Kitchen GFI tripping with nothing plugged in

[stanleyoutdoors]

One kitchen circuit with nothing ever plugged into it trips the GFI within 24 hours of resetting it. Another with some things plugged in just trips occasionally.

Is this the sign of something bad in the wiring? Do I need to worry about/fix this? I'm totally fine with not using the one that trips all the time and occasionally resetting the other one, just don't want a fire hazard. Replacing the outlet is easy enough, but I really don't want to pull out the romex.

THANKS!

 

[kd3pc]

indicative of an issue, one of the little lite plug in testers may help, or they may be installed incorrectly. If OLD, they may have failed and simply need replacing.

Get it fixed

 

[househelper]

Some possibilities: Problem with a device plugged in somewhere else on the circuit downstream of the GFCI; moisture intrusion somewhere on the circuit; faulty GFCI (replace).

 

[larry_g]

One kitchen circuit with nothing ever plugged into it trips the GFI within 24 hours of resetting it. Another with some things plugged in just trips occasionally.

Is this the sign of something bad in the wiring? Do I need to worry about/fix this? I'm totally fine with not using the one that trips all the time and occasionally resetting the other one, just don't want a fire hazard. Replacing the outlet is easy enough, but I really don't want to pull out the romex.

THANKS!

A bit more information please;

How old is this gfi circuit?

Did it work for years and now not?

How many additional outlets down line from the GFI?

I would start by disconnecting the wires from the GFI that feed the down line outlets and se if the problem goes away. If old house do you have bugs, dust, or something else that has gotten into an outlet box?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[teamextreme]

Watch for the ground wire touching the neutral in one of the boxes. This will cause a GFI to trip and if it is just barely touching, it could make contact depending on heating/cooling contraction of the wires. With the bare ground wire it's easy for this to happen when all the wires get crammed into the box. GFI's will sometimes go bad too, but it's actually pretty infrequent. Check to make sure there really isn't anything plugged in elsewhere. This is a kitchen, so the circuit shouldn't go anywhere else, but you never know if someone tapped off it and is feeding something in the basement, or who knows where. If you don't find anything, for the inexpensive cost of a new GFI, I'd install a new one, see if it fixes it. If not start tracing wiring looking for grounds too close to neutrals.

 

[stanleyoutdoors]

Thanks for the help, guys. I'll start tracking it down.

House was built in 2001 and doesn't seem to have any modifications. I bought it about 15 months ago.

 

[Mattlt]

Also verify that this circuit doesn't feed an outdoor receptacle. It could be under a foot of snow!

 

[zerbitini]

I had a very similar issue last year in my kitchen GFI circuit. I had installed a new USB outlet in place of one of the normal duplex outlets, and I COULD NOT figure out what was causing the GFI to trip.
So... I spoke with a very experienced Electrician at work - and he immediately replied - "you nicked a wire somewhere, go back and examine each wire for any scrape, cut etc". Well... he was absolutely right. Where I had clamped down the THHN wires going to the back of the metal box holding the USB outlet, I had a VERY small nick in one wire. Apparently, it was leaking just enough current to trip the GFI. I taped that nick over with several layers of electrical tape, and the problem immediately went away.

 

[muidaq]

I had one doing that in the same age house. Just replaced it and the issue is gone.