Blown Ground Fault Interupt


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Old 10-03-04, 06:51 PM
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Blown Ground Fault Interupt

I have an interesting problem that I need an answer to. I put in a new electrical line from the breaker panel. The line goes to a plug, then breaks to two separate lines. One line goes to the Kitchen, above the countertop with a ground fault interrupt. The other line goes to the bathroom with a ground fault interrupt.
I was playing a radio off the kitchen line, and the ground fault in the bathroom blew (started smoking) after the radio was on for over an hour.
I think the two ground fault running off one original line caused it, but I don't understand why. Anyone know?
 
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Old 10-03-04, 06:59 PM
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I'm not an electrical expert...

but you may want to read over some of the old posts in this area. My impression is that under current electrical code, you aren't allowed to share the outlets like this for kitchens and bathrooms. You are supposed to run a seperate line from the breaker to the bathroom. Nothing else is allowed to be on the circut with it. Same story for the kitchen outlet.

I'm not sure about your question though, how is this system currently wired? Did you just run two seperate lines from the outlet or did you run to one GFCI and then to the other? (daisy-chained)?
 
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Old 10-04-04, 04:32 AM
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Clearly your new line violates code. You can't share a kitchen countertop with a bathroom. In fact, you can't share anything with a bathroom except another bathroom, and you can't share anything with a kitchen countertop except a dinign room circuit.


As for why you have a problem, why don't you start by describing the wiring. Stating that "The line goes to a plug, then breaks to two separate lines." is ambiguous. Is this one circuit, a multiwire circuit How did you run the wiring. What size wire? What size breaker? How did you make the connections?
 
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Old 10-04-04, 05:04 AM
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The 14 gauge wiring starts at a 15amp circuit breaker, goes straight to a bedroom electrical plug, at the bedroom plug two separate wires are connected. One wire goes to a kitchen outlet with a ground fault. The other wire goes to a bathroom outlet with a ground fault.
 
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Old 10-04-04, 05:12 AM
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As mentioned, your layout is a code violation. In addition to the other comments, many jurisdictions require AFCI protection on bedroom outlets.

In general, the layout you describe shouldn't smoke. There is a wiring or installation error.
 
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Old 10-04-04, 06:37 AM
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Every time we learn a bit more about this installation, several more code violations become evident. Neither bathroom receptacles nor kitchen counter receptacles are allowed to be on 15-amp circuits or 14-gauge wire.

Nevertheless, a smoking receptacle is not due to GFCI. Some quite more serious problem is obviously present, probably due to workmanship problems.
 
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Old 10-04-04, 08:54 AM
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John,
When I bought the GFI, it said in the instructions that it was for a 15 amp circuit. Is there a different GFI that I should have used?
 
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Old 10-04-04, 09:17 AM
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Not to speak for John,
but you need 20A circuits (#12AWG wire min.), not 20A devices. The code permits 15A devices on 20A circuits as long as it isn't the only one on the circuit.
 
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Old 10-04-04, 11:06 AM
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There are two issues here. One is the smoking receptacle. That is due to nothing more than bad workmanship. Double-check all your connections.

The other issue involves the quite numerous code violations. Unfortunately, that can probably only be solved by ripping this all out and starting over. I suspect that you did not do a lot of research before beginning.
 
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Old 10-04-04, 06:18 PM
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The AFCI is a 2002 Code addition and whether it is required depends on the municipality. Some are still on 1993 code!

From what I understand there are required for bedroom receptacles only at this time but are being considered for all receptacles on non-GFCI circuits.

We always run a dedicated circuit (20A) for bathroom GFCI's. For kitchens we run a minimum of 2-20A circuits for those GFCI's.
 
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Old 10-05-04, 02:52 PM
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Definitely make those 20 amp circuits. Even if you don't ever use the circuit's potential and think it's silly, you never know what the next owner of the house will try to plug in.

As for the smoke, check for nicks in your wire, it only takes a small cut in the sheathing to cause problems. When you install any device, make sure the ground does not touch any of the hot or neutral screws when you push it into the box.
 
 

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