<p>I’ve noticed in the renovation threads that that many CC families have homes the same vintage as our 1993 home. So I thought I’d solicit some advise (or links) on this week’s issue.</p>
<p>We have one circuit that seems blown. Can’t seem to do reset from breaker box or GFI. </p>
<p>I’m guessing that we may have a failed GFI (ground fault interrupter - the thing with the reset button at one of the outlets on the circuit). OK… perhaps it is more of a hope. We likely need an electrician, but that seems the least expensive scenario. </p>
<p>(Two weeks ago we had some excitement with a burning bagel-thin and maybe burning crumbs too on a toaster plugged into that line, but I don’t thinks it’s a factor since we’ve used it many times since.)</p>
<p>Is that exact outlet one with a GFI? If not, look at the rest of your outlets and see if any of the GFI’s are tripped on those. We have an outdoor outlet in the front of our house that runs the outlets in the back of the house. We couldn’t use a couple of those outlets for a year, until we discovered this outlet in the front and saw that the GFI was tripped. Same with two outlets in our master bedroom-GFI that controls those are in the powder room on the main floor–why I have no idea, but now that we know that, we know how to fix it :D.</p>
<p>Replacing the GFI outlets is no big deal and fairly inexpensive but they’re there for a purpose - to break the circuit in the event of a ground fault. this is important because if there’s not proper grounding it can prevent a safety hazard. If the GFI outlet that keeps tripping is replaced and the new one trips as well, definitely get a qualified electrician (not a handyman) out there to figure out what the problem is and fix it properly. You don’t want to end up electrocuted or have a fire.</p>
<p>It’s common to have a single GFI on an electrical branch, there’s no need to have multiple, and a problem in a downstream outlet or wiring could cause the GFI problem or conversely, if the GFI trips the downstream outlets won’t be functional until it’s reset - i.e. the GFI in the kitchen might disable the outlets in the hallway or the garage depending on how things were wired.</p>
<p>Sounds like it’s time for an electrician. Stay safe.</p>
<p>I recently did all the electrical work myself on a kitchen renovation which included installing some GFI outlets along with the ones downstream from them along with all the other wiring. It shouldn’t be that hard for an electrician to isolate where the fault is.</p>
<p>GGD - I just planned to look at the status of GFI buttons to get the symptoms collected. I’m all for calling electrician as the next step. (Hoping to convince DH of that too!) </p>
<p>I’ve just been curious if other families have been seeing GFI fallouts. It could be wiring issues, but oh… I’m hoping not.</p>
<p>Our has was built in 1997. It is 2 stories and modular housing–think 4 trailers bolted together. How they then hooked the electric together is absurd. Basement outlets at SE side on same circuit as kitchen 1/2 bath on NW side, etc. We’ve had to replace most of our regular outlets and several GFCI ones, including a kitchen one that had flames <em>shudder</em> coming from it. Sometimes they are GFCIs without the pop button, so they blow but then we play “guess a breaker”. Fun times…</p>
<p>My MIL had a blown GFI a couple of years ago. The GFI will take out everything downstream of it. We bought a new one at Walmart and easily replaced it ourselves and we are not handy people. Just make sure you open the breaker before you remove the old GFI.</p>
<p>usually GFI is used on the first outlet on a branch circuit and then the rest of the outlets hang off of that. GFI outlets can go bad and it is worth replacing the gfi to see what happens, it is easy to do, isn’t so expensive and worth a shot (and yes, unlike many electricians and wanna be electricians, cut the breaker to that circuit before working…:). If that continues to fail when replaced, it indicates a problem downstream, could be an outlet downstream is shorted or something is funky in the wiring.You could also replace the gfi and the outlets downstream from it, but that could be time consuming, but still cheaper then an electrician. Outlets are cheap enough and are three wires to connect, not a big deal.</p>
<p>Check all of your GFI outlets- we were surprised to find out which one our outdoor outlet was connected to. Who knows the logic of some electricians in the early 1990’s…</p>
<p>The best way to check the GFI outlet itself short of just replacing it (which might not fix the problem) is - </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Turn off the main breaker to the house. If you’re going to turn off just the breaker to that branch then make sure you have a tool that can detect the presence of electricity first in case you turned off the wrong breaker. Better yet, just turn off the main.</p></li>
<li><p>In the GFI in question there’s an input side and an output side. If there are downstream outlets attached they’ll be on the output side. If this is a standalone GFI outlet there won’t be anything on the output side. Disconnect the wires from the output side after noting to which terminals the white and black wires are connected. It can sometimes be difficult to determine the downstream outlets but you can assume any outlet in the kitchen and bathroom should be on a GFI circuit. Generally in the kitchen they’ll be somewhat in line. Sometimes in bathrooms they can go upstairs or downstairs if the bathrooms are on top of each other - you may notice a GFI in one but not the other in which case the ‘other’ is likely downstream from the other GFI one.</p></li>
<li><p>Turn the main back on, reset the GFI and see if it still trips. If it doesn’t trip then the problem is in a downstream outlet or wiring and not the GFI. If it still trips then it’s either GFI outlet or the wiring from there back towards the circuit breaker box.</p></li>
<li><p>If it doesn’t trip and is therefore downstream from it then reconnect the wires to the output (after turning off the main again) and go to the next outlet in line and disconnect the wires that are headed downstream from that, if any. Repeat these steps until you’ve checked all the outlets off of that GFI.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When you’re checking the outlets inspect the wiring to see if there are any short circuits or other issues. Wires can be damaged by mice eating through the insulation, a nail being driven through it when you hung a picture on the wall, etc. It also might have just worn a bit where it connects to the outlet screw and touched the other wire.</p>
<p>Another issue sometimes is water causing the GFI fault which trips the breaker. This can happen if you have a downstream outlet outside and it’s been raining or sometimes due to a leak under the sink leaking on that outlet which might be downstream. Just use common sense to make sure everything looks good.</p>