LED lights tripping outlet GFI

[kwolfe]

So I just finished wiring up my Globrite LEDs (3 of them). When I first turned them on, only two of them worked which turned out to be a faulty LED. After the service guy came and replaced the faulty one, he called me and said that you can turn them all on once, and when you flick the switch off and then on again (to cycle through the colors), the GFI trips.

Note, that I wired the switch from a GFI outlet next to it for safety.

So what's the deal with it? I know some GFI outlets can be touchy so I can try replacing the outlet this weekend however it's I tested it this morning and he is right.

Turn them on - OK
Turn them off
Turn them back on - GFI trips
Reset GFI
Turn them on - OK
Turn them off and then on again - GFI trips

What gives!?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Cheapest solution is to replace the GFI outlet as you say to see if that works. On a separate note, is the switch powered using a plug cord or did you wire the switch off the back of the outlet? If wired off the back of the outlet, then is the switch the only thing drawing power from that outlet?

If the GloBrights are 120V, then at some point they convert 120VAC to 12VDC to power the LEDs. An AC/DC converter will have passive and active components in it that can introduce a current lag between the hot & neutral lines which will cause the GFI circuit to trip. So you either want to make sure the GFI outlet is high quality or you want to convert that outlet back to a normal outlet and swap out the breaker powering it with a high quality GFI breaker. There are high quality GFI breakers sold by Siemens that are designed to work with pool pumps which are inherently noisy and known to create initial current lags greater than the 6mA limit. So if you do rearrange the circuit to have the GFI at the breaker, then look for a GFI breaker rated for pool pumps.

 

[kwolfe]

OK so here's an update on the light problem. So I went and bought a 15amp GFI breaker for the lights. I then removed the light switch form the outlet circuit so its on its own dedicated circuit. So now the lights don't pop the GFI anymore however if I flick the switch on and off to fast, the lights won't come back on. Turn them off, wait ten seconds and then turn it back on, and they come on again but the same color as before.

I have tried testing the input voltage to the transformer. When turning the switch on and off quickly, it bounces from 0 to 120 and back to 0 volts as it should. When I tested the low voltage side, I can flick the switch on and off again quickly and it goes from 0 to 12 volts and back again just fine.

It seems that some programming in the light does want to react. I'm really stuck here.

 

[kwolfe]

OK, I'm the jackass but figure I would eat some humble pie for the better of others. Turns out that these lights have a delay in them. My previous LEDs were different. When you flicked the switch on and off the lights cycled through the colors immediately. With the globrites, you flick the switch a certain number of times to indicate which color you want and then it takes about 4 seconds for the lights to actually come on. I must have been waiting 2-3 and figuring they didn't work.

As far as the GFI, I bought a GFI breaker and used it instead of the outlet and that problem is gone.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Thank you for updating the thread. It is very helpful.

(PS - everyone has those j/a moments! Nothing to be embarrassed about...)