I am renovating a 1976 home. I would like to upgrade the oulets in the kitchen and the bathroom to GCFi outlets. I have an outlet in the basement suite that four wires entering it; black, white, red, and ground. One of the outlets tab have been broken off so I have two circuits coming to the single outlet. I would like to replace this outlet with a GFCi outlet. Does anyone have ideas how I can covert this? I could either add another electrical box beside it and break out the second circuit, or I was wondering if there was a dual GFCi?
Thanks for your responses.
Replies
two gang box w/2 gfcis.
interflex,
I believe 1/2 of the receptacle is switched (red wire). That is why the tab is broken off. If you don't use the switched portion, cap off the red wire and install the gfi. I am only giving you my "thought" on it , since I am not there looking at it! And if it is on two circuits make sure you kill BOTH breakers before working on it..
northeastvt
As far as I know there is no GFCI outlet designed to handle this situation. You can replace with two outlets in a double box, or install a double-pole GFCI breaker in the breaker panel.
(The above response assumes the two halves are on opposite sides of a 240V line, as is sometimes done for appliance circuits. However, it's probably the case that this is a half switched outlet as stated, making the double gang breaker approach invalid. In theory, for the switched case, one could use the feedthrough, but there's no way to separate one of the outlets on a GFCI to make this work. It would mean that with the double gang box approach only one GFCI would be needed, though.)
Edited 3/5/2007 8:19 pm by DanH
"In theory, for the switched case, one could use the feedthrough, but there's no way to separate one of the outlets on a GFCI to make this work. It would mean that with the double gang box approach only one GFCI would be needed, though.)"It wouldn't work. Not with the feed through.As he describes it, one cable. So this has to be end of run.And the hot is picked off earlier.What he could do is to one one GFCI from hot/neutral. Then wire the 2nd one from switched hot/neutral..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Yeah, you'd have to run an extra wire back to the switch to make this work.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin