Landscape lights tie into Intellicenter. Help!

[nachandler9]

Hello All,

I am attempting to wire up my landscape lighting into my intellicenter control panel. My pool builder told me that they left "Aux 3" for me to do this. I know enough about this to get me in trouble and I believe that is exactly what I did.

I wired up all of my lights (15 lights at 5 watts each), connected them to a 200 watt denwenwils pool transformer, and then connected the transformer to the intellicenter panel in the same fashion as the pool lights transformer. The only difference was putting the landscape lighting transformer on the "Aux 3" relay.

When I went to activate the lights, the GFCI switch in the side of the panel blew. I reset and attempted to activate again with the same issue. A while later, I was able to keep the GFCI from blowing but the 20A circuit breaker on the panel started to blow.

I connected the white (neutral wire) to a small bundle of other neutral wires at the bottom of the box. This wire was connected in the transformer to the white wire. I connected the red wire (hot wire) to the second spot on the relay. This wire was connected in the transformer to the black wire. I also connected a ground from the terminal bar in the transformer to the ground terminal bar inside the intellicenter panel. (Sidenote, there was not ground wire coming from the transformer coils to the ground terminal).

If anyone has an idea or knows what I did wrong please advise. The photos attached were taken before I wired it up but I have used yellow boxes to show where stuff is. The dark caught me before I could further diagnose the problem. I really appreciate the help in advance!

PS- I can get photos of the current configuration in the morning once light is out. Thanks again!

 

[ajw22]

You have the neutral connected in the wrong place.

The white neutral needs to go to the neutral lug on the CB for GFCI CB.. I do not see any white wires connected to the neutral lug on the second CB.

 

[nachandler9]

Good morning, I tried the fix that ajw22 recommended and had the same results. Only this time, it was the breaker blowing each time and not the GFCI as it was being bypassed in this instance. The neutral wire coming from the transformer was not long enough so I connected to the neutral terminal bar. I believe this is the same as connecting to the neutral lug. If not, please let me know and I can run a longer neutral wire from the transformer and try again.

If it is the same, then I am back at square one. Please see the images attached of the actual current setup. Thank you all!

 

[ajw22]

I believe this is the same as connecting to the neutral lug. If not, please let me know and I can run a longer neutral wire from the transformer and try again.

It is not.

All neutrals to a GFCI CB must go to the CB and not the neutral bar.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Chandler,

A 240 volt GFCI Circuit Breaker has three output connections.. L1, L2 and Neutral.. (in the middle)

When you are just using 240 volts, the Neutral is not normally used.

You are trying to steal 120 volts from a 240 volt GFCI breaker, you need wire the Neutral for your landscape lights to the Neutral pin of the breaker and not the Neutral bus bar.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[nachandler9]

ajw22 & Jim,

Thank you both for your replies. I will try this in just a few minutes. Just for understanding, I have another question.

The pool lights transformer has its neutral going to the bundle at the bottom that is being fed by the GFCI outlet with neutral coming from the neutral bus bar. Why would this work for the pool light transformer and not for my landscape lighting transformer? I appreciate the knowledge in advance.

Thanks,

Nick Chandler

 

[ajw22]

The pool lights transformer has its neutral going to the bundle at the bottom that is being fed by the GFCI outlet with neutral coming from the neutral bus bar. Why would this work for the pool light transformer and not for my landscape lighting transformer? I appreciate the knowledge in advance.

Because the pool light transformer is wired through the GFCI outlet for GFCI protection. The neutral bundle is for power being fed from the GFCI outlet and not other CBs n the panel.

GFCI neutrals need to directly back to the hot circuit that feeds them.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Nick,

GFCI breakers, measure the current going out and the current coming back.. It should be the same.. But when some of the current passes through you, or another circuit to ground, there is more current going out than coming back.. so the breaker pops.

Your 240 Volt GFCI has no way to measure the current being used by your landscape lights, unless the Neutral for the lights is connected back to the breaker.

You would not have this problem if you were using a standard breaker.. (Not saying to use a standard breaker, just pointing out the difference.)

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[nachandler9]

Jim and ajw22,

This worked perfectly! Thank you both for your help and knowledge. It is much appreciated!