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GFCI outlets
Posted on 4/28/18 at 9:16 am
Posted on 4/28/18 at 9:16 am
I don’t know if this is the right board for this, but I have been having trouble with gfci outlets the last several months to the point where they go out daily. It isn’t the same one either, all 4 go out. I have never had problems before (house is 10 years old) and we aren’t plugging things in that require a lot of power. I bought a portable tester on amazon but it didn’t indicate there are any problems.
Any thoughts on what the cause could be? A way to fix it?
Any thoughts on what the cause could be? A way to fix it?
6
Posted on 4/28/18 at 9:58 am to lsumatt
GFCI outlets often protect other outlets that are daisy chained downstream from them. Do you have things on other outlets near them that could be tripping them?
Posted on 4/28/18 at 10:01 am to lsumatt
You got kids? They might be pushing the test button randomly?
Posted on 4/28/18 at 10:51 am to lsumatt
Sounds like something isn't wired right
You should only have one GFCI outlet per circuit and the other receptacles should be wired in parallel to that one
It sounds like you probably have GFCIs wired in parallel with each other
i.e. you have GFCI outlets downstream of other GFCI outlets
You should only have one GFCI outlet per circuit and the other receptacles should be wired in parallel to that one
It sounds like you probably have GFCIs wired in parallel with each other
i.e. you have GFCI outlets downstream of other GFCI outlets
Posted on 4/28/18 at 10:51 am to lsumatt
Weak breaker?
Posted on 4/28/18 at 10:51 am to mdomingue
I don't have any kids.
I realize it is likely "regular" outlets that are connected to the GFCI and tripping it, but it doesn't seem like we have anything that uses an excessive amount of power. We didn't have this kind of trouble in December when we had Christmas lights turned on all over the house.
I realize it is likely "regular" outlets that are connected to the GFCI and tripping it, but it doesn't seem like we have anything that uses an excessive amount of power. We didn't have this kind of trouble in December when we had Christmas lights turned on all over the house.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 11:00 am to lsumatt
How old are they? I've seen recommendations to replace them every 10 years, sooner if you live in a lightning prone area. I had one that became problematic and replaced it after 20 years.
We had a hair dryer that seemed to cause problems for a while.
We had a hair dryer that seemed to cause problems for a while.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 11:54 am to ArkLaTexTiger
Yep
And OP, be careful when replacing! I replaced a couple that started getting faulty. Here's the issue I noticed luckily during install
Same manufacturer, same appearance, same everything ALMOST. A couple of the wire locations had changed for some odd reason...so when I unhooked old one and place new one exactly in the same position and hooked the exact wires to the same positions on the new one, it didnt work right.
I'm blind and old, lol...so I took picks of the back of the old and new ones, and unimaginably, locations of where the wiring was to attach had changed! This works great because you can blow up the pics and read that fricking small.print on the black back covers.
Went back to store and showed the guys there, just because I was so amazed, and they were ALL floored.
So cover every aspect of the change..manufacturers do wired things. Problem is, in your case, I imagine you've thrown away the originals and have nothing to compare to.
And OP, be careful when replacing! I replaced a couple that started getting faulty. Here's the issue I noticed luckily during install
Same manufacturer, same appearance, same everything ALMOST. A couple of the wire locations had changed for some odd reason...so when I unhooked old one and place new one exactly in the same position and hooked the exact wires to the same positions on the new one, it didnt work right.
I'm blind and old, lol...so I took picks of the back of the old and new ones, and unimaginably, locations of where the wiring was to attach had changed! This works great because you can blow up the pics and read that fricking small.print on the black back covers.
Went back to store and showed the guys there, just because I was so amazed, and they were ALL floored.
So cover every aspect of the change..manufacturers do wired things. Problem is, in your case, I imagine you've thrown away the originals and have nothing to compare to.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 12:16 pm to the LSUSaint
Let me clarify...the wire locations had not changed...physically, all the locations for all wires were in the same locations....what change was which wire locations were for "in" or "out"
Pretty sure the brand was Leviton(or close to that name)
Pretty sure the brand was Leviton(or close to that name)
Posted on 4/28/18 at 12:25 pm to Powerman
quote:
You should only have one GFCI outlet per circuit and the other receptacles should be wired in parallel to that one
If this is correct, then my house is wired incorrectly...I have several GFCI that all look to be wired in series. If one trips, everything else on that circuit goes off until I reset.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 1:20 pm to Spankum
quote:quote:
You should only have one GFCI outlet per circuit and the other receptacles should be wired in parallel to that one
If this is correct, then my house is wired incorrectly...I have several GFCI that all look to be wired in series. If one trips, everything else on that circuit goes off until I reset.
