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Discussion Forum

GFCI

ryan10ac | Posted in General Discussion on October 9, 2002 09:54am

I installed a GFCI outlet in a bathroom last night to replace an old duplex outlet.  After I finished, I tried the Test button, but was not able to reset it.  I could reset it only when I killed the power to the circuit, however, the outlet tripped again as soon as I turned the power back on.  Also all the outlets “downstream” did not work.  However, the GFCI outlet did work.  I thought the device might be faulty, so I tried another and got the same result.  Everything worked before and I was very careful to install it correctly.  Any ideas?

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Replies

  1. JohnK4507 | Oct 09, 2002 10:16pm | #1

    Steve,

    Are you sure you didn't mix up the line and load connections? Power from the circuit breaker goes to line, and the down stream outlets go to load.

    Good Luck, John

    1. ryan10ac | Oct 09, 2002 10:22pm | #2

      I'm pretty sure I didn't switch them.  After I removed the old outlet, I turned the power back on and tested the wires to confirm which were the line and which went to the load side.

      1. User avater
        BillHartmann | Oct 09, 2002 10:58pm | #3

        Check all of the wiring for the downstream outlets.

        You probably have the neutral tied to ground or the neutral connected to another neutral in one of the downstream outlets.

      2. JohnSprung | Oct 10, 2002 03:13am | #4

        You might test it with the downstream outlets disconnected, and add them one by one until you find the culprit.

        -- J.S.

        1. ryan10ac | Oct 10, 2002 04:36pm | #5

          Good idea.  I'll try that.

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