GFCI Recept/LED lightssoil

[jmellc]

Am troubleshooting a situation at an apt complex. A couple of LED lights have been installed at a driveway sign & flower bed. Main recept kept tripping 3-4 times a day. The were pulled from an outdoor GFCI ckt. I found that soil & mulch had been piled up over time til they covered the bell boxes the lights were mounted to. Covers were partly corroded, with corrosion inside too. I installed new boxes higher up, on the mounting posts & sealed them well. Next went to the recept feeding them. Found several minor places with nicked insulation. Put double heat shrink tubing on them and sealed box well. I reset main recept and went around sealing the 4-5 other recepts on the line. They had not been reworked in any way so I thought they were ok. Didn't trip while I was there. Next day, I called for status and he said it tripped again overnight.

I will go back and open every box this time. I am now thinking maybe the recept doesn't like LED loads, same as some don't like appliance loads. Has anyone seen this situation?

Other possibilities are endless. UF could be nicked anywhere underground. Goes from a building, across a yard, under a driveway to the little island. Could be a hidden recept somewhere in an outdoor closet, etc. A periodic water leak could be hitting a nicked cable anywhere along the path. These have NM cable through walls all around building, to recepts, then UF from the last one to the lights.

BTW, GFCI recept recently replaced, so I didn't try a new one yet. I'll start by splitting ckt in the middle and see if recept holds overnight.

 

[MD84]

You could try a megger test.

 

[jumper]

I will go back and open every box this time. I am now thinking maybe the recept doesn't like LED loads, same as some don't like appliance loads. Has anyone seen this situation?

I will not comment on LED fixtures as I am not real familiar with such but I will say that properly working appliances, motors, tools, and most anything else are just fine on modern GFCI protected circuits.

 

[JFletcher]

BTW, GFCI recept recently replaced, so I didn't try a new one yet. I'll start by splitting ckt in the middle and see if recept holds overnight.

I think you're on the right track; I would open up all bell boxes you havent already done to see if there is water, slime, mud, mulch, etc. in them. I would think if the GFCI didnt like the LED lighting it would let you know (trip) right away.