Help wiring a pool light, receptacle and GFCI


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Old 04-19-17, 01:16 AM
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Help wiring a pool light, receptacle and GFCI

Hello,

I hope someone could help me as pool forums certainly don't seem to have the expertise. I have a pool light and a two plugs receptacle connected to a GFCI. I noticed I was not able to reset the GFCI but the pool light and receptacle kept working. I opened the pool sub panel and it seems that whoever wired the GFCI might have wired it incorrectly or 'upside down' ;i.e the line and loads wires were at the bottom and load were at the top. I bought an GFCI rated for outdoors, re-wired it and now the GFCI resets, the receptacle works and the light worked but it tripped the GFCI as the bulb contacts inside were corroded. This made me feel better as my GFCI at least is doing its job. I want to make sure my re-wiring is correct. I searched the forum and found someone with a similar problem so I used the graphic model with my own wiring diagram setup. The yellow triangles represent where I capped wires. I marked the hot line as red. Does this look correct? I would appreciate the help. Name:  light.jpg
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Old 04-19-17, 02:32 AM
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Welcome to the forums! I see nothing wrong with your wiring. Make sure all your junctions are in readily accessible, covered, weatherproof boxes and that you have in-use bubble covers on the receptacles and a weatherproof switch cover for the switch.
 
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Old 04-19-17, 02:37 AM
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it seems that whoever wired the GFCI might have wired it incorrectly or 'upside down' ;i.e the line and loads wires were at the bottom and load were at the top.
There is top or bottom to a GFCI or any receptacle. Ground hole can be on the bottom or top (or left or right). There is no industry standard for which end ofg the GFCI receptacle is line. However a GFCI will not work if power in is connected to the load side. Power in must go to the terminals marked line.
Does this look correct?
Unless it uses a battery an X-10 switch usually requires a neutral. I don't see one. A few use the ground but that would trip a GFCI. Terminology: Minor nitpick but it is a breaker not "breaker switch".
 
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Old 04-19-17, 05:13 AM
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Maybe the GFCI works but according to the wiring of the diagram it should not. Looking at the GFCI I see line hot going into the "top" (as in relation to where it is sitting) and the line hot going back out at the "top". Then on the bottom the neutral going in one side and back out on the other side. It should be wired (after determining line and load of GFCI) line hot to one side and line neutral to the other side and then the same on the other end.
 
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Old 04-19-17, 06:24 AM
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Good catch AFJES. I missed that. Is that a dead face GFCI?
 

Last edited by ray2047; 04-19-17 at 01:36 PM.
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Old 04-19-17, 10:07 AM
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Thank you guys! My apologies for not using the right terminology. So what I have is an Intermatic CTL Distribution Control panel. It has some circuit breakers which appear to be circuit breakers GFCIs. These are backfed by the control panel and it's what I previously called breaker switch, sorry about that. The GFCI gets fed by one of the circuit breakers so it appears is a double protection. The X-10 switch is a wall switch module WS467. It only has two wires. One blue and one black but no green. Its one of those that operates by using pushing a small button. Everything is waterproofed.
I always thought that on GFCI's hot side (right side) the line was always at the top and the hot load at the bottom so then it might have been correct but it was still not working until I switched them. Is it possible that it was a bad GFCI? It was an old one about 12 years old and it didn't even have the outdoor rating at the bottom. I see my error as pointed by AFJES as I have the "hot lines" wires going parallel instead of coming out of the hot side (vertical) and out.
Thank you for the diagram, it make sense to me now. I really appreciate the help.
I am thinking about replacing the X-10 with an X-10 WS13A since I am replacing the light with an LED light. I heard the X-10 WS467 would cause noise in the line and are not compatible with the LED lights. Have you heard about this or do you know if the WS13A is in fact compatible with LED's?
 
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Old 04-19-17, 10:26 AM
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No problem ray2047; glad I could help. I just happened to notice it but figured the OP just made a mistake in the drawing.

Meantime,
These are backfed by the control panel and it's what I previously called breaker switch, sorry about that. The GFCI gets fed by one of the circuit breakers so it appears is a double protection.
Just a bit of advice. Not a good idea to have "double protection". Meaning, GFCI breaker and a GFCI receptacle on the same circuit. You could experience "phantom" tripping in the future which could in turn drive you nuts trying to figure out why one or the other keeps tripping for no apparent reason. My advice is to take out the GFCI receptacle and use it maybe somewhere else in the house it may be needed. It is actually useless where it is now and not serving any purpose.

I always thought that on GFCI's hot side (right side) the line was always at the top and the hot load at the bottom so then it might have been correct but it was still not working until I switched them.
Whenever you install a GFCI receptacle always look at the back of the receptacle. It will indicate "line" and "load". Depending on the manufacturer and even model it may vary.

I see my error as pointed by AFJES as I have the "hot lines" wires going parallel instead of coming out of the hot side (vertical) and out.
Glad I could help. I thought you just made the diagram wrong.
 
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Old 04-19-17, 11:37 AM
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I wonder why the pool builder might have wired the GFCI downstream of the circuit breaker but yeah it seems redundant. I also noticed they didn't bond the box, although some say that the control panel box doesn't have to be bonded and only the pump equipment need to have the bonding wired. The info on the control pane says to bond if needed. Not sure what the criteria for "if needed" might be. The Control panel is about 50 feet from the pool. I guess it doesn't hurt just to grab a wire and bond it .
 
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Old 04-19-17, 12:02 PM
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It only must be bonded if located with 10' of the pool rim, otherwise bonding is optional.
 
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Old 04-19-17, 03:16 PM
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Thank you so much for the clarification. Its appreciated
 
 

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