The one GFCI per circuit is common practice and a function of how it is wired. The GFCI outlet at the beginning of the circuit you want protected then wired from the outlet via the "protected" output of the outlet. It is considerably cheaper than wiring parallel on the same circuit with a GFCI outlet at each location you want protected. But it can be done that way, just rarely is for good reason.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 7:33 pm to lsumatt
They can go bad. Try changing it, they are cheap.
Side bit for all you building houses. Louisiana just started following the 2014 NEC on April 1st. There are some pretty interesting changes that suck. Like a GFCI for your refrigerator.
Side bit for all you building houses. Louisiana just started following the 2014 NEC on April 1st. There are some pretty interesting changes that suck. Like a GFCI for your refrigerator.
Posted on 4/28/18 at 8:22 pm to mdomingue
quote:
The GFCI outlet at the beginning of the circuit you want protected then wired from the outlet via the "protected" output of the outlet.
GFCI’s MAY be wired in series, with one GFCI protecting the entire circuit. However, this can lead to problematic trips, and may be unnecessary.
It’s typical practice to only wire receptacles on the load side when they are in line of sight of the GFCI protection, or convenient resets (separate vanities in a bathroom often each have their own GFCI). Outdoor receptacles, garage receptacles, etc. are examples of where this can vary and result in multiple GFCIs on a circuit.
If you want the whole circuit protected, you could also use a GFCI breaker.
GFCIs go bad, and they’re a pain in the arse.
Posted on 4/29/18 at 9:25 am to LSUtigerME
quote:
If you want the whole circuit protected, you could also use a GFCI breaker.
GFCIs go bad, and they’re a pain in the arse.
THe breaker is what I have in my house for both bathrooms and the outdoor circuits I've run across some odd situations, usually the result of someone without an understanding of the purpose of the gfci and proper methods and best practices regarding wiring.
quote:
GFCI’s MAY be wired in series, with one GFCI protecting the entire circuit. However, this can lead to problematic trips, and may be unnecessary.
Right, I may not have stated that well in what I wrote but there is no good reason to wire them in series, it's expensive and buys you potential problems. If you want multiple GFCI outlets on the same circuit, do not wire them from the load side of another GFCI, use line voltage to supply them individually.
Posted on 4/29/18 at 10:26 pm to kengel2
quote:
Side bit for all you building houses. Louisiana just started following the 2014 NEC on April 1st. There are some pretty interesting changes that suck. Like a GFCI for your refrigerator.
Can you use a GFCI breaker in the box instead of a GFCI outlet? Moving the fridge to reset a tripped GFCI would suck.
Posted on 4/29/18 at 11:56 pm to lsumatt
quote:
I realize it is likely "regular" outlets that are connected to the GFCI and tripping it, but it doesn't seem like we have anything that uses an excessive amount of power. We didn't have this kind of trouble in December when we had Christmas lights turned on all over the house.
Have you considered the fact that you may have a ground fault, they are called Ground Fault Circut Interupters (GFCI) for a reason, perhaps you should check that out first.
This post was edited on 4/29/18 at 11:56 pm
Posted on 4/30/18 at 12:02 am to TigerstuckinMS
I just did that recently as I had to find why a plug in the bathroom didn’t work. The GFCI breaker was in the sub panel and went bad so I changed it in the same place with a new GFCI breaker.
Posted on 4/30/18 at 6:16 am to cave canem
quote:
Have you considered the fact that you may have a ground fault, they are called Ground Fault Circut Interupters (GFCI) for a reason, perhaps you should check that out first.
I have a copy of the code book on my computer. I'll see if I can find the answer for you
But that wouldn't apply to an existing house. Would suck if you're about to buy a new house and they put in a GFCI outlet though
Posted on 4/30/18 at 7:24 am to TigerstuckinMS
quote:
Can you use a GFCI breaker in the box instead of a GFCI outlet? Moving the fridge to reset a tripped GFCI would suck.
Yes.
The same will apply to dishwashers and ice makers as well.
Posted on 4/30/18 at 7:32 am to LSUtigerME
Was just coming to answer that, depending on the inspector it would almost always be a GFCI breaker.
It's supposed to be accessible and moving a refrigerator doesn't really count as accessible.
It's supposed to be accessible and moving a refrigerator doesn't really count as accessible.
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