LED's/Dimmers/GFI

[jmellc]

I don't have all the details on this situation yet. Guys at church set up a Christmas tree on the roof, a string of lights kind of tree. They had a lighting ceremony last night. I was not able to attend & see things. Lights are LED's & lighting tech had them on dimmers. He said they tripped GFCI receps on the roof several times. I know a couple of the receps are aging out & I need to replace them soon. I was told when 1 tripped, the little button popped all the way out of the recep. Fortunately, the reset button stayed intact, etc.

Have any of you seen issues with LED type dimmers tripping GFCI's? If so, is a breaker more stable, as with appliances? I told them I'd check it out. If we need it, I can feed a new ckt or 2 to the roof & set up a pedestal with 1 or more ckts.

 

[Sierrasparky]

not personally, I do know that some 2 wire devices do sink voltage to ground, enough of these will cause a trip of a GFCI or AFci

 

[Electric-Light]

Especially if they get wet, and current actually flows to ground.

 

[n1ist]

This happens often with Christmas lights when wrapped on a grounded metal frame (like a tomato cage stuck in the dirt) Could be from water getting in to the back of the sockets.
/mike

 

[K8MHZ]

Deleted.....nevermind....I didn't read close enough.

 

[jmellc]

What they have is a "tree" made with parachute cord. A tall metal truss stands straight up about 20 ft, a truss used to hand stage lights. Parachute cords run from top down to cinder block anchors. Strings of LED bulbs gently tie wrapped to cords.

They made it work by splitting between other outlets; I suspect the 1 tripped is old & on last legs. If we do that every year, I will set up a pedestal on the roof with 4 ckts, each on a GFCI breaker, as breakers are more reliable in my experience. Costly for sure.

 

[LEO2854]

What they have is a "tree" made with parachute cord. A tall metal truss stands straight up about 20 ft, a truss used to hand stage lights. Parachute cords run from top down to cinder block anchors. Strings of LED bulbs gently tie wrapped to cords.

They made it work by splitting between other outlets; I suspect the 1 tripped is old & on last legs. If we do that every year, I will set up a pedestal on the roof with 4 ckts, each on a GFCI breaker, as breakers are more reliable in my experience. Costly for sure.

How old are the lights?

 

[jmellc]

How old are the lights?

Pretty sure lights are new.

 

[c185jim]

Are the lights full wave or half wave? Most store bought are half and will fail if dimmed. Could that be what is causing the gfci's to trip?