GFCI hot and grnd reversed

Have tried 4 GFCI's but keep getting "hot and ground reversed" reading from both of my testers.

A lamp plugged into the GFCI will not work.

Newest GFCI with little test light built in, doesn't light up

Checks out OK using regular receptacle.

This is a "new" system I'm putting in the kitchen. GFCI is first in the system.

I have black going to the fuse. White going to the strip where all the other whites are, and ground going to the strip right along side of the white strip.

Some of the grounds are going into the white wire strip block and some are going into the strip right beside it.


I have a 2 GFCI systems in the bathroom and they check out OK

Should the ground and white be put in the same strip in fuse box?
This doesn't seem to affect other circuits.

 

I think you have the wires on the unit itself reversed. Look on the back. It usually says black and white. Black to gold and white to silver screws. The wires in the panel are ok. Sometimes it says hot or something on the uint,, that is black.

 

Your wiring in the panel sounds correct. The tester is telling you that the ground wire and the hot wire are on the wrong screws on the gfci recepticle. The black should go to the gold screw on the LINE side.

 

It's not reversed wiring. Hot/ground reverse is almost always a false indication for an open neutral. If you unplug everything on this circuit, and turn off all switches, your tester will correctly read "open neutral". Somewhere on this circuit, the white wire has become disconnected. This usually happens when a backstab of the white wire becomes loose. You may need to open up every box on the circuit (working or not) and move backstabbed connections to adjacent screws. While you're in there, tighten up any wire nuts. Start with the non-working boxes, and then move to the closest working boxes on the same circuit.

 

Damm,,, thats why we read this forum,,, we learn sumptin new every day. Obviously the gfci isnt the first thing on this line then? That is good to remember though, that the power coming in to the unit can can cause problems with it.

 

I think I had the same problem with mine. I installed one the other day next to the kitchen sink. When I took the old recepticle out I kept the wiring together so I could put it back the way I took it off. That didn't work. I knew the wire coming up from the panal was right. The GFI I used had a sticker on the back for supply and load. I had to find the hot coming in and put them on the supply side(bottom) and the load going out on the top side. Took about ten minutes to figure out but all is well now.

 

Problem solved

Originally I had too put an extension on the white wire to fuse box.
Discovered that the end of the wire was broken off inside of the wire nut. This caused a break in the neutral wire which apparently gives a "hot and ground reversed" reading with the plug in testers.

I can't look back to see who mentioned the open neutral wire, but that was the winning reply.

The GFCI is first in line so it had to be in the fuse box or the colors changed inside the wire. I thought it could be corrosion in the fuse box (this is a sulfer water enviroment), but I cleaned the points of contact.

Thanks everyone

 

Some of us will never learn,,, we try to second guess John. Its a challenge.