Rain & power

[blake_l]

I'm going to take a guess that I may have something wired wrong, but have no idea where to begin.

My setup works great... as long as it's not raining (Houston - gotta love it). When it rains, I blow a GFCI. I have to think this isn't normal - I see my neighbors with their lights still working!

I am using both Renard and 595 boards with the co-op SSR's. Doesn't seem to matter which board is powering it. The control boards are definitely dry (they're inside), and I'm relatively certain the SSR's are. From the SSR's, I have the cheap-o brown indoor only (yeah, yeah) extension cords that many people are using. I have not weather-resisted this connection, but I'm not sure if it's worth the time to do so - and if so, what's the best way to do it. I had a friend tell me he used to use plastic bags and electrical tape. I did that on a test set-up I had in my back yard for a few weeks, butthere was still water in them. They are laying on the ground, above the grass - I don't think they are in standing water or anything.

Anyone have any thoughts? It's been raining since Thursday and I have yet to even see my display work!!!


Thanks,
--Blake

[Wayne J]

They are laying on the ground, above the grass - I don't think they are in standing water or anything.

Anyone have any thoughts? It's been raining since Thursday and I have yet to even see my display work!!!


Thanks,
--Blake

I have a bunch of those cords also. I took all of mine and bagged them, then hung them with the opening of the bag towards the bottom. I don't think it is a good idea to leave them out in the open, just for this issue. Now I say this, but is has yet to rain here, but we are supposed to get a soaker tonight and all day tomorrow, so I will see if it helps me out or not.

[blake_l]

Thanks, Wayne. I think it's supposed to dry out tomorrow - maybe I'll wait for that, bag everything, and try to find something to stake up the plugs... coat hangers maybe?

[Wayne J]

yeah, that would probably work.

[BSummitt]

Ran my display for over 3 hours tonight while it was raining with no problems!! Lucky me I guess! :D

[Macrosill]

DO NOT wrap the connections to try and seal out the rain. It will only hold the moisture in, not keep it out. There are only 2 things you can do. 1. Leave them be, just make sure they will not lay in puddles. 2. Do as Wayne suggested, lift the connections off the ground with a stick or stake and place a bag over them with a rubberband securing the bag in place, just like we do with the ssrs.

Last year I did the latter but in previous years I never had an issue just letting the connections lay out on the lawn, making sure they would not lay in puddles.

[bonuts]

I live in Houston too and this happened to me last year. Houston is the problem.

I too bought the brown indoor ext cords from the dollar store. Trial and error I narrowed it down to the cord that was tripping the GFI. It had water in it. It was sitting on the ground. it dried the next day and worked fine.

Get they outlets off the the ground if you can, this helps.

[mammy]

Hi, I live in the UK and we get plenty of rain in the Christmas period. What I have done is put my power connections in plastic boxes, the sort you would normaly use for food and available over here from most supermarkets. The only thing I have to do is cut a small notch in the top edge for the cables to come out of. I put the cables in the box, attach the lid which overhangs the box and any rain just runs away.