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Not an uncommon problem. I have had a lot of problems with GFI's the last few years myself. There are a few likely causes: A fault still exists and will not allow the GFI to reset. The GFI tripped due to an overload and the differential circuit was damaged, thus the outlet is now toast. This seems to be a common complaint with standard 15 amp GFIC's. they ...

A GFCI is a good idea because of the location of the outlet. However, I don't think that a GFCI that can simultaneously protect two circuits even exists (and I doubt one would fit into a single-gang box if it did exist), so I believe you have a couple of options: Install GFCI breakers on the dishwasher and disposal circuits, and use a regular outlet under ...

To directly answer your question about the unused switch in your kitchen, you have to check a couple of things before you install a receptacle in it's place: Is there a source voltage feed in the box? If there is only one cable entering the box and both the black and white conductors are connected to the switch(es), then the voltage feed is coming through ...

I will echo TomG's sentiment: Yikes! By using the BX as the "neutral/ground" (really it's just the neutral; a three-prong 220v plug is considered ungrounded regardless of the continuity that should exist between neutral and ground), whenever the A/C is on, the armor of the cable is energized. It will have a lower voltage than the "hot" because the A/C is ...

If you're referring to the circuit breaker switch being in the middle after it's been tripped, that's just the "tripped" position. As far as I know it doesn't tell you anything about the reason. You have arc fault breakers, which means the breaker was tripped because: there was too much current flowing there was an arc fault. Based on the relatively low ...

Yikes! I am not an electrician, but I would run new 10/3 BX. Your jury-rigged system might work, but it has the capacity to electrocute someone, or maybe start a fire, if anything goes wrong. Possible issues include the BX armor being hot if a fault somehow occurs where it's connected to the neutral bus or overloading one of the hot wires if one of ...

My guess is that it stands for Uniform Fire Code Listed and means that all components in the circuit have been tested to conform to the Uniform Fire Code, i.e. NFPA 1. (I'm extrapolating from a UL or CULUS listing meaning that a product has been tested to the appropriate UL standard.) Since the National Electrical Code is part of the NFPA standards, that ...

Replace Capacitors in LCD TV Power Supply I would suspect that the problem is within the LCD TV. The power supplies inside LCD TVs and LCD monitors use cheap electrolytic capacitors that go bad and cause problems with the device. Your symptoms are representative of the TV power supply just starting to go bad. Small amounts of transient noise on the AC power ...

You simply need to convert the outlet into a junction box: Flip the circuit breaker off Unscrew the hots, neutrals, and ground from the outlet and remove the outlet Splice the hot, neutral, and ground from both sides (charge and load) and put wire nuts on Cover the box with a junction box lid Flip the circuit back on That way the receptacle continues ...

It sounds you caused a short circuit by wiring the hot and neutral together. You created a circuit with no electrical resistance so the breaker pops to prevent you from melting the wires and burning down your house. Cap each wire that you removed separately unless they were already joined together. Once the outlet is removed and everything is safely capped ...

The outdoor receptacle will have to be GFCI protected. NEC 210.8 At dwellings, ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI) protection shall be provided for all receptacle outlets installed in bathrooms, garages, grade-level portions of unfinished accessory buildings, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, kitchen countertops, wet-bar sinks, ...

There are 2 situations where the main breaker could trip before the branch breakers: As others have mentioned, the main is sized less than the sum of the branches; if all the branches pull heavy loads, you can exceed the main without exceeding the branches, and the main will trip. If this is the cause, you can; Accept the overload, and be ready to flip ...

The two branch circuit breakers will trip if the load on their protected circuit is greater than 32 amperes, and 25 amperes respectively. However, since the main breaker trips at 40 amperes. If both branch circuits are pulling a full load the branch circuit breakers will not trip, but the combination of the loads will trip the main breaker (32 + 25 = 57 > 40 ...

Typically your master breaker is sized to be less then the sum of all of the sub breakers. The reason for this is in a typical house, you don't pull the maximum current from all branches at once. However, this setup does allow for the situation that you are running into where your master breaker can trip even though none of the sub breakers have tripped. ...

Important factor here: your photo shows that you have an arc-fault circuit interrupter. That means that there's a second condition besides total amperage that can trip the circuit. Particularly if this happened at the same time that a light burned out or you turned one on / off, the arc sensor could trip the breaker. A breaker that is halfway between the on ...

Simple answer to your question is: All load fixtures must be wired in parallel, never in series. This means you need to feed each fixture with 120vac. You can use a single run of wire, but the feed to the next fixture must be wired so that the hot and neutral are always connected uninterrupted to each fixture. Practically speaking, the black hot wire coming ...

DMoore is spot on about using the 3-way occupancy sensor, but off a bit about needing to replace both switches with occupancy sensors. The occupancy sensor installation instructions should show how to connect the device to a 3-way circuit, without replacing the other switch. Here is an example wiring diagram from the Lutron Maestro Occupancy Sensing ...

Some things to know: As of Jan 1, 1996, two major things changed with respect to the circuits you're working on. First, the "appliance branch circuit" (the circuit from your service panel that supplies the kitchen countertop outlets) had to be GFCI-protected in new construction and renovations, and second, that same circuit could not feed the disposer or ...

You should check the voltage of the light, many times under cabinet lights are low-voltage (eg, 12V) and run by a transformer. If there's only one, I doubt someone would have gone through the effort, but it's possible. You can't just close wires off inside the wall. You must terminate them properly in a junction box, and that box must be accessible. This ...

It is normally fine to mix circuits. Personally when I'm wiring I prefer to avoid it if I can (sometimes the extra wire just isn't worth it though), mostly because you can shut off power to receptacles without losing lights, and it's easier to isolate signals if using smart switches (like Insteon). In a kitchen however, things are a bit different. I ...