switched lights and GFCI outlets
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I’m not an experienced electrician – obvious by my question….
I have installed an outside decorative lampost with an outlet on the bottom of the post. I want the outlets ‘live’ at all times while having the ability to switch the lampost on/off from my deck.
I have run 12gauge (1-ground, 1-white, 1-red, 1-black) to the post.
I intend to install a GFIC circuit breaker to supply power. I have already run a ‘black’ wire from the panel up to the switch I plan to use for the lamp.
My thought process is that I run the (switched) black wire to the lamp, run the red to the outlet and tie both to the white.
Will this work? Will my GFIC circuit breaker work like this?
Or am I scaring you electricians all to heck!!!???? Advice appreciated. Thanks in advance….
P.S. I am using a GFIC circuit breaker so I protect both the outlet and the metal lampost.
Dick J
Replies
....."My thought process is that I run the (switched) black wire to the lamp, run the red to the outlet and tie both to the white. "
I hope you meant .....
and the lamp black to the switch...
tie the red to the black from the panel
and the whites together
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.Wer ist jetzt der Idiot
?
Well........ Here's what I was thinking...
The black starts out from the GFCI "load" side, goes up to the switch, then out to the lamp (where it then becomes the white) and the white ties into the white which goes back to the GFIC.
At the same time, my thought is to start the red (circuit to the outlets) from the GFCI "load" side also, out to the outlet, then (other side of the outlet changes to white) and run the white back to the GFIC.
Can I start both a black and a red (hots) from the same slot (load) of the GFIC???
you have a black and white between the switch and the paneland you have a black ,red, and white between the switch and the post....at the switch....
twist the black from the panel together with the red from the post and a third pigtail of black. use a wirenut for this..attach the pigtail black to the switch,
attach the black from the lamp post to the other screw terminal on the switch.... twist and then wirenut the whites together
twist and then wirenut the grounds together and ground the switch mounting strap.
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.Wer ist jetzt der Idiot
?
Edited 8/29/2006 10:01 pm by maddog3
I believe that the correct answer is: Yes, you can do it that way.
Check your GFI breaker to see if you can put two wires under the same terminal. Some allow it, and some do not. If not, then run one wire from the breaker, and pigtail it to the other two wires.
By doing this, you are now protecting not only the receptacle, but also the light as you stated.
Just a thought: I would use red as the switched wire, and black as the hot to the receptacle.
Hope this helps clear up any questions.
Bryan Klakamp"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio
I think I'd run two wires -- black & white -- from breaker to switch, then in the switch box tie the black from the breaker with the black in the outgoing 3-wire cable, and also tie in a pigtail. Pigtail goes to switch, red connects to other side of switch.White is just a straight feed-through, of course.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
That's what I thought too. But he said that he already had the wires run, so, why not use them the way they are.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio
Because using them the way they are would confuse everyone. I'd twist back the red wire between panel and switch.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Thanks to everyone for your help!!!! I LOVE this forum. I read it daily and get more information than I ever expected to find in one place.
Ain't technology grand ! ! ? ? ?
What you describe with the GFCI breaker will work IF you supply BOTH the light and outlet from it. Since you'll have a shared neutral, everything on the neutral must be supplied from the GFCI and no other source.
If you supply the outlet from the GFCI and the light from another breaker, the GFCI will pop every time you turn the light on.
The reason for this is that the GFCI compares the outgoing "hot" current to the incoming "neutral" current and pops if they aren't equal. So long as current flows only between the hot and neutral connected to the GFCI everything's OK, but if any current flows from another hot in to the GFCI neutral, or from the GFCI hot out to another neutral (or, say, through your body to ground), a mismatch is detected and the breaker trips.