On May 30, 6:57*am, "iwdplz" wrote:
I think that would work and I may order a Leviton 8590-RBW blank GFCI.
Should I place it after the light switch for the in-ground pool light, or
before the switch? *There are 3 other patio rooms sharing this circuit for
their lights.

Ideally you want to place it downstream from the patio lights so if it
does trip, the patio lights will not go out.
As far as placing it before or after the switch for the pool lights,
it does not matter.
I was brainstorming a bit ( too early in the morning for that) and you
could actually just change out your existing pool light switch to one
of these:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCC...&section=11624

That would give you GFI protection as well as give you an outlet. But
you have to remember to wire so that the pool lights would be on the
"LOAD" side of the outlet.

I should add that the GFI combo switch/outlet will only work if you
have 110V coming into the switch box for your pool lights.

If you have only a switch leg ( just 2 wires in the box that are
connected to the switch) then you have to use my first suggestion.

that's even better, I like that idea.

"Mike rock" wrote in message
...
On May 30, 6:57 am, "iwdplz" wrote:
I think that would work and I may order a Leviton 8590-RBW blank GFCI.
Should I place it after the light switch for the in-ground pool light, or
before the switch? There are 3 other patio rooms sharing this circuit for
their lights.

Ideally you want to place it downstream from the patio lights so if it
does trip, the patio lights will not go out.
As far as placing it before or after the switch for the pool lights,
it does not matter.
I was brainstorming a bit ( too early in the morning for that) and you
could actually just change out your existing pool light switch to one
of these:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCC...&section=11624

That would give you GFI protection as well as give you an outlet. But
you have to remember to wire so that the pool lights would be on the
"LOAD" side of the outlet.


*It has been a while since I installed a GFI combo device. I don't remember
if the switched load is GFI protected or not. It doesn't say at the link.

*It has been a while since I installed a GFI combo device. *I don't remember
if the switched load is GFI protected or not. *It doesn't say at the link.

From what I remember, the switch is just a simple switch, it has 2
tail wires on the combo device. It has nothing to do with the GFI
outlet, so the OP would need to tie the neutral of the pool lights to
the "LOAD"side, then tie the hot of the pool lights to one tail of the
switch, then the other tail would simply go to the "LOAD" hot
terminal. Again, this is only if he has the 110V feed coming into the
box.
If the patio lights come out of the same box, he can tie those to the
"LINE" side.

I made a drawing of the two existing switches (link below). With the setup
shown in this drawing, how would I hook up the Leviton switch/GFCI outlet
combo? One of the existing switches is for some landscape flood lights, and
the other switch is for the in-ground pool light. I'd like to swap out both
with GFCIs..

http://www.autonvs.com/images/poolswitches.jpg

"iwdplz" wrote in message
...
I made a drawing of the two existing switches (link below). With the setup
shown in this drawing, how would I hook up the Leviton switch/GFCI outlet
combo? One of the existing switches is for some landscape flood lights,
and the other switch is for the in-ground pool light. I'd like to swap out
both with GFCIs..

http://www.autonvs.com/images/poolswitches.jpg


Nice drawing, however if it is accurate, you have no grounding conductors
and should disconnect it and replace the wiring. The landscape wiring has
the neutral cut off, so for it to work, some type of Rube Goldberg wiring
must have been done. To connect the pool light to a combo GFCI switch, You
connect the feed neutral to the "line" neutral on the device. Connect the
pool light neutral to the "load" neutral on the device. (Under the yellow
tape). Connect the pool light black to the "load" hot. Connect the feed hot
to one of the black wires on the device. Connect the other black wire on the
device to the "line" hot.

Indeed I was puzzled why the landscape light neutral is cut off. The cables
have bare ground wires, these appear to be all connected to the junction box
metal and not shown in the drawing.

"iwdplz" wrote in message
...
Indeed I was puzzled why the landscape light neutral is cut off. The
cables have bare ground wires, these appear to be all connected to the
junction box metal and not shown in the drawing.

