I have a string of outside white lights on the trees in our back yard and a ground fault that trips. I was wondering if maybe spraying the plugs of the strands with silicone or something might keep moisture out and the ground fault in tact.
If the GFCI trips, there is an unbalance between the outgoing and incoming current to the GFCI. That means that there is leakage somewhere in the lin e. But, how is the leakage from the wires getting to the ground??? Thru th e tree trunk/surface, or is somewhere the power line touching a good ground surface??
You just have to play detective. For instance, if you remove the one light at the beginning and the end of the string of lights, assuming it is a ser ies fed string where if one light is removed the whole string goes out, if the breaker still trips, then the problem is in the wiring up to the points where the bulbs are removed. If the breaker does not trip, you at least k now that the problem is somewhere in the portion of the string where the bu lbs are located. By replacing the bulbs and removing a smaller portion of the string, say 1/2 of the string, you should be able to locate the faulty wiring.
I doubt that will work and it sounds like a PITA.
From your post, I don't know if these are series strings or 120 parallel light bulbs. Series Christmas-type light bulbs each leak a little. If there are too many strings, the total small leakages will trip a GFCI. I've put some light strings on the ground to mark a pathway and these, of course, are most vulnerable during wet weather.
Besides what they've said you can unplug the lights from the extension cord, which I assume you're using, and see if the breaker still trips. I have a 100' orange extension cord that's lain in the grass 365 days a year with rain and covered by snow, most of the time with nothing plugged into the end, for more than 10 years, and it's only tripped once at most, so I'm surprised you're having so much trouble.
Where do they leak to?
They leak from each of the sockets, which are usually not water tight, to ground through the water on the bush or tree.
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