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I replaced a gfci outlet in my kitchen because it had stopped working, It only had a white wire, black wire and copper grounding wire. I connected the new one exactly how the old one was connected and it still isn't working, could the wires be bad?
Make sure you are on the "Line" side of the gfci
Hot Wire is in the "HOT" terminal, (Gold in color)
neutral is in the "Neutral" terminal, (Silver in color),
Ground is on the green terminal,
and power is on before you try to push in the button.
If it still does not work check your hot and verify that it is hot. verify your neutral connection and your ground by checking their connections inside of the wirenuts.
If you have done this you may have a bad GFCI. I have had them bad brand new out of the box. My negative experience has been with Leviton brand. So since then I have switched to P&S brand with no issues for about five years now.
This is a P & S brand new one. I attatched the copper wire to the bottom. the white wire on the line end bottom hole, same with the black wire in the line end and in the bottom hole. how do I check to see if its the wires? This didn't seem to complicated when I started out, I usually just make sure I put some thing back the same it came apart, I am fairly sure its connected back the same way the old one was.
Is the hot on the gold terminal?
Is the white on the silver terminal?
Is the bare copper on the green/ground terminal?
Yes exactly that way. Like I said though...there are two holes top and bottom for the screws I put both wires in the bottom hole to its corresponding screw and then tightened the screw to hold them in, that was the way the old one was wired, I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
On the old one the "line " side might have been on the top. can you see the word "Line" on the back corresponding to the terminals in which you connected the hot and white wires?
Yes on both of them line is on the bottom, the load end has yellow tape across it, If I understand correctly the only time you would put wires to the top part is if you have more than two wires, but because this one only has two wires it means it is an end terminal.
Correct. OK now we need to test the wires. If you do not own a multimeter or at least a test light. hookup a regular Outlet to the wires and plug in a lamp that you know works. Does it turn on?
I have a digital multimeter, will that work?
Perfect! Are you familiar?
Not really It has a red wire and a black wire that you can connect to it, if it won't use up your entire evening explaining how to use it, please give me instructions, I am pretty good with computers so I can follow instuctions and understand for the most part.
Put it in AC Mode= Squiggly line over straight line.
Connect one terminal to the hot wire and the other to the white and tell me the value you get
okay we need to back up here a bit, on the Meter I have three ports for the black and red wire that came with it. on the bottom it says 10 adc- com- vma what color wire am I putting into which port, then what should I turn the dial to?
Sorry what brand and model do you have?
It doesn't say a name brand, it came with a computer class I was taking, my husband uses it all the time on different things but never watched him working with it.
Black to comm
red to vma
okay now what do I set the dial on, and what should it read
Set the dial to the horizontal squiggly line (looks like half of an infinity symbol) and it should read between 110-120 volts AC when you put one lead on the white wire and the other lead on the hot wire. PLEASE be careful.
Did you get a reading? If so what was it?
.1 when meter set on 200m
Sorry, we have to step back a second. the red terminal to the meter that is plugged into vma- does it look like this? vmA with a capitol A?
Yes VmA .......... right after the V an unsidedown horse shoe also
do you know which breaker is associated with this circuit?
We have a large home with in-law quarters the breaker box is semi labled I had just turned off pretty much anything that said Kitchen on it, but as to which one is for those outlets I have no idea.
Is the GFCI still hooked up to the wires?
Yes but I didn't put it all bac together yet.
If not please hook them back up and then go to the Panel and turn on all of the breakers that you have shut off. Now try to push the reset button in.
Experience: Union Journeyman Electrician / Communications Tech. 8+ Yrs. Exp. 1st Class FCC Lic. NCCER Cert.
Sorry I missed understood your question, I had turned the breakers back on after I hooked it up, the reset button doesn't stay in nor does the test light button light up when I press that in, that is why I was wondering if it was the wiring that is bad. From your experience what % would be just the outlet box being bad as to the wiring going bad?
Sorry. lets go back then. Can you go back to the breaker box? Once you get there can you shut off, then turn on every breaker there is? I just want to make sure a breaker is not tripped. earlier you stated you shut off just about every breaker. I just want to make sure it is not one of the breakers you haven't touched yet. Thank you.
Ahhhh okay I see what your saying now, yes will do that now
Again thank you for your patience.
No thank you for all your patience, I reset all the breakers, it is still not working, I am stumped, it should work, and probably some thing really stupid that I am just not seeing.
First is the power back off? If so do you have any wire nuts inside of the box? If you do can you check those connections? Make sure the power is off though, just in case.
No there are no wire nuts and I checked to make sure the wires were secured tightly. Now tell me some thing ... the old box had a red and black reset and test button, when I went to Lowes he handed me one with buttons that were white and they don't work the same way the old one does. He swore up and down that didn't make a difference and that it would work the same way, is that right?
Yes it is true. Though these are a little more difficult to press in than the one you previously had in there. Do you know where the wire coming into the box is coming from? What is the closest electrical device to the opening? A Switch? Another outlet?
Yes on the same wall there are multiple switches with one that has a Light Switch in it also, I have checked all the wall outlets to make sure none of the reset buttons were tripped, all outlets are working except for that one.
What does the switch control?
Light switches for the kitchen.
I would suggest removing the outlet on either side of the one that you are working on. one of them feed electric to the one you are working on and may have a loose/ faulty connection on the hot or the neutral or both. Open them up and inspect connections inside of the wirenuts. They should be tightly wound together and only copper should be inside of the threads
Okay will do, thank you so much for all your help . I guess my husband will have to figure this one out. I usually can fix just about anything but electric kicks my butt. Have a good night and again thank you for trying.
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