Home Repair forum - Yet Another GFCI Problem

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Yet Another GFCI Problem

Sir Topham Hatt

2006-04-05, 8:21 pm

I borrowed a GFCI tester to test a GFCI receptacle in my house that was a bit
too sensitive to my liking. Here is what I found

1) I could trigger the GFCI from a downstream receptacle , so far so good
2) I could not trigger the GF from the GFCI receptacle , not good

Figuring the receptacle was at fault, I purchased a new Leviton GFCI. Hooked it
up the *EXACTLY* way the old one was wired (2 load pairs, 1 line pair) and when
I turn the circuit breaker back on, the new GFCI did not work and It could not
be reset with the reset button. The Leviton's have this feature that keeps the
receptacle disabled if it is not hooked up properly, but I doubled check that I
had the wiring the way it was so I'm guessing it was originally set up
incorrectly or the Leviton was DOA out of the box.

I checked all the other GFCI circuits in my house and 1 other one exhibited the
same behavior. I am not surprised since I was the first owner of this 5 year
old house and IIRC I had a couple of other electrical related problems that the
builder had to correct when I first moved in.

Any detail guesses what is wrong?

thxs

John Grabowski

2006-04-05, 8:21 pm

"Sir Topham Hatt" <tophat@sodor.au> wrote in message
news:h9c832ltadb4c0euueqed1h5eooqovuogl@4ax.com...
>
> I borrowed a GFCI tester to test a GFCI receptacle in my house that was a
bit
> too sensitive to my liking. Here is what I found
>
> 1) I could trigger the GFCI from a downstream receptacle , so far so good
> 2) I could not trigger the GF from the GFCI receptacle , not good
>
> Figuring the receptacle was at fault, I purchased a new Leviton GFCI.
Hooked it
> up the *EXACTLY* way the old one was wired (2 load pairs, 1 line pair) and
when
> I turn the circuit breaker back on, the new GFCI did not work and It could
not
> be reset with the reset button. The Leviton's have this feature that
keeps the
> receptacle disabled if it is not hooked up properly, but I doubled check
that I
> had the wiring the way it was so I'm guessing it was originally set up
> incorrectly or the Leviton was DOA out of the box.
>
> I checked all the other GFCI circuits in my house and 1 other one
exhibited the
> same behavior. I am not surprised since I was the first owner of this 5
year
> old house and IIRC I had a couple of other electrical related problems
that the
> builder had to correct when I first moved in.
>
> Any detail guesses what is wrong?
>
> thxs

Sounds like it is wired wrong. Separate all of the wires from the GFI. You
need to determine which is the feed hot wire and neutral. Once you know
that connect them to the proper terminals on the GFI. Then turn on the
juice and see if it operates correctly. If it does, then connect the load
wires to the proper terminals and check again to see if it operates
correctly..

hallerb@aol.com

2006-04-05, 9:21 pm

yeah wired wrong, consider yourself lucky you found it.

I would check or get inspected the entire electrical system in case
there are more no GFCI issues in your home

PipeDown

2006-04-05, 9:21 pm

The testers and the button test the GFCI differently.

You may have ground connected between the GFCI and downstream but not
between the GFCI and the breaker box. An outlet tester will help make that
determination.

http://www.codecheck.com/gfci_principal.htm

See second paragraph this page
http://www.codecheck.com/gfci_testing.htm

"Sir Topham Hatt" <tophat@sodor.au> wrote in message
news:h9c832ltadb4c0euueqed1h5eooqovuogl@4ax.com...
>
> I borrowed a GFCI tester to test a GFCI receptacle in my house that was a
> bit
> too sensitive to my liking. Here is what I found
>
> 1) I could trigger the GFCI from a downstream receptacle , so far so good
> 2) I could not trigger the GF from the GFCI receptacle , not good
>
> Figuring the receptacle was at fault, I purchased a new Leviton GFCI.
> Hooked it
> up the *EXACTLY* way the old one was wired (2 load pairs, 1 line pair) and
> when
> I turn the circuit breaker back on, the new GFCI did not work and It could
> not
> be reset with the reset button. The Leviton's have this feature that
> keeps the
> receptacle disabled if it is not hooked up properly, but I doubled check
> that I
> had the wiring the way it was so I'm guessing it was originally set up
> incorrectly or the Leviton was DOA out of the box.
>
> I checked all the other GFCI circuits in my house and 1 other one
> exhibited the
> same behavior. I am not surprised since I was the first owner of this 5
> year
> old house and IIRC I had a couple of other electrical related problems
> that the
> builder had to correct when I first moved in.
>
> Any detail guesses what is wrong?
>
> thxs

Kurt Gavin

2006-04-06, 1:21 am

I had the same problem a while ago - I think it was the same brand.
It was the wiring, I had to keep trying different combinations until it
worked. A real pain in the XXX.

"Sir Topham Hatt" <tophat@sodor.au> wrote in message
news:h9c832ltadb4c0euueqed1h5eooqovuogl@4ax.com...
>
> I borrowed a GFCI tester to test a GFCI receptacle in my house that was a
> bit
> too sensitive to my liking. Here is what I found
>
> 1) I could trigger the GFCI from a downstream receptacle , so far so good
> 2) I could not trigger the GF from the GFCI receptacle , not good
>
> Figuring the receptacle was at fault, I purchased a new Leviton GFCI.
> Hooked it
> up the *EXACTLY* way the old one was wired (2 load pairs, 1 line pair) and
> when
> I turn the circuit breaker back on, the new GFCI did not work and It could
> not
> be reset with the reset button. The Leviton's have this feature that
> keeps the
> receptacle disabled if it is not hooked up properly, but I doubled check
> that I
> had the wiring the way it was so I'm guessing it was originally set up
> incorrectly or the Leviton was DOA out of the box.
>
> I checked all the other GFCI circuits in my house and 1 other one
> exhibited the
> same behavior. I am not surprised since I was the first owner of this 5
> year
> old house and IIRC I had a couple of other electrical related problems
> that the
> builder had to correct when I first moved in.
>
> Any detail guesses what is wrong?
>
> thxs

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