Rod Evans Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 O.K. I set my controllers up today and my third controller is tripping the breaker. I checked all the connections but no luck any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Do you have anything plugged into the controller? If so, are you loading either side of it over 15A(or 20A if you went that route)?If not, is the circuit breaker tripping instantly? Or does it take some time? If it's instant, then you have a dead short between hot and ground somewhere.-Jeffp.s. Also, is there anything else on the circuit that you are using for the LOR unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 The breaker yrips when I test it and not untill. I have a few lights hooled up 100 ct. on each channel. It only goes when there is a load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Need more info: Has the controller ever worked? Kit or prebuilt? etc...Does the breaker only trip when a specific channel is turned on?-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShowProKevin Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 From my experience the breaker or GFCI trips because of an overload on the circuit or an electrical short (usually from water getting into the plugs on extension cords). Is everything dry? Try powering up one channel at a time and use the powers of deduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well, not say that anyone else is a dumb as I can be sometimes. but I inadvertently swapped the grounds on the inputs and that keep popping my breakers til I got them on the correct side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Thanks for the reply's. I tested the controller 4 months ago when I bought them. They were assembled I wired them with the female plugs. I had them hanging on the wall since then. They are the new pc 16 boards. I'm testing them in my garage with very little load if any. When I test the third board it blows the breaker. Tim I will test each channel tomorrow to see if it is a certain channel. I didn't think of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Another question: Is this a GFCI breaker or a standard breaker?-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 I just had 6 new GFi sockets and breakers put in. I switched the cords and they still tripped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Rod Evans wrote: I just had 6 new GFi sockets and breakers put in. I switched the cords and they still tripped.So just to clarify, you have standard breakers and GFCI outlets? And it's the breaker tripping, not the GFCI outlet?-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Sorry Tim, I have regular breakers and the sockets are gfi. The gfi's are tripping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Perhaps just a bit more detail would be helpful. Here is what I gather:You had 6 breakers installed, each with a dedicated GFI outlet.You have 4 controllers. Are you attaching each controller to its own outlet?The GFI outlet that has your third controller attached to it trips the GFI.Have you tried powering that controller from any of the other 5 outlets?Have you tried powering a different controller on the tripping outlet?When you say you switched the wires, what did you switch?It is possible that you got a bad GFI outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 I have 3 controllers. I have tried switching where they are pluged in and they still trip the breaker. Each controller has it's own plug. 6 plugs for 3 controllers on six regular breakers. The gfi trips just for this one board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Just so I am clear, this one board will trip any GFI that it is attached too.Does it trip when any channel is turned on or just a certain channel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 When i had it set up yesterday I didn't think to try that. Now I am waiting to change my whole computer setup to a new laptop. Now I am waiting for lor to email me a link to the software download. I'm stuck untill then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 One thing to check is that all your neutrals on the pigtails are connected to the correct side of the board. If one of your left half pigtails is plugged into the right side neutral, (or the reverse) it should trip the GFCI's for both inlets when that channel is turned on. If both sides were plugged into the same GFCI, there would be no trip, but it is still a wiring error that should be fixed. - Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 OK, so the original post was incorrect, in that you're tripping a GFCI, not a breaker?Just trying not to be confused... If it's a GFCI tripping, then, as noted above, make sure your neutrals are connected to the proper side of the board, AND that you don't have a jumper between the two halves of the board on either the hot or neutral. This is assuming that you're feeding the board from two different power cords...Otherwise, you have a leak somewhere between hot and ground. Look for a wire-hair or some-such that might be doing this... It would have to be a small leak that was enough to trip the GFCI but not the breaker.-Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Tim Fischer wrote: Otherwise, you have a leak somewhere between hot and ground. Or, you could have a direct short between neutral and ground. This would cause the GFI to trip when the channel draws power.To check this, unplug the controller from the outlet, but leave all the lights plugged into the pigtails. Then put an ohmmeter between the neutral and ground pins. You should get infinite resistance.Then, with the LOR network cables still connected to the computer, put the ohmmeter between the neutral pin and your system ground (for instance, the computer's power supply case). You should also get infinite resistance. If not, you have leakage through the network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jones Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 You can also try plugging in the strand of lights directly into the outlet. If the outlet still trips- you have a bad gfci and anything plugged into it will cause a trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Evans Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It now doesn't trip breaker it just does nothing. No light is on and the breaker is not tripped. Also on my #2 board the 8 channel is not working. I switched the cord set out and it still didn't work. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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