LED lighting help needed

[jdomke1]

I have an inground pool I just upgraded from SaM lights to LED. I used Pentair Intellebrite 5G LED lights with my Pentair EasyTouch 4 system. My two pool lights are 12v and the spa light is 110v. I'm not sure what I did but the GFCI trips when I turn on the pool lights but works just fine when I turn on the spa lights. The pool lights aren't even wired through the GFCI. The pool light has a black wire going from the relay #3 to the 100watt transformer. The white wire is coming from inside the Pentair panel, not the GFCI, straight to the white on the transformer. The output on the transformer goes to the wires for the pool lights. The spa light is run off relay #4 and does go through the GFCI for the white wire. I hope this makes sense but I can give more details if needed. The only connection anywhere close to between the two is the jumper wire running from relay #3 to relay #4. It's the feed and not in anyway connected to the GFCI but who knows. I'd appreciate some advice.


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[danpik]

First lets have a little lesson on how a GFCI works.

A GFCI monitors the outgoing current or Load (Lights in this case) and the return current on the neutral. In order for this to monitor it properly, the return current on the neutral must go back thru the breaker/receptacle for it to know if it is a match. If there is any discrepancy outside the allowed threshold of 4-6 MV it will turn the circuit off instantly.

In your case it sounds like the jumper between the 3 and 4 relay is causing the problem. You have electricity going out thru a GFCI but not returning back to it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Based upon your description of the problem, even god could not figure this out..

Here is how I "assume" your panel should be wired and then I have a couple of questions.

115 Volt power is being taken from the hot side of your GFCI outlet and wired into the load side of Aux3 and Aux4 relays which are connected by the jumper wire you mention. The output side of the Aux4 relay sends this 115 Volts to one side of your spa light, with the other side of the light wired back to the return side of your GFCI outlet. This light works when Aux4 is turned on.

The output side of the Aux3 relay sends 115 volts to one side of the primary winding of your 100 Watt Transformer, with the other side of the primary is wired to the return side of your GFCI outlet. One side of the Secondary winding of the transformer is connected to the one side of your 12 VAC pool lights with the other side being connected to the other side of the secondary. When the Aux3 relay is on, the transformer sends 12 VAC to the turn on the pool lights.

So, my questions..

1. Is your system wired as I assume above?
2. Did you do the wiring or was this installed for you?
3. Did the old lights work before the upgrade?
4. Were the old lights the same voltage as the new lights?
5. Is the 100 watt transformer new, or was it used for the old lights.
6. Can you provide a couple of pics of your new wiring?

It is pretty obvious that something is not wired right, and that is why the GFCI is popping.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jdomke1]

The GFCI was popping because the neutrals for each light were not coming back to the same neutral bar. I had one going back to the bar the GFCI was connected to and the other going to another feed I connected with a wire nut. Once the neutrals were connected back to the same bar the tripping stopped.


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