we moved here and all are GFCI

[Kapkirk]

4 minutes ago, MikeERWNC said:

This is a helpful topic. 

I have one with only one 16 channel box hooked to 16 small 300 LED trees, which trips several times each night... Even when dry out. I think I will replace the controller next year and see if it works properly.

Mike

 

Think about swapping the controller out this year and see if it fix's it, then your good for next year, I hate taking something down without knowing the problem is fixed. I am on our last lit night tonight and had a issue where half the display was intermittent thru 4 songs tonight and was thinking oh no I don't want to take it all down with a problem. So I reset all the GFCI's and then rebooted the computer and that fixed it, I was very happy to know it was all working on last night.

 

Keith

[Orville]

19 hours ago, caniac said:

dielectric grease is your best friend.  We added 12 dedicated show circuits when we moved here and all are GFCI

Completely agree with the dielectric grease.  After I started using it, along with child proof outlet covers on open female ends and pass thru plugs, my GFCI trips went away.  

But if a cord gets worn, or nicked where it can make contact with the other wire in some manner, it could cause issues, even if the nicks are only slight, but if both sides are nicked, even if they don't touch, water is a conductor, and that will trip the GFCI.  Then FLEX SEAL products can be your best friend too, as they are water proof and form a nice watertight seal when dry.  '

It really is great for saving a long extension cord that's seen lots of use and frayed, just cut or strip off the outer jacket that's frayed or split, cover with the Flex Seal, works great and the cord will be good for use again.  Flex Seal makes a hard, but flexible plastic water-proof and water-tight seal, so it's great for use on cords with nicks or cuts. 

Just make sure the inner wiring of the extension cord isn't broken or nicked, if so, {solder the broken wire{s} back together, same color to same color},separate and cover each of the nicked wires, one at a time with Flex Seal, let dry, then cover all with Flex Seal, makes a nice water tight and water proof jacket.

[Orville]

20 hours ago, TheDucks said:

Yes, very odd. You did wire all 3 leads (Black/gold, white/silver and the Green)?

I had some that would not reset (latch) unless there was power on the branch. But I also agree that the TEST is still king 😛

Yes, all 3 wires.  Never could get the green LED to turn on unless I wired each one to the load side, then of course, if one tripped, everything went dark,, but the green LED was on.  Definitely thought it was odd, but even though I didn't have the green, at least the red lit when the offending GFCI got tripped in TEST mode, and if it tripped during show time, still lit the red indicator showing it had tripped.   So at least that part worked and let me know it's doing it's job!

[rcktpwrd]

found a decent article with good pics of how to wire multiple outlets and GFI's

https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/wiring-multiple-outlets-diagrams.html

 

[caniac]

don't know if you will ever be trip free but with careful planning you can eliminate most of the weak spots.  Last year in NC I think it was monsoon season, our front yard doubled as a swamp.  But with planning and knowing the weaknesses we were able to run our show even when the larger show down the road would shut down.  Between dielectric grease and waterproof electricians tape we got thru it.  Having said all this, tear down was a bit of a challenge.  Breaking down the extension cords and connectors I used dielectric grease on was like cleaning away snot.

[caniac]

3 hours ago, rcktpwrd said:

found a decent article with good pics of how to wire multiple outlets and GFI's

https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/wiring-multiple-outlets-diagrams.html

 

best money we spent both in NC and here was adding dedicated show circuits.  All GFCI as well as labelled. 

[Orville]

2 hours ago, caniac said:

don't know if you will ever be trip free but with careful planning you can eliminate most of the weak spots.  Last year in NC I think it was monsoon season, our front yard doubled as a swamp.  But with planning and knowing the weaknesses we were able to run our show even when the larger show down the road would shut down.  Between dielectric grease and waterproof electricians tape we got thru it.  Having said all this, tear down was a bit of a challenge.  Breaking down the extension cords and connectors I used dielectric grease on was like cleaning away snot.

Yep, that dielectric grease does look a wee bit nasty after the season don't it?🤣🤣🤣

[Wayne K]

One thing I found was called a cord protector. don't know about all of you, but I had a lot of cord junctions in my display and over the years I have tried a lot of things to stop gfi's from tripping. But here is one thing that I think made a big difference this year. I deployed about 18 of these in my cord junctions in the yard.

