Fluorescent Ballasts and GFI Breakers

This is due to third harmonics prevalent in the electronic ballasts. You have to use hi-sensitivity type RCCBs for this application.

The lamps operate at high voltage and can generate leakage currents that cab trip a GFI if there are a lot on a circuit. You may need to have fewer lamps on each circuit, well below the breaker load capacity.

I had a very long circuit in a residence that tripped the GFI on rainy days and had to separate it into two circuits to eliminate the leakage current false trips. Woody

Good to know!

I recently bought a house that has a nice brick mailbox with a little lampost on top. It's a loooong electrical run from the house to the mailbox and we've noticed that we can't keep the GFI outlets on that run from tripping all the time.

Also now that I think about it, the electrician who "fixed" the thing before we moved in put a compact fluorescent lamp in it. So maybe that's half the problem too. :)

Is there a chance your project is 50Hz? Many problems with ballasts, even electronics, with the different power. I concur with tcmtech (and the others) and gave a GA for getting them off the GFI's if you can.

Two things can cause this. You may have grounding feedback thru your nuetral somwhere. Florecent lighting uses less power than incandecent, but with all those wires to deal with, it's easy to get the hot and neutral mixed up at the ballast, cause the ballast to overheat, and that will make the GFI thermistor over heat, tripping the breaker. Either that, or you have a thermal intermittant fault in a ballast(overheating eventually causes a grounding or "closing loop"short) Turn it off, it cools off, turn it back on, works for awhile, then trips? Thermal intermittant fault in a ballast. trips immediatly? Crossed hot and nuetral going IN to the ballast.

I am somewhat amazed at the ease with which some people jump to conclusions and condemn others without knowing the specifics. I thought this was a technical forum? That is why I asked a technical question.

Please refrain from commenting if you have no sensible contributions to make.

The basic concept is flawed. GFCI devices are designed for safety in the event of accidental contact with live parts when connecting, using or disconnecting equipment. (Plugging something into an outlet) Lighting circuits are a closed system with dead-front switches so no such accidental contact is possible. Thus a GFCI is not necessary or desired. If the customer insists then he/she/it is just going to have to live with it. If they want the bird to fly under water, they'll be stuck with a penguin.

If the customer insists then he/she/it is just going to have to live with it. If they want the bird to fly under water, they'll be stuck with a penguin.

I like that, it made me chuckle.