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Questions tagged [gfci]

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter(GFCI). Sometimes known as a GFI, or a residual-current device (RCD or RCCB). Can refer to receptacles as well as circuit breakers. They detect a leak in current, or an imbalance between the current on the hot and neutral wires. This is used to prevent electrical shock. Use with the [electrical] tag

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Fried switches, light fixtures, or wire?

In an attempt to fix a wiring problem from five years ago, I made a huge error. Here's the scenario: Box 1: Has switch #1 in a four-way set up (it's a 3-way switch) and is where the power comes in. ...
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Tankless 240V water heater in detached garage tripping AFCI/GFCI breakers in house

We have two separate buildings, a house and a garage/workshop, about 20 feet apart, sharing the same electrical service. On the service entrance, there's a Siemens whole-house surge protector. The ...
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what could cause my gfci to randomly trip?

I'm in the process of finishing my basement, and am almost done with the electrical rough-in. The whole thing is open studs at this time, so any sort of reconfiguration is easily possible. I have a ...
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GFCI trips after 18-20 min of treadmill use

I had a new GFCI outlet added on a 3 yr old house that had zero issues. While they were installing there was a flash of light at the main panel. They told me the light was an arc and not a problem. ...
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New circuit and towel warmers for two bathrooms

I am planning to add a new dedicated circuit (15A) for two hard wired towel warmers in two bathrooms, each towel warmer is 150w. See image for my thoughts. For the first bathroom: run the new circuit ...
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Samsung Front Load washer WF45k6500/AV/A2 trips GFCI Combination AFCI breaker

I have a new home constructed 10/16. The washer was installed at the time of closing. We did not have an issue until January when the washer required a self clean cycle. With about 10 minutes left ...
A Swanson's user avatar
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Smoke Detector wiring - impacted by 2 breakers?

dig if you will the picture of one of my smoke detectors and the curious (for me) wiring. Actually, I've taken many pictures, but each is just a mess and I think will make it harder. We have ~7 ...
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What's wrong with my replacement GFCI outlet?

I'm trying to replace a GFCI outlet in my bathroom. (the old one trips almost every time you plug something in) When I connect the line wires from the panel to the line poles and the load wires to ...
user31805's user avatar
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Why do I have a 3 wire/double pole breaker for kitchen receptacle?

I am switching my kitchen receptacle to a GFI; it has 3 wires. I'm pretty sure I have to break the bar between the two hot screws, thus making the top and bottom on a separate circuit. What is the ...
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GFCI Failures when not powered during cold weather

Does anyone know if GFCI failures are common when they are not powered during cold temperatures? We have an outdoor GFCI outlet in a yard in front of our house. The outlet is controlled by a switch in ...
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GFCI breaker pops only when a specific other breaker is enabled?

My mother had a NEMA 14-50R outlet installed outside her house so I'd have a place to charge my EV. The outlet connects to her breaker panel via a 50 amp 2-pole GFCI breaker. Unfortunately, the ...
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2 out of 3 sets of (black) wires in receptacle are hot

I am trying to replace old receptacles in my 1952 home. None of the receptacles have ground wires, so I am replacing the first ones on the line to protect the ones connected to the load using a GFCI ...
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Light Fixture, Fan and GFCI share supply, all function except Light Fixture -- unless power is consumed via GFCI

I have concerning behavior from a light switch and GFCI outlet. I apologize for the length, I'm trying to be thorough as I have a pretty good understand of how wiring should work, but it's...not...So ...
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Replacing 20A MWBC breakers with 15A

I recently moved into a house and had a home inspection, where the inspector noted that the motor powering a jet hot tub in the basement must be on a GFCI (it was not). When trying to figure out which ...
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Why do my Christmas lights trip a GFCI only when connected through a timer switch?

