GFI to Shed

[tac-diy]

This has been going on for quite awhile but in the summertime is when it really bothers me. A few years ago i decided to run electric 110v to my shed. I had an electrical outlet outside i figured i could just extend that line to my shed. only about 50 feet. This outlet was a GFI outlet but i figured it didn't matter power was power. All i wanted in the shed has (1) 4 foot florescent light and an outlet to charge the kids power wheels.

Ran the electric underground in conduit. and it worked great. but randomly the GFI outlet trips and im left without power until i reset it. Sometimes when i go to reset the outlet it takes a few time to actually reset. then randomly it will trip again. i notice that when i turn on the light sometimes it trips but not all the time.


Does anyone have any solutions or ideas why this might happen.

is this an electrical NO-NO, BAD GFI outlet, i dont think there is a water issue.



HELP!

 

[Irv]

I did exactly the same thing, thinking it would be no different (maybe safer) than a heavy duty extension cord, and mine trips - but only when there's a thunderstorm. I can sort of understand why that might happen.
But if it tripped at random other times, I would be concerned.

 

[Don Farrell]

Your GFCI receptacle could just be prone to nuisance tripping or the problem may be the internal transformer may be compromised. OR you might actually have a ground fault that is intermittent. This can happen if the wrong cable was used between the GFCI and the shed. What type of cable did you use, UG or NM?

NM (Romex) is not listed for underground use and it will decay if put underground and it gets wet.

As to the code, what you did is not code compliant. The wire to the shed should come off the panelboard. It should also be a 3 wire, with ground. At the disconnect in the shed or the panel in the shed you need to set up a separate grounding system and the ground from the panelboard cannot be connected to the grounding system for the shed.

The grounding system is set up to protect against lightening.