Electrical

Hey, First off I dont know is this is the right place to post this but anyone here who is an electrician or at least knows a thing or two about electrical wiring and outlets? I attempted to replace a regular outlet with a GFCI outlet and im unsure about it. the bottom part of the original outlet was hooked up to a switch, After i originally hooked up the GFCI, the switch would pop the outlet, i ended up totally getting rid of the switch for now, hooked up the GFCI outlet but now the GFCI doesnt work how it should. it supplies power but wont trip the outlet when i press the test or reset button.... Any help would really be appreciated. Thank you

 

Check your ground lead. It must have a good ground to trip.

 

I'm not an electrician but I play one on TV. You really should hire an electrician if you are unfamiliar with electrical wiring.

GFI outlets have a load side. This can be used to feed other outlets so that all of them are protected. If you accidentally hook power to the load side instead of the main supply side (can't remember what they call it on the outlet) the outlet won't trip. Make sure you have your wires hooked up to the correct terminals.

Also, regular double outlets can be hooked up so that one outlet can be fed from a constant AC supply and the other side from a switch so you can turn the outlet on and off with a switch. To do this you have to cut a couple of tabs on the outlet. You cannot do this with a GFI outlet. The entire thing has to be powered from your constant AC supply.

Also, one terminal needs to be connected to your hot wire and the other to the neutral. You must make sure you get this correct. The two terminals are not interchangeable. Last but not least you need to hve a safety ground connection.

And now for the disclaimer.
The above information does not constitute advice but it is intended for entertainment purposes only. Electricity can be extremely dangerous if not handled properly. Hire a qualified electrician if you are not familiar with home wiring. Past returns are no guarantee of future results, your mileage may vary and objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

 

OK, i checked the ground and everything its connected... I guess i must have confused the load side with the main power side? Im not really feeling very comfortable with this now and would rather just have a professional come and fix my ignorance. If it is hooked up to the wrong side, would it be ok for tonight?

Maybe its best if i just go back to a regular outlet, hooked up how it was and just use the ground probe?

As for terminals hooked up properly, white (neutral) is hooked up to silver and black (hot) is hooked up to copper, correct?

 

If it is hooked up to a load side, it will be fine overnight. It just will just function as a normal outlet.

Do you have a camera? A pic of how it is currently wired would help greatly.

 

Neutral


Hot


Ground

 

the live wire coming from your panel to the GFI goes to the LINE side of the outlet. To add other (protected) outlets downstream from it, hook them to the LOAD side, as pgreef said above. Black to Brass. White to Silver. Green to Ground.
If it doesn't work correctly, replace it with a new GFI outlet. They can go bad from lightning strikes near your house or just even after being tripped enough times - just like a circuit breaker.

 

k Thank you all for your help!