gfi issue


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Old 04-12-10, 05:49 AM
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gfi issue

Hello,

I own a duplex that I just moved into. My tenant called me and said none of his electrical outlets in the bathroom work. I didn’t have time to test his out, but I looked at mine this morning, and none of mine work either. I hit the reset button on the gfi outlet and I flipped the power in the power box. Still no power in the outlets. Am I missing something?

Ryan
 

Last edited by pcboss; 04-12-10 at 07:05 AM. Reason: corrected title
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Old 04-12-10, 06:59 AM
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The only thing I can think of is that there is another GFI somewhere in the circuit.

It seems very odd that the halves of the duplex were not wired separately and only one circuit was used.
 
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Old 04-12-10, 07:03 AM
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Originally Posted by nikotromus11
Hello,

I own a duplex that I just moved into. My tenant called me and said none of his electrical outlets in the bathroom work. I didn’t have time to test his out, but I looked at mine this morning, and none of mine work either. I hit the reset button on the cfgi outlet and I flipped the power in the power box. Still no power in the outlets. Am I missing something?

Ryan
Sometimes, if the GFCI is bad, hitting the reset isn't enough. I would recommend that you turn the power off and remove the receptacle. Get a voltage tester of some type (the cheapest will work and they cost $10 or less). Turn the power back on and check if any of the wires behind the receptacle have voltage. If you have 120V, you have a bad GFCI which needs to be replaced. If you have no voltage, you have an issue somewhere between the panel and those wires.

Make sure you note how the device is wired before you take it apart, so that reassembly is easier.
 
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Old 04-12-10, 08:25 AM
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Was this building constructed as a duplex or chopped up into one at a later time? Does it have a main panel for each side?
 
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Old 04-12-10, 09:37 AM
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Are you having trouble with anything else in your duplex? ( Lights, receptacles and more )?

Jim
 
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Old 04-12-10, 11:28 AM
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**** fixed ******

OK, I think it's fixed. I had another cgfi outlet in my downstairs batheroom that needed to be reset. Once I did that, all of my outlets worked.

Tonight I will try the same for my tenant's side and I am willing to bet it will work. They probably got tripped during the inspection process last month.

Thanks for the replies!

Ryan
 
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Old 04-12-10, 11:59 AM
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Since you have a GFCI covering the circuit from the other bathroom, I would remove the GFCI in the upstairs bathroom and replace it with a standard receptacle. Having two obviously creates more confusion than good, and the circuit only needs protection once.
 
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Old 04-12-10, 05:01 PM
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You could possibly also change the GFI wiring so that only the bathroom where the GFI was located would trip. This would make it easier to reset instead of running to another room. You would need to move the downstream wiring to the LINE terminals. You would also need to verify that and receptacles downstream that need GFI protection would still have it provided.
 
 

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