New vanity light

[vdotmatrix]

Well at the end of this project and now the =new vanity lights will not stop tripping the 20A GFCI .

1. I have the "line" coming into the GFCI for the vanity light circuit.
2. on the load side I have blacks and white pigtailed.
3. pigtails supply the "LOAD" side duplexes on down the line.
4. From the black pigtail goes into a wall switch and out the wall switch up throught the wall to the vanity lights.
5 the white pigtail goes directly through the all up to the vanity lights.
6 the other pigtail supplies the "LOAD" side.

The vanity lights are a kohler CLL35 that have (2) sets of wires: smooth are for the back supply and the ribbed are for the white.

i have no resistance on either end back to the GFCI. The circuit is hot with the cable not connected to anything and is switched sucessfully with the wall switch.

AS SOON AS I HOOK UP THE VANITY LIGHT-POOF! TRIPS THE OUTLET.

I am using g16.5 40w bulbs (the max is 60w).

Anyone have any ideas?


the light bank is divided into 3 lites on one side with (1) set of wires and 4 on the other side with (1) set of wires...

It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[HayZee518]

So don't use the gfci for feeding your lights! Use it just for the outlets. The gfi is for personnel protection. How often do people touch the lights and the water faucet at the same time?

[vdotmatrix]

thanks for the reply....but does it sound like I have wired it correctly. the switch is located AT the vanity sink in a 2-gang box it shares with a duplex which is the GFCI where the "LINE" comes in.

The wiring in the lighting is tripping the GFCI for a reason unless vanity lights have so much noise to cause the GFCI to trip.

The inspector wanted the circuit protected by GFCI and I guess I could put the feed for the vanity lights on the "LINE" side before it enters GFCI protection and hope the inspector doesn't hate this.

quote:Originally posted by HayZee518

So don't use the gfci for feeding your lights! Use it just for the outlets. The gfi is for personnel protection. How often do people touch the lights and the water faucet at the same time?

It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[HayZee518]

Yeah, no problem there - you wired the lights off the gfi correctly but why use the gfi to protect the lights? Just take the feed to the switch off the line side of the gfi and use the gfi and the downstream side to protect the other outlets. The lights are a static fixture that people don't as a habit touch every day. But the outlets are what needs protection.

[vdotmatrix]

I had a brainstorm, having tried every combination of black/smooth white/ribbed for (2) sets of wires........

I tried 1-ribbed and 1-smooth for white and black supply each, and afters hours of frustration, and a good night's sleep paid off....It works!

Thanks for helping me re-think this...I am glad for this board and the people who actively come to the aide of people like me!!!! Thanks again

supply

quote:Originally posted by HayZee518

Yeah, no problem there - you wired the lights off the gfi correctly but why use the gfi to protect the lights? Just take the feed to the switch off the line side of the gfi and use the gfi and the downstream side to protect the other outlets. The lights are a static fixture that people don't as a habit touch every day. But the outlets are what needs protection.

It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[kactuskid]

quote:I tried 1-ribbed and 1-smooth for white and black supply each,

If I understand this statement correctly and you combined a smooth wire and a ribbed wire together under a wire nut, then this is wrong and dangerous.

At the light fixture, you need to connect both ribbed wires from the light fixture under a wirenut with the white neutral power wire. Then you combine both smooth wires from the light fixture under a wirenut with the black power wire. This is the ONLY safe way of connecting these lights.

As for the tripping, you should do as Hazy has pointed out and connect the HOT wire that feeds your light switch to the LINE side of the GFCI. And connect the neutral white wire that feeds your light fixture to the LINE side of the GFCI. This is the only way you will not have the GFCI tripping when the lights are turned on. Sometimes light fixtures produce a transiet voltage that trips a GFCI, this is not unusual and should not be a problem with your inspector.

[vdotmatrix]

quote:Originally posted by kactuskid

quote:I tried 1-ribbed and 1-smooth for white and black supply each,

If I understand this statement correctly and you combined a smooth wire and a ribbed wire together under a wire nut, then this is wrong and dangerous.

At the light fixture, you need to connect both ribbed wires from the light fixture under a wirenut with the white neutral power wire. Then you combine both smooth wires from the light fixture under a wirenut with the black power wire. This is the ONLY safe way of connecting these lights.

As for the tripping, you should do as Hazy has pointed out and connect the HOT wire that feeds your light switch to the LINE side of the GFCI. And connect the neutral white wire that feeds your light fixture to the LINE side of the GFCI. This is the only way you will not have the GFCI tripping when the lights are turned on. Sometimes light fixtures produce a transiet voltage that trips a GFCI, this is not unusual and should not be a problem with your inspector.

wow. the way I just wired it was the only way this thing would even work at all. i tried both ribbed on white, both ribbed on black... 2 ribbed to gether witha smooth to each black and white and vice versa and this was the only try that lit up.

WHY? and what is the danger? out of phase polarity?

There are no transformers, relays or diodes, resistors or strobe lights, just a ribbed and unribbed wire........

the ights start at the end, on the wire and end up with a wire consistng of ribbed and unribbed........4 lighs on the left 3on the right.



It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[kactuskid]

What do the directions say that came with your new light? I'm sure they don't tell you to connect the way you did. Light bulbs need to be connected in parrellel and not in series like christmas lights are. They also need to be connected to have the proper polarity. If the polarity is wrong there is a good chance of getting electrocuted.


The 4 lights should have all their hot wires connected together and all thier white wires connected together and then just a pigtail of each is comming out from the fixture. Same with the other 3 lights. Try removing a panel in the light fixture to gain access to these lights to see how they are connected to each other. Then try rewiring like I explained and connecting the power that feeds through the switch to the LINE side of the GFCI. Let us know how it works then.

[vdotmatrix]

http://www.robern.com/customer_support/pdf/442.pdf

WOW, looks like I have some more work to do.....The instructions are rather stupid...look on page 7 of this link and the only clue I ever got after a good dose of aggravation is CLL35 has (2) sets of wires , ( i never noticed the other set because it was tucked inside the wiring. they don't say much ...and when I hook it up according to instructions it would trip the GFCI.......

It should be very easy to pigtail this light into the "line" side of this circuit. and I'll try this ...the worse thing that would happen is I would have to go all the way to the breaker to reset the ^%$&&$#&%.... THANK YOU!. I'll let 'cha know how it goes!




It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[vdotmatrix]

OKAY ...A BIG THANKS TO THE FACULTY AT THE HOME REPAIR FORUM INSTITUTE OF HOME REPAIR AND ASSORTED TRADES.

YOU GUYS PROBABLY SAVED SOMEONE'S LIFE HERE THIS WEEK.

THE CIRCUIT IS NOW SOUND, THANKS TO DRS. CACTUS & HAYZEE.

It's sometimes better to be lucky than smart.

[kactuskid]

Good to hear it's working and thanks for letting us know the outcome. And give yourself a pat on the back for having the good sence to ask about it in the first place.[)]