GFI issues

[gwpercle]

Replace you GFI outlets as soon as they start acting squirrely (wonky) ... they don't last that long and they can't be fixed . Get the GFI off any circuit with a motor ... when the inspector isn't looking replace it with a non-GFI .
The fool who wired our office had the refrigerator on the circuit with the GFI in a hall bathroom .
It was OK for a few years but suddenly the refrig. started " malfuncting" ...going off ...Bought a new refrig. and low and behold ...it weren't a bad refrig ... it was the bad GFI outlet in the hall bathroom .
Although GFI's are required in certian locations ... they can be more trouble than they are worth .
Gary

[lightman]

Glad you found the problem and that it was simple. Many GFI receptacle has been replaced when it was actually doing its job. I also think the newer ones are less problematic than they were years ago.

When I wired houses I would put the GFI on an inside wall that protected the outside outlet. Being inside the GFI was less likely to fail and lasted longer.

[gwpercle]

Glad you found the problem and that it was simple. Many GFI receptacle has been replaced when it was actually doing its job. I also think the newer ones are less problematic than they were years ago.

When I wired houses I would put the GFI on an inside wall that protected the outside outlet. Being inside the GFI was less likely to fail and lasted longer.

You're Good !
That's a neat way to do it ... they do last much longer on inside wall .
Gary

[Shawlerbrook]

GFI outlets are nothing but a pain in the butt in my opinion. Where they are required I prefer just using a GFI breaker. They seem to be much more dependable.

[Bmi48219]

GFI outlets are nothing but a pain in the butt ….

They are when there’s a problem. I don’t know how many lives have been saved or fires averted by their use but in that regard they make sense. I’ve hot changed lots of switches and outlets, and got poked several times too. It says something that none of those pokes ever tripped a breaker. I’m thinking any poke would trip a GFI.
I’ve noticed different people have different sensitivity to electric shock. Some get really zapped, some just a little tingle. I lean toward the tingle end on the sensitivity scale, at least with 120 vac. In my youth we used to bet on who could hold on to a finishing nail stuck in a wall socket the longest.

[jsizemore]

Chasing girls is more fun than shocking yourself.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

We had to put GFI circuit breakers in when we remodeled our kitchen. One of them trips frequently. Darn things are not reliable.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

They are when there’s a problem. I don’t know how many lives have been saved or fires averted by their use but in that regard they make sense. I’ve hot changed lots of switches and outlets, and got poked several times too. It says something that none of those pokes ever tripped a breaker. I’m thinking any poke would trip a GFI.
I’ve noticed different people have different sensitivity to electric shock. Some get really zapped, some just a little tingle. I lean toward the tingle end on the sensitivity scale, at least with 120 vac. In my youth we used to bet on who could hold on to a finishing nail stuck in a wall socket the longest.

120 is plenty enough to kill you outright if you are well grounded. Mostly in the home that is not the case.

[Catshooter]

120 is plenty enough to kill you outright if you are well grounded. Mostly in the home that is not the case.

You mean like in the bathtub, a baby in the bathroom sink, up to your elbows in the kitchen sink, a nice mud puddle outside your deck, a wet concrete garage floor, like grounded like that? Yep, never happens.

Certainly doesn't happen every day, but when all the **** that can go wrong does, the consequence's are pretty ugly. The bathroom GFI outlet requirement was inserted into the National Electrical Code in the early '70s because two or three infants died in the bathroom sink when the hair dryer got dunked. In one year.

The old wives tale that 120 can't kill you is false, I agree with you on that one. The amount of incorrect info surrounding the world of electricity is about the same as surrounds the firearm world. A ton.

[Lloyd Smale]

I had to replace every outside gfi outlet with standard outlets within 2 years of building my house. I don't know if they make gfi's that can withstand the elements or not, but I have never had one that works well. You could try a gfi breaker for that circuit.

Shelly

I dont use them. When they wired my new house they told me they had to put them in. I would have done the job myself but with the operation comming and the pain i was in it was impossible. So when i told the electrician i didnt want any he said they were mandatory by code but he left a replacement for all 4 of them so i could swap them out. I once had one in my pole barn on a circuit i had a freezer on and went to get something out of it after it had sat for about a month and was greeted with a very foul smelling mess and about 500 dollars in lost food. They are hair triggers that sometimes dont need a reason to trip. If you want one in your bathroom in case you blow dry your hair in the bath tube have at it. But ive been a lineman all my life and have been around electricity and have never seen even one instance of them saving someone. To me there nothing but a headache. To me they make about as much sense as putting a saftey ON THE SAFETY of your deer rifle.

[Bmi48219]

120 is plenty enough to kill you outright if you are well grounded. Mostly in the home that is not the case.

When you think about it the combination of old two prong, ungrounded outlets, overloaded screw-in fuses and copper pennies must curled plenty of hair.

[Catshooter]

Lloyd,

Totally true, when they first came out. Nuisance tripping was a real hassle for everyone involved and a constant, impossible thing to trouble shoot.

But that was 50+ years ago man! They've come a long way since then. If they trip now they've either died inside or there is a real, actual problem. Look at what the OP found in this case.

Catch up with reality or not, whatever. But giving bad advice is unhelpful for people.

[MT Gianni]

If you really want to talk about poor products, lets go with arc fault breakers. When I built in 2018 they were mandatory for most circuits in the living area. Took the price of a breaker from $6 to $45. Now you end up running as many outlets as you can on a breaker. Engineering job justification, IMO.

[BunkTheory]

alot of builders and electricians will hook the internal GFCI outlets, like in teh bathroom, to the outside ones.

learned the hard way

[jimlj]

Lloyd,

Totally true, when they first came out. Nuisance tripping was a real hassle for everyone involved and a constant, impossible thing to trouble shoot.

But that was 50+ years ago man! They've come a long way since then. If they trip now they've either died inside or there is a real, actual problem. Look at what the OP found in this case.

Catch up with reality or not, whatever. But giving bad advice is unhelpful for people.

I agree. When GFI's first were required they tripped with about anything plugged into them. Over the years the technology has improved to where there are few trips where a real problem does not exist. Over the years I've often wondered if the initial problems with GFCI circuits were the totally the fault of the breaker or the old tools and cords we used? I remember some of the junk cords, drills and other tools we had around the farm in the 60's and 70's. It's a wonder with the junk tools we had and throw in drinking from a garden hose and riding in the back of the pickup, anyone from that era ever survived.