Hey guys. I am going to call my electrition on monday but this is gonna drive me nuts all weekend. I am finishing off my garage. My electricion let me run all the wires and outlet boxes. He came in after i was done and looked it all over and said it looked good. Had an inspection and all was well. Then i put up my insulation and sheetrock (have not mudded or taped yet). He came back, installed all the GFI's and the breakers in the panel, and let me install the rest of the "regular" outlets. When I would finnish a row of outlets, I fliped the breaker and reset the GFI and made sure all the outlets worked, and they did. Now tonight I finnished my LAST row of outlets, fliped the breaker, went to reset the GFI, and it wouldnt reset! Shut off the breaker, compleatly removed the first outlet after the GFI, turned on the breaker and went to reset the GFI. SILL wouldnt reset!!!! Now I am totaly confused. I thought if there was any trouble AFTER the GFI that it was suposed to trip. And I assumed that since I was the one who wired in those outlets, that I probably messed something up. That's why I tryied to eliminate everything AFTER the GFI. Will a GFI trip if there is a problem BEFORE it? The only thing before the GFI is the wire leading to the panel to the breaker. Is it posible that my electrition could have wired the GFI wrong to cause this? Please shed some light on this so I can sleep at night. Thanks!!
GFI problem?
- Thread starter Gus68
- Start date
Conductor562
Well-known member
I had the same problem once. Installed a new GFI and it wouldn't reset. Voltage was right, it was wired right, and I was puzzled. Called an electrician buddy of mine and come to find out the brand new GFI I had just bought was bad 
Took it back, got a new one, and it works to this day.
Took it back, got a new one, and it works to this day.jkeyser14
Well-known member
I had the same issue a month ago. Bad GFI outlet right out of the box.
sparky36000
Well-known member
You said you removed the first outlet after the GFCI? Completely disconnect the wiring from the load side of the GFCI and see if it resets. If the neutral is grounded anywhere on the load side, it won't reset. If it still won't reset with all load side wiring disconnected, replace the GFCI.
MAN that makes me feel better!!!! I hope it is just a bad GFI outlet. Is it possible that a problem BEFORE hte GFI would cause it to trip? Between the panel and the GFI? Or will it only trip if the problem is AFTER the GFI? Thanks for your help!!!!
sparky36000
Well-known member
No, a problem before the GFCI won't keep it from resetting. If it resets with all load side wiring disconnected at the GFCI, check your wiring from neutral to ground with an ohm meter. You say you removed the first outlet, are they pigtailed out or wired in and out through the outlet. I'm betting you grounded the neutral somewhere. That's why you need to disconnect ALL load side wiring at the GFCI and test it.
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Yes they are pigtailed but I undid the splice and the outlet at the first outlet, so basicly all i had was the 2 black and white wires dangling out side the box at the first outlet, so if there IS a problem after the GFI it could ONLY be somewere in the wire up to the first outlet.
sparky36000
Well-known member
If your sure that wire is clear, replace the GFI.
Dick in Wisconsin
Well-known member
Let us know how it turns out. We're all waiting to hear.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
I will state in more detail what others have already said:
1)Turn off the breaker feeding the GFCI in question.
2)Remove the GCFI from the junction box it's in.
3)Remove the wires from the 'load' side of the GFCI(the GFCI should be labeled on the back)
4)Flip the breaker back on.
5)While carefully holding the gfci without touching the side terminals, try to reset the GFCI. If it resets, then u know there's an issue with the wiring connected to the 'load' side terminals. If the GFCI doesn't reset, replace it! U got a bad one!
Another thing to make sure of is that the wires feeding(coming from the breaker panel) the GFCI are connected to the terminals labeled 'line' and NOT the 'load' terminals. I have seen before where someone connected the incoming wire to the 'load' terminals and the GFCI wouldn't reset because some brands of GFCIs will not reset when hooked up incorrectly as a safety measure!
1)Turn off the breaker feeding the GFCI in question.
2)Remove the GCFI from the junction box it's in.
3)Remove the wires from the 'load' side of the GFCI(the GFCI should be labeled on the back)
4)Flip the breaker back on.
5)While carefully holding the gfci without touching the side terminals, try to reset the GFCI. If it resets, then u know there's an issue with the wiring connected to the 'load' side terminals. If the GFCI doesn't reset, replace it! U got a bad one!
Another thing to make sure of is that the wires feeding(coming from the breaker panel) the GFCI are connected to the terminals labeled 'line' and NOT the 'load' terminals. I have seen before where someone connected the incoming wire to the 'load' terminals and the GFCI wouldn't reset because some brands of GFCIs will not reset when hooked up incorrectly as a safety measure!
FIXED IT!!!!! I callled my electrition, as i said in my original post, he is the one who instaled the GFIs, (well him and his new guy). He said that he would not be able to come out for a few days but also said it sounded like a bad GFI. He told me to go ahead and replace it. When i took it apart I noticed that the black wires were switched around. One on the "line side" was on the "load side" and vice versa. Sooo I first switched them which didn't fix my problem. So then I went ahead and replaced it with a new one. TA DA!!! FIXED IT!!!! Thanks guys for all the advice and help.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Cool! Sounds like it was wired backwards AND u had a bad GFI
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
No. It's unlikely. I've seen GFIs wired backwards and then the polarity was corrected and they worked fine!
KissMyWhiteSS
Well-known member
We had a gfi in our old house that was wired up like that. Same issue, and I wasn't sure how to fix it at the time. Glad you got it working.