I have Christmas lights (a mix of LED and small incandescent) on the outside of my house, along the eaves. I had them plugged into one of our exterior GFCI outlets via an outdoor-rated mechanical ...
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Upstream GFCI trips regularly with new microwave use

Moved into a new house in 2019 and installed a new microwave right off the bat. Found out that using the microwave (a new Samsung) trips the upstream GFCI maybe 5% of the time. Weird thing is that ...
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Steam Shower Requirements

I am installing a steam shower in Ontario, Canada. The unit is "TMG Industrial SR-915". The electrical specifications are listed as 220v/2.8 KW with gfci. My questions: The cord coming from ...
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240 V AFCI substituting two 120 V not AFCI breakers

Could 240 V - 20 A AFCI breaker be used to supply power to two 120 V - 20 A circuits requiring AFCI protection? Recently wired to two separated 120 V 20 A non AFCI breakers but with common neutral?
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How do I choose GFI plug end replacement?

Would it be safe to replace a 16Amp GFI plug end (hair dryer) with a 15 Amp GFI plug end?
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Help locating GFCI reset for exterior outlets

I have lost power to my exterior outlets. I have gone through the house resetting GFCI outlets in the kitchen, garage and bathrooms with no luck. I also looked and found no GFCI outlets outside. I ...
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GFCI seding low voltage to downstream devices

We just purchased a cabin and suddenly several lights stopped working. Initially I thought it was just the light over the kitchen sink. So I replaced the bulb and it still didn't work. I then checked ...
gfreynolds's user avatar
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After installing GFCI outlet in bathroom, why won't my light fixture turn on?

I recently installed an updated light fixture in my bathroom and swapped a standard outlet for a GFCI. Both are seemingly running through a single light switch. Once everything was installed the light ...
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Brand new LG washing machine tripping AFCI combination breaker in new house

Hey this is less of a question than a problem I was able to trouble shoot, but I have a feeling other people might be going through the same situation and might have come up with other solutions to ...
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Gas stove trips GFCI outlet

Any ideas why a LP gas range would suddenly start tripping GFCI breaker when the oven turns on? Should i be looking for a short somewhere and if so, where?
Jamie Gray's user avatar
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342 views

220 volt GFI triped by hot tub?

I have a hot tub connected to a 50 amp 220v trip that has a neutral pigtail connected to the neutral bus. The natural for the tub is connected to the bus. The 220v connects directly to the control ...
Trevor Sams's user avatar
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551 views

Why don't my lights work after I added a GFCI outlet to the circuit?

I replaced an old outlet with a GFCI outlet in my bathroom. I know that I've installed it correctly because I've tested it with a night light. But I can't get the light fixture above my vanity to ...
Rob Clark's user avatar
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117 views

GFCI breaker trips when switched on

I'm buying a house. It's an old house. I had to put in a GFCI breaker for the bathroom. It trips as soon as I switch it on. If I disconnect the neutral it doesn't trip. It is three wire coming ...
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Breaker to outdoor Sub panel keep tripping

Need help with my outdoor kitchen fridge. A 20 amp fuse at the main box goes takes a 10/2 w/ground wire to a sub panel. The sub panel has two 15 amp breakers circuit one goes to a storage shed via ...
Scott Shook's user avatar
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Washing machine randomly tripping GFCI

I read a previous question regarding a GFCI outlet and a washing machine, but my issue is slightly different. I have 2 GFCI outlets in a washroom in the downstairs of my home. One is obviously ...
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Washer tripping gfi outlet

I've been living in my house for almost two years and my washer and dryer have been working fine. I have a maytag Neptune washer and dryer, just the other day I took a packet of tide washing machine ...
Aly's user avatar
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How to finish the wiring of a shared GFCI receptacle

My neighbor who is an electrician helped me start an electrical project in my garage but has been MIA for 3 weeks and I'm not sure how to finish the wiring of the receptacles. He didn't seem to start ...
user14350's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
425 views

GFCI breakers in a subpanel trip when a main panel circuit powering a Tesla wall charger is being used

Four years ago we installed a 50A 240V circuit to power a hot tub. There is a standard 50A breaker in the main service panel (a 1990's vintage 200A Murray panel), with 4 wires (L1, L2, neutral and ...
dponti's user avatar
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How do I know if my gfci is self-testing?

