Can any of you sparkies out there give me a clue what’s happening?
I went crazy this year with strings of those tiny Christmas lights on a tree in my front yard; probably 12 strings of 200 lights (not cheapos – GE “commercial”) in groups of three connected end-to-end and fed by a 25-foot 14ga Ace hardware green extension cord with triple outlet adapter in the end and plugged into a 20A garage receptacle downstream from a 20-year-old Leviton GFCI receptacle with black test button and red reset. Worked fine for 10 days.
Last night it tripped the GFCI when I plugged in. I reset and plugged in again and it worked fine.
Tonight it tripped the GFCI and, when I reset, I saw a flash from an arc inside the GFCI and the thing immediately tripped. I unplugged the far end of the extension cord, removing all load, and GFCI was fine. I plugged in only half the strings on the tree and they worked for about a minute, then tripped the GFCI.
We have had no rain since last Sunday.
Any suggestions about what may be going wrong?
BruceT
Edited 12/16/2006 2:28 am ET by BruceT999
Edited 12/16/2006 2:28 am ET by BruceT999
Replies
try using something else in the GFI ....if that trips the GFI is kaput...
if not recheck your light strings individually and replace the bad one
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.Wer ist jetzt der Idiot
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> if not recheck your light strings individually and replace the bad oneYeah, one bulb at a time.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
" >if not recheck your light strings individually and replace the bad oneYeah, one bulb at a time."Ha Ha!Wanna come over and help?
BruceT
well you got that fancy tester, how long could it take....?? I should have said , check each set of lights.
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.Wer ist jetzt der Idiot
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Lemme tell ya -- I spent over an hour on that darned buck this afternoon. It turned out that so many bulbs were burned out in one section that as soon as I plugged in a good one it would burn out. Finally, with the power off, I basically replaced every bulb in the section.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck
There have been lots of improvements i the design and performace of GFCI's. Among them they help prevent false tripping.
I would go ahead and replace it.
And while you are at it you don't need a 20 amp receptacle, UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING WITH A 20 PLUG ON IT (AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING WITH ONE).
The 15 amp GFCI's have 20 amp feed through rating.
The next thing is to see where you can have leakage. It has to be to GROUND.
Keep all of the plugs and sockets (including end of run) off the ground or if no choice then wrap them in plastic it keep them dry.
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Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"I would go ahead and replace it.And while you are at it you don't need a 20 amp receptacle, UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING WITH A 20 PLUG ON IT (AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING WITH ONE)."Thanks for the comments. There is a 1HP table saw on that circuit and an old radial arm saw that can pop the 20A breaker if I let it bog down. From the sound of the bearings on that RAS, it probably draws 5A just idling. Did you mean to say that a 15A GFCI will pass 20A to its protected load connectors or just through the second connections on the line connectors?BruceT
Even the cheap 0.49 cent receptacles (only available in 15 amp versions) are 20 amps feed through and upto 15 amps on each half of the duplex receptacle. Just that the total can't exceed 15 or 20 amps depending on the circuit that it is installed on.A 20 amp receptacle is only still only rated for 15 amps when a 15 amp plug is used.But Spec grade and better receptacles have better and stronger wipping action on than the 49 cent ones. So I would use those where you have a heavy load.I am not sure about the GFCI, but I think that it is constructed to spec grade. At least the same back connect pressure plate system that is optional on the spec grade receptacles is used..
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Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
3 possibilities:
1-- Defective GFCI
2-- Your lights have an electronic sequencer that is creating interference and causing a "false trip". If there's an adjustable electronic sequencer, turn it to full on (no flashing) and see if the lights still trip. If this is the problem, a newer, better quality GFCI may fix things.
3-- There's a fault to ground somewhere. Doesn't take much -- a drop of dew in the right spot.
A fault in the string (open or short circuit) that doesn't go to ground will not trip the GFCI, unless it's a very severe short (which would certainly blow the fuses in the plug).
Dan said
"3-- There's a fault to ground somewhere. Doesn't take much -- a drop of dew in the right spot."I'll take option 3 - sort of.I foolishly had my triple-tap adapter sitting plug-side-up. Last Monday's rain did not immediately affect it, but the resulting brass corrosion that developed through the week, refreshed by dew and morning fog, grew on the plastic surface of one outlet just enough apparently to bleed off a little current to the ground prong socket even when it was dry. I cleaned everything up, secured the adapter face down and all is good again.Thanks all for your help.
BruceT
It's sometimes a good idea to cover connections with plastic, though try to arrange it so that moisture can drip out the bottom.
People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. --Otto von Bismarck