Pool Light CGFI Tripping

[TFP_Addict]

Pool Light hasn't worked in quite a long time. I'm now trying to address the issue.

Here is what I know so far. We have 1 pool light, 1 spa light. 2 pool Switches. Both have separate junction boxes. The Spa Light works fine. There doesn't seem to be any water in the bulb, so i'm guessing that it's still sealed.

The Pool Light on the other hand is very weird. About 6 months ago I had a pool guy come out to look at it. And we flipped the light on. And it worked just fine, he was a little upset but left anyway. Mind you we rarely ever turn on the pool lights. About 3 months ago, we had company, and I decided to turn on the pool light. It turned on for 5 seconds and the CGFI triggered.

So I decided to replace the CGFI outlet myself. After replacing it, I tested it, and the outlet worked fine. When I turned on the pool light, the CGFI triggered again instantly. So it's clearly not the outlet. So at the time, I gave up on the issue here we are now.

I had a pool guy recently service our pool filter, and I started asking him about the pool light. And he mentioned we had a junction box near the pool. This was the first time I even knew what that black box was. Funny enough, they look exactly like the ones in the equipment gallery.

Now i'm thinking something could be wrong with the junction box. After watching a few youtube videos. I figured that all the box really is, is a place the wires are connected. I have yet to mess with the junction box because I wanted to get some advice first.

What issues should I be looking for? The light doesnt seem to be the issue or is it obviously the light? I don't know. Thanks Guys

 

[borjis]

I had a non working gfci on a past house/pool light and replacing it was the fix.
I'm not sure where to proceed as I had a rare setup with no junction box.

What I can advise is that you immediately disconnect any power to the light if you or others
intend to swim.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Junky,

I would suspect the pool light housing has water in it.. That is the most likely problem..

Take the light out and set it up on the deck... the cord behind the light assembly should be long enough...

If it light on the deck, do not leave it on more then a couple of seconds.. It needs cooling water...

Assuming it is not the light fixture, then you can open the junction box and after marking the wires, or taking a picture, you can disconnect the wires from the light and see if the GFCI still pops. If it still pops then it will most likely be something you did when you installed the new GFCI... If it does not pop, then that points to a fault somewhere in the light enclosure..

But, my bet is still on a bad bulb or water in the fixture..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[TFP_Addict]

If it light on the deck, do not leave it on more then a couple of seconds.. It needs cooling water...

???

please explain? The light needs cooling water? What?

 

[Jimrahbe]

???

please explain? The light needs cooling water? What?

I could have worded that better, but it is true... The heat from the light bulb has to go somewhere, and it is absorbed by the water surrounding the water proof enclosure the light is in... So when you turn the pool light on when underwater it gets cooled... If you run it on the pool deck out of the water it will get too hot.. I suspect it takes longer than a few seconds, but I just wanted to get the point across that you don't really want to turn the light on when it is out of the water, except for quick test.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[borjis]

If the light does need replacing, there are screw in LED equivalents. Just make sure you get the voltages right...12v vs 120v.

Those don't heat up nearly as much i think. But ya incandescent bulbs will go out fast without water cooling the housing.

 

[danpik]

Just a quick primer on how GFCI's work. AC electricity in a 120 circuit is fed to what ever resistive device (light) is in the circuit thru the black wire (hot) and back to the source thru the white wire (neutral). When everything is working properly the amps is equal going out on the hot and coming back on the neutral. If we put a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter in the circuit, it will monitor the amp flow out and back on that circuit to see if it is equal within a plus/minus variable. This variable is usually set to about 5 Milliamps ( 0.005 amps). If there is some sort of fault in the circuit where the amps does not equal within that variable, the GFCI shuts the circuit off.

If we set up as a test, a lightbulb on a power cord plugged into a GFCI and drop it into a pool, the GFCI should trip immediately as the electricity has an alternative path to get back to its source. In this case, to the ground wire in the light circuit or thru the water, into the bonding loop/grid into the earth and ultimately finding a path back to the source the electricity is provided from.

Here is where it gets interesting. We did this test a couple years ago in one of the electrical safety courses we taught at work. We did the same test with a plastic 5 gallon pail of water and a two wire drop light. When we dropped the light into the pail, the GFCI did not trip. As there was no where for the electricity to go other than back thru the neutral wire, the GFCI did not sense an amperage loss and thus did not shut off the power. In fact the light stayed lit until we dropped a grounded conductor into the pail which provided the alternative path to trip the GFCI.

The test button on GFCI's is basically a shunt to allow return power to bypass the sensing circuit which will trip the GFCI.

Dan

 

[TFP_Addict]

Here is where it gets interesting. We did this test a couple years ago in one of the electrical safety courses we taught at work. We did the same test with a plastic 5 gallon pail of water and a two wire drop light. When we dropped the light into the pail, the GFCI did not trip. As there was no where for the electricity to go other than back thru the neutral wire, the GFCI did not sense an amperage loss and thus did not shut off the power. In fact the light stayed lit until we dropped a grounded conductor into the pail which provided the alternative path to trip the GFCI.

The test button on GFCI's is basically a shunt to allow return power to bypass the sensing circuit which will trip the GFCI.

Dan

uhhhhh? someone please use smaller words so I can understand.