zswells Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 im reading all over the forum to use gfci when using spt wire. the show im working on is for next year since i just had my house build 8 months ago...anyways since its a newly built house it already has gfci sockets throughout the whole house. now is that what yall mean by gfci protection when using spt wire or does it mean to put a gfci inline plug on every channel coming out of the controller?. to me that would make sense to protect the controller from shorts it would just mean adding at least $5 per channel to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Extremely hot topic. NEC code says that all exterior outlets need to be GFCI protected. It really does not matter what type of wire, SPT or three wire. You just need to plug the controller into the GFCI, this will protect all that is plugged into the controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Since your house is a new build you should have GFCI protected outlets on the outside of your house. Regardless if there is a button or not. My front outlet was wired to the GFCI in my bathroom. I GFCI of choice for me is 20A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shubb Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 1 GFI per controller, (or per side of the controller) not per channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 1 per controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Trommelslager Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 GFCI is required by code for all readily accessible outlets on the exterior of a home, as well as in the garage. The exception for this is appliances containing hermetically sealed compressors can (should) be plugged into non-GFCI protected outlets. Freezers and refrigerators are prone to nuisance tripping a GFCI. The type of extension cords you use are not relevant to the requirement, but the insulation should be rated for the voltage you use. GFCI protection protects from electrocution; over current protection (breakers) protect from over loads/fires.Good practice is one GFCI per controller; best practice is one per bank of channels. Protection should be the first device in the circuit, not at the controller output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty-Laser Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 1 per controllerIf you have more than 15A per side you'll need one for each cord so not to exceed the Controller and Outlet capacity....I GFCI of choice for me is 20A.Check your building code. You can't use a 20A on wiring that is only rated 15A. Most 20A wiring is now yellow in color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus27 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I am pulling about 8 amps total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty-Laser Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) I am pulling about 8 amps total.Now that I have switched the bulk of my display to LED, I have 9 controllers running on 7 dedicated circuits. Down from 14 dedicated circuits (7 controllers) a couple years ago. Edited December 11, 2012 by Liberty-Laser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 the short answer is plug your controller into the gfi and forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 the short answer is plug your controller into the gfi and forget about it.In your dreams Don. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 ... or does it mean to put a gfci inline plug on every channel coming out of the controller?. to me that would make sense to protect the controller from shorts it would just mean adding at least $5 per channel to do so.This is a common misunderstanding. A GFCI does not protect against shorts, and it does not protect any equipment, including controllers. The only thing it protects is humans (and possibly other large mammals) from electrocution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mur Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Also for us Canadians, electrical code does not require GFCI on exterior receptacles above a certain height (I seem to recall 2 meters). So all those soffit receptacles are not necessarily protected - and as mentioned by Steven, this is just a quick trip to try and save lives and does little to save LOR or other equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Where's the butter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 If you have more than 15A per side you'll need one for each cord so not to exceed the Controller and Outlet capacity.Check your building code. You can't use a 20A on wiring that is only rated 15A. Most 20A wiring is now yellow in color.I just have to play with you on this one ..............where does it say this????I don't think it's in the book!!!!(I lost this battle early on in my career)Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve synek Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 GFCI is required by code for all readily accessible outlets on the exterior of a home, as well as in the garage. The exception for this is appliances containing hermetically sealed compressors can (should) be plugged into non-GFCI protected outlets. Freezers and refrigerators are prone to nuisance tripping a GFCI. The type of extension cords you use are not relevant to the requirement, but the insulation should be rated for the voltage you use. GFCI protection protects from electrocution; over current protection (breakers) protect from over loads/fires.Good practice is one GFCI per controller; best practice is one per bank of channels. Protection should be the first device in the circuit, not at the controller output.My mission tonight is to make sure what you read on the internet is correct, so by the current NEC requirements, all outlets in the garage must be GFCI protected now. Even the one on the ceiling for the garage door opener. No exception for appliances. Just so you know.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shubb Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 1 GFI per controller, (or per side of the controller) not per channel.It's odd to quote myself in a post, but after I re-read it I realized it was in response to the OP, and not completely accurate.I intended you should have all the inlet power to the controller from a GFI protected circuit. It does not have to be only 1 GFI per controller (or per side if dual feed) You can have multiple controllers on 1 GFI breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htebault Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I had a new GFI outdoor plug/cover installed for each LOR controller. During heavy rains, one controller would sometimes trigger the GFI - after doing all I could to isolate the connectors and light elements to be isolated from the grass/water area, it limited the tripping. I was glad to see the GFI was effective. i did use about 1,500' of SPT-1, and 20A grounded extention cables to link the Controllers to the outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Parker Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 There are several people on here that have added new plugs to have enough to run all of their controllers, if you have a newer house it will have all exterior plugs run through a GFCI but if you add additional plugs those need to be GFCI's as well. The Controllers then plug into the GFCI's and if something happens it will pop the GFCI like I had this year when a earthworm met it's fate by crawling up one of my cords and into the controller. He was turned into a crispy critter, which also popped my GFCI, after that was all cleaned up I reset the GFCI and everything was back to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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