GFI wiring help

[dja4260]

Originally Posted by spasm3
Someone may have suggested this, but i would turn off every breaker but that one. Go through the house and see if anything else is hot, lights outlets etc.



I did.

The breaker with the run that I capped and tucked in the box only also powers the microwave. The run with the GFI also powers the garage door opener and garage outlets (3).

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by eljefino
So you still have a breaker in your box that's turned off, with a wire leading out of it, that goes god-knows-where, and powers some redundant stuff that you don't know what it is. Furthermore it seems you stumbled upon the "magic outlet" that some previous hack used to combine/backfeed two breakers into one, to cover for something not working. This remains an unacceptable condition.

Tag that breaker out, put tape over it, whatever.

Then yourself or an electrician should remove it, cap its former wire off, and put a blank in the box.
Just throw some wire nuts on it. You never know when you might want another circuit for something. There's no need to destroy it, just make sure that it is terminated inside of a box and mark the breaker and leave it off. There's nothing dangerous about it.
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by dja4260
New GFI and it's tests properly. Frustrating, but done. Thank you for those who helped me out.

Glad it worked out it could have happened to anybody typically you don't expect to see 2 live wires from two separate Breakers feeding an outlet in the typical home.
It's not that rare for someone who does residential jobs on older houses. I'm just an Electrician though and you are "better than one".


I didnt see the age of the house, how old is it?
Plastic box, but ahh, yes, dont see a ground wire.
Yes, Im sure my work is better then some. )

 

[dja4260]

Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by eljefino
So you still have a breaker in your box that's turned off, with a wire leading out of it, that goes god-knows-where, and powers some redundant stuff that you don't know what it is. Furthermore it seems you stumbled upon the "magic outlet" that some previous hack used to combine/backfeed two breakers into one, to cover for something not working. This remains an unacceptable condition.

Tag that breaker out, put tape over it, whatever.

Then yourself or an electrician should remove it, cap its former wire off, and put a blank in the box.
Just throw some wire nuts on it. You never know when you might want another circuit for something. There's no need to destroy it, just make sure that it is terminated inside of a box and mark the breaker and leave it off. There's nothing dangerous about it.
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by dja4260
New GFI and it's tests properly. Frustrating, but done. Thank you for those who helped me out.

Glad it worked out it could have happened to anybody typically you don't expect to see 2 live wires from two separate Breakers feeding an outlet in the typical home.
It's not that rare for someone who does residential jobs on older houses. I'm just an Electrician though and you are "better than one".


I didnt see the age of the house, how old is it?
Plastic box, but ahh, yes, dont see a ground wire.
Yes, Im sure my work is better then some. )



The house was built in 1990. All brick, two story home.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by dja4260
Originally Posted by spasm3
Someone may have suggested this, but i would turn off every breaker but that one. Go through the house and see if anything else is hot, lights outlets etc.



I did.

The breaker with the run that I capped and tucked in the box only also powers the microwave. The run with the GFI also powers the garage door opener and garage outlets (3).


Okay so if i understand, each hot wire coming out of that box was on a separate breaker? They just ran a dual 15 amp circuit like stated earlier.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by mk378
GFI outlets must be grounded with a separate ground wire, that is actually grounded, to work properly.

If you connect the ground wire to the ground screw and one live circuit to the "LINE" side, and nothing on the "LOAD" side, the outlet should respond to pressing the test and reset buttons, and once it is reset, supply power to something plugged in. If it does not, the outlet unit itself is likely bad.

It's a regular single pole breaker, and with the breaker off, both black wires test dead, and with it on, both are hot?

If it is two circuits supplying the box you would have two breakers or a double pole breaker.

Not really. The GFCI plugs used on hairdryers and some portable devices don't a have ground connection. It would be a good idea, but it's not strictly needed.

This describes it with a photo of a properly labelled ungrounded GFCI outlet. GFCI outlets often come with stickers. Some are to mark conventional outlets that are daisy chained to a GFCI circuit.
Quote
http://www.mcgarryandmadsen.com/Blo...ot_grounded_still_function_properly.html
The device will still function properly if the ground slot is not connected to a ground, which we see occasionally in pre-1960 houses that have GFCI-receptacles in the kitchen and bathrooms supplied by ungrounded two-wire cables. The GFCI is considered an alternative to grounding by the National Electrical Code (NEC) and a two-slot ungrounded receptacle is allowed to be replaced with a three-slot GFCI receptacle; however, the receptacle must be marked as having "NO EQUIPMENT GROUND" on the cover plate. This is because, although it is considered safe, some appliances require a ground connection in order to work properly, and the notification alerts a user of the receptacle. Manufacturers of GFCI receptacles include a sheet of small stickers in each box to help you comply with this safety requirement.

Because a GFCI-receptacle at the head of a string of receptacles will provide shock protection for all the receptacles downstream, it is typical for a GFCI-receptacle in one bathroom to protect the receptacle in another bathroom that does not have a GFCI-device. Also, one GFCI-receptacle in a kitchen can protect several others nearby. All the protected receptacles must have a "GFCI PROTECTED OUTLET" sticker on the cover plate, and any protected ungrounded receptacles are required to have a "NO EQUIPMENT GROUND" sticker too.

I've got a rental house which actually has a GFCI breaker, although I've also attached separate GFCI outlets to the same circuit. I understand that should still work.

I remember once my kid started coming at me telling me that there was a problem after throwing water at a mirror trying to wash off soap bubbles. The water then trickled down into the outlet, which was making a buzzing sound after this. After I replaced it I took apart the dead GFCI outlet. It used an old National Semiconductor GFCI chip, and there was a discrete transistor on the board where the packaging blew apart. I'm guessing that's typical given water entry.