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This is Overload?

December 20, 2010 15:25:52.605

I have two - count 'em, two - strings of lights across my doorway and the step railings outside:

As I was plugging them in, they went out. I thought one string had dropped a fuse, so I went looking for replacements - and found my battery backup in the basement (the one I use for the router) beeping. The ground fault on that plug had popped. How the heck are two lousy strings of lights an overload state?

posted by James Robertson

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Re: This is Overload?

[Steven Fenger] December 21, 2010 22:25:47.380

If it was the ground fault (GFI/GFCI) breaker that popped and not the circuit breaker, then you didn't overload the circuit. The GFI pops when you have the current flow to ground; in other words a short circuit. So you may have broken or frayed insulation in one of the strings which caused the problem. The outside plug might also have a problem.

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