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-cords-cord-management/extension-cords/twist-and-seal-cord-protect-outdoor-extension-cord-protection-green/tscp-g-bl/p-1526970610173-c-6410.htm

I put these on all my cords that had plugs close to the ground. There are different 2 sizes of the big ones. I used the bigger ones and was able to make 2 zip cord plug junctions in one protector.

Here is the mini version  

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-cords-cord-management/extension-cords/twist-and-seal-mini-holiday-light-cord-protection-green/tsm-g-bl/p-1526970610029-c-6410.htm

Wayne

[Mr. P]

Honestly, if you just get the cords off the ground they would be fine. I hang all connections if they are near bushes or trees and I raise the ones in the yard only a inch or two. As long as the water can run off and not puddle a bit around the cords you will be fine, never had any issues

[TheDucks]

59 minutes ago, Wayne K said:

One thing I found was called a cord protector. don't know about all of you, but I had a lot of cord junctions in my display and over the years I have tried a lot of things to stop gfi's from tripping. But here is one thing that I think made a big difference this year. I deployed about 18 of these in my cord junctions in the yard.

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-cords-cord-management/extension-cords/twist-and-seal-cord-protect-outdoor-extension-cord-protection-green/tscp-g-bl/p-1526970610173-c-6410.htm

I put these on all my cords that had plugs close to the ground. There are different 2 sizes of the big ones. I used the bigger ones and was able to make 2 zip cord plug junctions in one protector.

Here is the mini version  

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-cords-cord-management/extension-cords/twist-and-seal-mini-holiday-light-cord-protection-green/tsm-g-bl/p-1526970610029-c-6410.htm

Wayne

I have some, of these and a larger brand. Mine have leaked AND they were up  off the ground. (I used these for round cords feeding my controllers)

OTOH I had  SVT prop cords, just held above the ground using these https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Christmas-Hardware-9130-99-5635-Stakes/dp/B07G98PJ43?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffsb-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07G98PJ43 not as intended, to hold a C9 upright

[DLH lites]

I bought sum of these green clamp thingys,  for monsoon season here in fort lauderdale," useless as [Foul Language Used] on a duck" , they all leaked, doing research to find gaskets that will do the trick , I have a year to get it done, keep yall posted ! 

David

[DLH lites]

breast----dugh

[dibblejr]

On 1/7/2020 at 8:05 PM, DLH lites said:

breast----dugh

Use Spikes to raise the plugs off the ground using zipties and then take a 5 gallon bucket (no lid) and notch the bottom wherever a cord goes through. Place the bucket over the spike/outlet and drill two holes in the lip of the bucket and secure the bucket with spikes. You should have no more water problems (with the extensions where they come together)

I just hide them behind my props.

JR

[DLH lites]

Jr, I think the trouble stems from the net lites. There are thirty nets on the shurbs at the drive way and eighteen on the big hedge along the fence which is  thirty feet long , Look at my display DLH LITES, of course they are all plugged into each other . The monsoon storms soaked all the male/ female junctions, which were about four feet off the ground, even the plugs fuse holders had water in them.  We had three major storms in December,  nine inches of rain in four hours alone.   

I will be looking at making a gasket from rubber with double stick tape on both sides for all these plugs ,just maybe that will help. I will keep all posted.

David

[caniac]

Dielectric grease will also help

[Orville]

4 hours ago, DLH lites said:

Jr, I think the trouble stems from the net lites. There are thirty nets on the shurbs at the drive way and eighteen on the big hedge along the fence which is  thirty feet long , Look at my display DLH LITES, of course they are all plugged into each other . The monsoon storms soaked all the male/ female junctions, which were about four feet off the ground, even the plugs fuse holders had water in them.  We had three major storms in December,  nine inches of rain in four hours alone.   

I will be looking at making a gasket from rubber with double stick tape on both sides for all these plugs ,just maybe that will help. I will keep all posted.

David

Do you use those plastic child proof electric outlet caps on the female pass through outlets at the plug and at the end of the light strands?   

I have had torrential downpours and I have never had water get inside my power connections on any of my light strands using these plastic outlet cap covers.  Just got to make sure they are fully inserted with no gaps for them to work.

[TheDucks]

flat Prong to flat prong leakage  WILL NOT trip a GFCI

Flat prong to Round prong will.

Flat prong to Earth WILL.

If everything is up off the ground (and not in any puddle, I doubt there is a Earth path. GFCI's work on a algebraic balance of White to Black. In must = out with a few ma allowed as unbalance