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    Jason Lord
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GFI question

Typical day, I overhear that FX will spray water on the set and my bestboy brought a bunch of 15amp edison GFI's wanting to plug them into the soco breakouts.

I've never encountered this before. Can GFI's be plugged into dimmer feeds?  We're using ETC Sensor3 racks.

  • 0
    Not a great idea.

    Honestly, I've never heard of this either. Sounds like they are inexpensive home depot GFI's? If so they are calibrated to sense a difference in current at 120 volts. As you dim it - I wouldn't expect the GFI to GFI anymore.

    If the lights are more or less at full - this might provide some level of protection.

    Typically you put a large GFI on the service in question - and then adjust the sensitivity so it doesn't constantly trip as your crew plugs/unplugs/plugs/unplugs everything in site.....

    This question is probably better suited for a licensed electrician and a lawyer.
  • 0

    This should probably be moved here but here you go.

    Bender LG620

    This is the one and only sophisticated GFCI that allows the user to dim all 6 channels of a socapex cable (together or independently) without compromising electrical safety! Because the LG620 uses state of the art technology that utilizes the UL943 inverse time curve, nuisance tripping is minimized dramatically. The Bender LG620 also does not suffer from nuisance tripping related to radio interference from walkie talkies.

    Note that it requires hot power so that the GFCI electronics can be powered if the circuits are dimmed.

  • 0
    Typically I install my GFCI protection upstream of a dimmer. The problem with installing GFCI circuits downstream is that low dimming percent can cause the GFCI to trip. I also like to keep my power feeds from the Dimmer pack to the fixture less than 50' to minimize electrical harmonics that might be present, that cause false trips.

    There are many different types of Pagoda's available for rental that have GFCI protection, and many different types of small dimmers packs that can be used.

    P-
  • 0 in reply to John728

    Apparently there are major changes at Bender and it's website. An announcement says Guardian is now the exclusive dealer.

    This appears to be the right source for product information: http://www.guardiangfci.com/products/lg620

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