That's a good thing. As Mike Rock pointed out, you won't be able to connect
the landscape lights to a GFCI without an active neutral in that box. If
it's possible, I would run a new cable from that box to the first landscape
fixture. You will also have to find and disconnect whatever is currently
being used as a neutral, or the GFCI would just trip.

"RBM" wrote in message
...
To connect the pool light to a combo GFCI switch, You connect the feed
neutral to the "line" neutral on the device. Connect the pool light
neutral to the "load" neutral on the device. (Under the yellow tape).
Connect the pool light black to the "load" hot. Connect the feed hot to
one of the black wires on the device. Connect the other black wire on the
device to the "line" hot.

That wiring makes sense and I tried it just now, but the GFCI trips
immediately so the pool light never turns on. I also noticed that the
landscape light doesn't turn on anymore - so I jumpered the feed neutral to
the pool light neutral like it was before, and now landscape light turns on
ok via the other switch. So the pool light and landscape light must be
using the same neutral. I am puzzled why the GFCI is tripping and how I
should wire it given this new info..

Update:

When I add the landscape light to the Load terminal in the GFCI combo device
(instead of a separate switch), it works. Now the GFCI works for both the
pool light and landscape lights. Except now I don't have independent
control over them. That's fine because the landscape lights are next to the
pool anyway. So this way I have GFCI protection for ALL of the outdoor
lights near the pool.

Why does this GFCI tripping happen with a separate landscape light switch?
My guess is that by turning on the landscape switch, it causes the current
to drop unevenly in the circuit legs and the GFCI senses a slight mismatch.
So by combining them together the current drop is evenly matched.

On May 31, 3:10*am, "iwdplz" wrote:
I made a drawing of the two existing switches (link below). *With the setup
shown in this drawing, how would I hook up the Leviton switch/GFCI outlet
combo? *One of the existing switches is for some landscape flood lights, and
the other switch is for the in-ground pool light. *I'd like to swap out both
with GFCIs..

http://www.autonvs.com/images/poolswitches.jpg

Somthing does not look right for the landscape lights, There is only 1
wire going in and 1 wire going out on a different cable with no
neutral tied. Leads me to believe that the neutral comes from a
different source, maybe somewhere down the line in a junction box for
the landscape lights. In this case you can't use a GFI on the
landscape lights because it needs a hot and neutral. Unless you can
re-use that "cut" wire as the neutral, then you can use it. But lets
work on the pool lights.
It looks like the top middle cable is your 110V feed. So connect that
to the "Line" neutral and hot side of the GFI.( leave in the black
jumper going to the landscape lights)
Now connect the white wire of the pool circuit to the "LOAD" neutral
terminal. Take the black wire of the pool circuit and connect that to
one of the black switch wires of the GFCI/combo switch.
Now take the other switch wire of the GFCI combo switch and connect
that to the "LOAD" hot terminal.
Stupid question , but are these pool/landscape lights low voltage or
110V?

I would've liked to put GFCIs on both, but it sounds like maybe I can just
put a GFCI on the pool light because the landscape light neutral is cut.
I'd be tempted to re-use the cut neutral but there's a possibility that this
cut wire goes to nowhere. These are 110V landscape lights. Actually they
are floodlight bulb receptacles overlooking the stone ground next to the
pool. We almost never use them.

It's great news though, that I can use this Leviton combination device for
at least the pool light.

On May 31, 3:10*am, "iwdplz" wrote:
I made a drawing of the two existing switches (link below).

http://www.autonvs.com/images/poolswitches.jpg

That is a nice drawing - very nice. Where did you pick up your
drawing skill?

R

"Mike rock" wrote in message
so the OP would need to tie the neutral of the pool lights to
the "LOAD"side, then tie the hot of the pool lights to one tail of the
switch, then the other tail would simply go to the "LOAD" hot
terminal. Again, this is only if he has the 110V feed coming into the
box. If the patio lights come out of the same box, he can tie those to the
"LINE" side.

This is the best/correct hookup because now I can use the outlet regardless
whether the switch for the lights is turned on or off.