Are self-testing gfci mandatory since 2015? (My house was built in 2015). Is there a way to tell if my gfci are self-testing? (Without uninstalling preferably as if I take it out of the wall, I might ...
ebcrypto's user avatar
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GFI Tripping at same time every day,

I have a GFI Outlet in my kitchen. It trips faithfully, every morning at 6:05 AM. I have checked every outlet on the same line and nothing attaches to anything on a timer that may trigger it. When ...
Anthony Monkfish's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
6k views

Efficient way to determine line and load

My townhouse was built in the early 1980's, and since it was built, the state laws around which outlets are on a GFCI line have changed. The wiring itself is fine, just the receptacles need to be ...
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How should I connect new wire to an older metal outlet box?

I’m trying to move and upgrade an older 20 amp GFCI kitchen outlet box. It has to move. It is currently mounted only slightly above an electric range which I think, poses a potential fire hazard. I ...
RLM's user avatar
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Gfci - receptacle- motion sensor light in the attic?

Im trying to wire a GFCI in my bathroom. So I have a line coming in and a load to the next receptacle in The bathroom it has a line (after the gfci is on ) and a load that goes to a motion sensor ...
Corey Friedemann's user avatar
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Pool Light GFCI Not Working

We recently received a home inspection report that indicated the pool light GFCI is not working and poses a shock hazard. Our pool cleaners says they can fix this and addressed the issue, and the pool ...
Christie's user avatar
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New Eaton AFCI/GFCI 40A 220V GFCI breaker signals (4 blinks) ground fault

I have installed a new Eaton BR240 (40A) GFCI Breaker. It is staying on for a while but can trip after several minutes or stay on for hours. The while indicator lights flash (4 times) which according ...
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Bath ceiling & vanity light stopped working when

I was checking outlets & the bathroom GFCI tested neutral/hot reversed. So I changed it with a new Leviton GFCI & wired it correctly & now tests good. Problem is, the ceiling & vanity ...
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Breaker trips with daisy chained gfci’s

Let me preface this with I didn’t install this system so I’m having to figure it out as I go. I have an outdoor camera setup with direct burial wire. I have one circuit that keeps tripping at the ...
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Why do I get power from line through load's neutral?

I replaced a GFCI outlet. The old one was good, but I wanted one with USB sockets. After removing the old outlet, I double checked the wiring. One black wire was hot and the other was not. So ...
CompuTinker's user avatar
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Outlet and lights not working

Wanted to post this here to see if I could get any tips or things I’ve missed I have a Lennar built home in 2019. A few days ago my wife was using a hair dryer in mater bedroom and all of a sudden ...
Terence M's user avatar
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Sparks when wiring a plug

I turned off the breakers to The garage but I guess I still had power to the bad gfci that I was replacing. At the end of the install the ground wire touched the hot wire and sparked. The breaker did ...
Bobby W's user avatar
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Will harmonics cause nuisance GFI tripping with a Kohler generator?

I have a Kohler 20RCA 20kW residential generator. About 10 minutes after the generator starts some of the GFI outlets will begin to trip. There are 19 GFI outlets across both legs and two panels. I ...
Keith Collins's user avatar
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GFCI and light fixture not working

I have a GFCI on the outside of home that I cannot push the test button to test and I replaced it. A new one is doing the same thing as well not allowed me to test I believe it is hooked up to a ...
Felipe Mendoza's user avatar
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Bathroom outlet tripping causes power loss in multiple areas

Is it normal that when my bathroom outlet randomly trips it shuts off power to my bathroom, staircase lights, and some outlets in my living room? I'm starting to get concerned I rent a apartment.
Amber's user avatar
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Bathroom fan light combo power source is in ceiling..from 12/2 to 12/3 to gfci to a double pole switch

Remodeling bathroom...removed light installing exhaust fan light combo...power source is already in Ceiling which is 12/2..from the 12/2 it will turn into 12/3 to go down to a gfci outlet and from ...
Jeremy's user avatar
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New gfci outlet keeps tripping

I installed a new gfci outlet outside through my attic to power a roof de-icer cable. I tapped into a dedicated outlet for an air conditioner that runs to the floor below. Additionally in the attic I ...
Jeff Callahan's user avatar
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Why does my GFCI keep tripping the breaker

I was attempting to wire in a new GFCI receptacle on the exterior of my house. i ran a new 3wire 12 gauge BX cable and wired it onto an existing junction box in the basement. The junction box is ...
user379468's user avatar