I installed two 20A GFCI outlets, extending two different existing circuits.
When I first installed and checked the Test button, it worked fine. The outlet continued to work fine for about a week. But when I checked it today, the green light was out. The outlet still worked though. When I pressed the GFCI Test button, I couldn’t get it to reset.
This happened before and I replaced the outlet. Exact same situation.
Any suggestions on what it might be, what I should troubleshoot next?
Replies
by any chance would they be Levitons???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
No, they're not. I got them from an electrical supply house, not the HD. They came in a yellow/white box, if that sounds familiar. I threw away the packing already
Eagle???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
unplug everything that is on those circuts....
try reset....
if you get a reset plug things back in one at a time and try reset after each plug in....
you may have something on the line that is screwinf with you....
if no reset check for crrect wiring all the way back to the CB box....
is there anything down stream from those GFI's???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
There's nothing plugged into the outlets downstream ("load" side) of the GFCI right now. I use this GFCI to protect a Plugmold strip
is the strip hard wired or pluged in???
does the strip have overload or surge protection???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
hard wired. These GFCIs provide the protection. I don't remember there being any over-voltage protection. They just look like outlets tapped into 12ga wire
disconnect it and see if you get reset....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I did and no-go. When I did this previously and couldnt get the GFCI to work, I replaced it with this one. It has worked for a while, then identical failure as the first time. That's where I am now; a GFCI that won't Reset
is there anything on the circut up stream???
how old is the electric service???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'm not sure how old the original wiring is. For these two circuits, one branches from previously installed armored cable and the other branches from newer Romex.the former circuit (which has a GFCI that appears to still work, but I'm sure will fail to reset if I test it), has a few outlets upstream but they aren't being used. The other (with the failed GFCI) branches to the refrigerator.I don't know if this makes a difference, but when I wired this branch in a new junction box, I remember there being a volt or two on the white even though the CB was turned off.
Edited 4/18/2008 11:53 am ET by KenL
that could be it...
I be outta ideas at the moment...
lets work keeping this alive and maybe somebody else will chime in...
a new home run doesn't seem too far fetched at this point....
that BX/MC cable didn't have a ground and the armor casing was the ground...
this sound about right???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yes, the armor is the ground, and I checked continuity in the junction box and at the outlets. (Wouldn't the bug eye also confirm that?)The armored cable may be original to the '37 house. The Romex circuit is obviously newer; just from looks, I was expecting that it's 10-20 yrs, but I ain't gots a trained eye... Then again, isn't there a manufacture date on cable?Thanks for the help IMERC. Tough to troubleshoot by email, I know, and thanks for the ideas...
with every thing that old ...
run a new home run and double / triple check the building's ground...
how old is the service...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
BP, I did that before, and still had the problem with the GFCI outlet.IMERC, please don't ask me to do that... ;)Service, I guess, is from 60s. No date on it. Just a guess
With the brand that Lowes sells (Cooper) they have an Yellow LED. And the LED is only lite when the GFCI is TRIPPED and when THERE IS POWER.If there is no power then it will work like you indicated.Did you every check and verify that you have power into the GFCI.There was a check in the specs for GFCI's a few years ago (2001 or 2003 I think) that changed the way that GFCI worked.They now have a mechanical trip on the test button and they will trip without power. And power is needed to reset them. I am not sure, but I think that the actual test in the reset. This is part of a fail safe requirement (End of Life).Then there was another redesign in July 2006 (or maybe 2007) that increased those specs and also required the receptacle to be dead if it was wired backwards.Also there have been problems with counterfit GFCI's.http://easycomplianceguide.blogspot.com/2007/11/ul-warns-consumers-of-general-protecht.htmlI think that there have been a couple of others, but I all of the others I found had to do with breakers..
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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.
there is definitely power going into the GFCI. I shot the wires at the box and it's ok.
I'm wondering if it's some sort of problem with the voltage coming into the box. I understand that house electrical stuff isn't high grade electronics and that it's probably not that sensitive to a few extra volts. But are GFCIs more sensitive than normal outlets?
This isn't a big box stock item. It's from the electrical supply house, so I imagine that they've got some better quality stuff. And, they were bought at different times, so I can't imagine that it's a problem with a bad lot.What else can I troubleshoot?
"I shot the wires at the box and it's ok."EXACTLY what does that mean?Replace the GFCI with an ordinary receptacle and plug in a 100 watt light and see if it works.Depending on what you used to test the power you might have a high reistance problem and it not show up."It's from the electrical supply house, so I imagine that they've got some better quality stuff."That in itself does not mean anything. To get their prices the big box stores have long term contracts with suppliers and will move out with a full semi full of product each trip. Bring in a "strange" product does not fit into their system. A small distributor, who only buys by the dozen or maybe a few hundred at a time would be more likely to pickup a "buy" that some peddler has.For something like GFCI's they are a commonidty item. Now I don't have not been through the manufacture catalogs to see what different classes that they offer for GFCI's.For plain receptacels they have residential, spec, commerical, industrial and several specialty areas such as hospital and isolated ground.Now the box stores will typically have concentrate on residential, but they also have a good selection of spec grade and a few of the higher grade stuff.Depending on the area an electrical distributor in a fast growning residential subburb will probably have about the same. But one in an industrial/warehouse part of the city will more likely have more of the industrial commerical lines.BTW, the GFCI's that I have seen are all spec grade. AFAIK there are no residential grade GFCI's. The residential grade stuff is the ones that are 39 cent each or 49 cent if they come in a box." But are GFCIs more sensitive than normal outlets?"A receptacle is basically just a brass stampings for the wipers and terminals along with some places that holds it in place.A GFCI is the same, but a latching relay, SCR, sense coil, diodes/capacitor/zener to power it, and an integrated circuit.So, yes there is a lot more in it. But unless you have a real problem with some surges and/or nearby lighting stricks that is an unuually high failure rate..
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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.
Bill, my comment "I shot the wires" was an answer to your question "Did you every check and verify that you have power into the GFCI." I get 120VAC (maybe it was actually 122VAC) at the line going into the receptacle.I was wondering though, why would I get a little voltage (maybe 1 or 2VAC) at that line when the CB was turned off at the panel? I'm pretty sure that it's a straight run from the panel to where I checked the voltage, but the romex runs inside the walls and I can't be sure.
the 1 or 2 volts is simply nothing....... is it not there,
why not try the GFI on a good circuit or one closer to the paneltry making a test circuit with some romex and a new box.
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That does not indicate how it was measure. As I said I suspect a high resistance connection..
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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.
Try the GFCI on a different circuit to see if it works there. You may have a receptacle right next to the panel that you could swap out with the GFCI to check it.
do you read votage from the nutral (white) to the ground???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
the "bad" GFCI shows 0.3VAC and the Test Button is still out and won't reset.I had previously checked the outlet with a bug eye and got two good lights.
remove the recpt and line test....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
can ya help???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
You should be able to get a free replacement. Maybe these all came from the same lot and have a flaw. The distributor should be interested in solving this problem if there is a problem with the GFCI.
I am making this recommendation because it seems to me from your posts that when you install the unit, it works for a while and then malfunctions.
If you have a wiring problem, I would expect the GFCI to kick off immediately.