A general GFCI question


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Old 11-02-05, 10:21 AM
D
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A general GFCI question

In a continuting quest to figure out how my house is set up....

If one GFCI receptacle feeds power to an additional non-GFCI receptacle (and that's ALL that there is in on that particular circuit), is the second (the non GFCI) protected in the same way as the first?

In other words: I know that the power gets cut to the second (non GFCI) outlet when I press the test button on the GFCI, but would the GFCI trip under this configuration if there was a hazardous situation at the non GFCI outlet and not at the one wired directly with a GFCI?

Thanks as always....
 
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Old 11-02-05, 10:55 AM
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Yes, your understanding is correct. Any additional receptacles or lights connected to the LOAD (downstream) side of a GFCI receptacle is protected. As you discovered, the sure-fire way to determine if a particular receptacle is protected is to press the TEST button on the GFCI and see if power turns off at the downstream receptacle.
 
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Old 11-02-05, 11:10 AM
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Thanks much.

And to take your point a step further: that protection would presumably only be true if the downstream receptacle or light was wired directly into the second set of terminals on the GFCI receptacle, correct, rather than being pigtailed off the incoming line to the GFCI...?
 
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Old 11-02-05, 11:30 AM
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If the downstream receptacle is pigtailed off the line side of the GFCI, there is no protection at all on the downstream receptacle, and it will not go dead when you press the test button on the GFCI. Everything connected though the "load" terminals on the GFCI is protected. Another way of saying that is that everything that goes dead when you press the test button on the GFCI is protected.
 
 

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