GFI Tripping Ideals

[Reefrus]

I have 32 channels we had about 4 days of rain, so GFI tripped so I made a static display with just the under the eave lights until I got things dried out. My problem is now when I start the animated sequences it trips the GFI back out again, I have disconnected all connections and dried them back out, rain stopped 3 days ago. I made a sequence with just animated with all the lights coming on and off and they will stay on and not trip the GFI but when I start the animated sequences with music again it trips the GFI, it is driving me crazy. Any suggestions? It was all working fine before the rains. I even unplugged the amp and speakers and left the FM hooked up for the MP3 but it still trips the GFI.

Ideals?
Thanks

[james campbell]

does it trip right away or will it run for awhile before tripping? sometimes the gfci will Trip to to a cumulative power leak

[Reefrus]

james campbell wrote:

does it trip right away or will it run for awhile before tripping? sometimes the gfci will Trip to to a cumulative power leak

It will run about 1/2 way thru the first song then trip.
All my controllers are mounted on a board under the front porch.

[Surfing4Dough]

Just to troubleshoot, copy the entire first song sequence into an animation sequence (non-musical) and see if it still trips. If it does, then it shows you it is a cumulative effect (or at least due to a display item that wasn't included in your rainy day animation).

[Surfing4Dough]

Another troubleshooting step--isolate each controller. Are both controllers plugged into the same GFCI? Then split them up, so you know which controller is the culprit. You can even then isolate each bank of the controller (1-8 and 9-16). Which one trips the GFCI? Now remember that one of the banks is needed for powering the board (I think it is 9-16 side), so if it trips, then the entire controller will go out. If the opposite bank trips it, then only that bank will go out. This will allow you to narrow it down to 8 channels--you know that your current leak culprit is within those 8 channels. Redry those outlets (I suggest unplugging the power to it since you know there is a leak there and you don't want it to zap you while drying those channels), though the GFCI should trip before that.

[Reefrus]

Alright I think I found it, I had 2 channels assigned to Red and Green Floods, it appears they might be the culprit. What I think might be happening is they would start coming in and out in the sequence and some moisture got down in the base of the bulb, socket(Double Gaskets on the bulbs and fixtures)when it heated up I think it expanded and shorted the GFI. Cross my fingers so far so good.

Thanks for all the help and tips, working day shifts this week and leave the house at 4 AM and return at 7 PM so not much time to trouble shoot.

Next year 2-20 Amp GFI circuits to feed controllers instead of one. Plus adding 32 more channels

[Surfing4Dough]

Yes flood fixtures are a common culprit. When I used to use those, I remember pouring out about half a cup of water once.

[Reefrus]

I took them out and everything is fine, next year I might build a shield for them to keep the rain out, might even drill a drip hole in the bottom if any moisture does get in. Will work on them tomorrow night. Thanks again for the comments, it was driving me crazy.