Lighting, Light Fixtures, Ceiling and Exhaust Fans - Under-cabinet Fluorescent Problems

I installed 5 under-cabinet (13W) Portfolio brand fixtures in the kitchen yesterday, wiring them so power from one feeds the next one, then the next one, etc. One "arm" has three, the other has two. Both arms are then switched at a wall switch set in the backsplash area. The switch (and the outlet next to it in the same box) are all downstream from and protected by a GFI outlet. Until yesterday, nothing had been hooked up to the switch. Outlets on this circuit had all functioned correctly for months prior, as does the GFI. I was careful to wire the lights as per the instructions, keeping the hot and ground sides correctly hooked up at each of the connectors for the fixtures. BUT, within an hour, 2 of the 5 fixtures (the 1st one on each "arm") seem to have quit working, preceded each time by a popping noise. Took out the bulbs from those and they still work, just not the fixture. I've re-verified the wiring that I completed from the switch through all the fixtures and found no errors. And, I have plugged in the replacement fluor. lights into outlets on the circuit and run them for hours with no issues. A look inside the box containing the switch and the outlet revealed that the switch has no ground wire attached to it. The outlet is grounded, as is the circuit and the balance of the house wiring. Would this un-grounded switch have caused the problem? If not, then where else should I look? I hesitate to hook up and kill more lights with the switch.....! Any ideas?

Thanks,

Jeff

First and foremost, your installation is against code. You cannot have hardwired lights on the kitchen counter top circuits. You must run a separate (or use a different circuit) for lights.

Second, you cannot hard wire lights that are not designed for such. If these lights are not designed to be hard wired then you cannot hard wire them.

As for the problem, I suspect that you exceeded the maximum current that the first light is allowed to have through it. What does the documentation/instructions for the lights say about daisy chaining them?

No, an ungrounded switch is not your problem.

Thanks for replying! I checked the instructions again and am well below the max # of units that can be daisy-chained together, which is 10. I'm curious as to why the code would prohibit the installation of the under cabinet lights on the same circuit as the backsplash outlets. The lights total to only 72 watts, and it's a 20A circuit, run w/ 12-2 w/ ground, and all protected with a GFI at the start. As to not switching them directly, would it be OK code-wise to plug them in to the adjacent outlet, then control that outlet with the switch instead? And again, the strange thing is that they worked just fine (daisy chained) when plugged in to the same circuit, further down the wall. I'm just mystified as to why when they are switch controlled they fail.

Jeff

The NEC is based on safety. They don't want to see kitchen circuits overloaded. I agree, your wattage is minimal, but it's still not allowed.

Yes, it would be legal to plug these lights in via a cord and plug, especially if that's how they originally came. Then the receptacle being controlled can be switched.

I cannot explain why you are having problems.