GFI Switches

Bigwuj · 7 Nov 2003

I have five outlets in different rooms connected through one circuit breaker. Power stopped working in all of them when I plugged a vacuum cleaner into one of the outlets (which has a GFI Switch. Of the five outlets, only three have GFI switches). Previously, when power was lost in a GFI switch, I could hit the "reset" button and power would be restored. This time however, the reset button does not work on the outlet where I plugged in the vacumm cleaner. I hit the "test" and "reset" buttons on the other two GFI Switches and the button does not "reset" on one of them (for the one that does reset, this is next to the circuit breaker box in my basement, if that means anything).

I replaced the circuit breaker, thinking this was the cause of the problem, but the power still does not work in any of these outlets. I plan to replace the GFI Switch where I orginally plugged in the vacuum cleaner. Do I also need to replace the other GFI Switch outlet that does not properly "test" and "reset", or will that correct itself once I replace the other GFI Switch? Do I need to replace the non-GFI switch outlets with GFI Switch outlets (in other words, should they all be GFI Switch outlets since they run through the same circuit breaker, or not?). Thanks for your help.

sparko · 7 Nov 2003

click here

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=9

ban-all-sheds · 7 Nov 2003

I don't know how many people here have expertise in US wiring systems, this being the UK Electrics forum - you may be better off using American forum for help.

OOI - what are the economics in the US of multiple GFCI receptacles vs a GFCI breaker to protect the entire circuit?

Over here, the difference in price between one of these:

(approx £3)

and one of these:

(approx £30)

is such that if you want more than one protected outlet on a circuit it becomes cheaper to use a breaker like this:

(approx £40)

instead of one of these:

(approx £5)

Just curious.....

ban-all-sheds · 8 Nov 2003

Err - am I losing it, or has this whole thread been moved from UK Electrics to Electrics Outside the UK?

breezer · 8 Nov 2003

ban-all-sheds

Think you will find that it has because it is about electrics outside of the U.K.
______________________________________________________

Bigwuj

as you say all the sockets are now not working it would imply that it is the circuit breaker that is at fault, have you tried turning the circuit breaker off then on?

ban-all-sheds · 8 Nov 2003

breezer said:
ban-all-sheds

Think you will find that it has because it is about electrics outside of the U.K.

Makes my advice to Bigwuj to try the "outside" forum look a bit daft.

Ah well - I've looked daft before, and I'm sure I will again - it doesn't hurt...

breezer · 8 Nov 2003

you can always go back and hit the "edit button" it looks ok to me though

yankey-sparky · 20 Nov 2003

First of all, you should know that GFCI protected outlets don't like motors. Your vacuum cleaner has a big motor in it, and motors tend to trip GFCIs. Use a regular outlet for your vacuum cleaner.

Secondly, GFCI protected outlets also trip if any outlets downstream from them have a problem. This is why power stopped working in all the outlets.

Third, GFCIs (and all circuit breakers) will only trip a certain number of times before their spring wears out and they won't reset at all. It sounds like you do this a lot. This feature is by design, you don't want to be using an old, worn out circuit breaker that's been tripped several times and might not be reliable any more. You probably have to replace any GFCIs that won't reset. Start with the one farthest upstream (closest to your circuit breaker panel) and work your way downstream replacing outlets if others still won't reset.

Ban All Sheds, the advantage to using GFCI protected outlets rather than breakers is twofold. First, you don't have to trudge all the way back to the circuit breaker panel every time it trips to reset it, you can do that right at the outlet. Second, it isolates the dead circuit to just that one outlet (and everything downstream of it) rather than killing everything on that circuit. However, with three out of five outlets GFCI protected on Bigwuj's system, it would probably make sense to just use a GFCI breaker and install regular outlets.

ban-all-sheds · 21 Nov 2003

yankey-sparky said:
...you don't have to trudge all the way back to the circuit breaker panel every time it trips to reset it, you can do that right at the outlet.

Ah - but we live in the land of small houses - it's never much of a trudge for most of us....

What's the typical price difference in the US between plain and GFCI receptacles? Over there they're ten times the price, which makes wiring a whole house with them a tad expensive......

yankey-sparky · 21 Nov 2003

ban-all-sheds said:
Ah - but we live in the land of small houses - it's never much of a trudge for most of us....

Our circuit breaker panels are often in the basement tucked away in the utility room where nobody has to see it. You don't want to be going down there every time you trip the outlet in the upstairs bathroom.

A standard 15A wall outlet is less than $1, while a GFCI protected outlet is about $15 (about £9). Sure, it's more expensive, but it's not that expensive that it's not worth the price if you just need a few of them.

A GFCI circuit breaker can be around $30-$40.

If you ever want to check prices for US parts, http://www.homedepot.com is one of our more popular chains for home improvement and DIY work. There's also http://www.menards.com and http://www.lowes.com