New GFCI Breakers Trip Instantly


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Old 04-06-08, 05:01 PM
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New GFCI Breakers Trip Instantly

Just replaced old 15A breaker (which works fine) with a GFCI breaker because three outlets are in the bathroom. There are seven outlets wired in parallel on this circuit - the other four are in an adjacent bedroom. Even with nothing plugged into any of the outlets the GFCI will not stay in the on position. With the old breaker (re)installed I've checked all outlets with a GRT-500 circuit tester and all show to be wired correctly. What am I missing? Thanks!
 
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Old 04-06-08, 05:46 PM
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GFCIs will pick up subtle wiring faults which won't trip ordinary breakers.

One such fault are 'neutral to ground' faults, where the neutral conductor is somehow touching grounded metal. Since the neutral is supposed to be at ground potential, this isn't a 'short circuit' and doesn't cause excessive current flow that would trip a normal breaker.

The other common fault is a crossed circuit, where the hots or neutrals from two _different_ circuits are connected. The current from one circuit will cause the GFCI to trip on the other circuit.

A 'multi-wire branch circuit' is a circuit where two 'hot' conductors intentionally share a neutral. You can only use such circuits with multi-pole GFCIs that control _all_ the hot conductors associated with a given neutral.

-Jon
 
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Old 04-06-08, 06:03 PM
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Jon [ Winnie ] pretty much hit the nail on the issue with the GFCI breaker.

you have to check each repectale to make sure the netrual and ground wire touching each other and other case it will show up is if you have any outdoor repectale attached to this circuit check them out as well i am not suprised you will find this as well.

but there are some case the wire can be pitinched too tight with wire staple or NM clamp screw in too tight it can also cause the GFCI breaker to trip as well.

Merci,Marc
 
 

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