Newly installed GFCI on old house doesn't work!


  #1  
Old 05-11-14, 07:23 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 35
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Newly installed GFCI on old house doesn't work!

I have a 1960s house with no ground wire at the outlets. I wanted to install GFCIs to replace regular, old outlets. I installed a GFCI in the master bath that just had two wires. It works fine. The other bath has four wires (2 hots and 2 neutrals) and the kitchen outlet next to the sink has six. The load side hots and neutrals are pigtailed.

When I installed the GFCI, with all the wires attached the same, there was no power in the outlet. In the kitchen not only did I have no power, but the kitchen lights would not work. Am I missing something? Thanks in advance for the help!
 
  #2  
Old 05-11-14, 07:31 AM
Tolyn Ironhand's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 14,332
Received 877 Upvotes on 740 Posts
Did you turn the power back on?

Double check your connections and make sure you did not connect the wires to the LOAD side of the GFCI.
 
  #3  
Old 05-11-14, 08:09 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 35
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Of course I turn the power back on. I ended up installing a non-GFCI outlet and it works totally fine. I had the same issue with GFCI outlets on another house and never figured it out.
 
  #4  
Old 05-11-14, 08:16 AM
Tolyn Ironhand's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 14,332
Received 877 Upvotes on 740 Posts
It sounds like a case of either a bad device, or it was wired backwards. (line to LOAD and load to LINE)
 

Last edited by Tolyn Ironhand; 05-11-14 at 08:35 AM.
  #5  
Old 05-11-14, 08:20 AM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 35
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I'll recheck line and load. But the new plain outlet works. A GFCI does not have to have a ground?
 
  #6  
Old 05-11-14, 08:24 AM
ray2047's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 29,711
Upvotes: 0
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
Am I missing something?
Yes. You are failing to use an analog multimeter to determine which two wires are hot. There is usually no way to know which wires are the two hot wires by just looking at the connections on a non GFCI receptacle. Nor can you determine which two wires using a non contact tester. The two hot wires must go to the line side.
 
  #7  
Old 05-11-14, 08:35 AM
Tolyn Ironhand's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 14,332
Received 877 Upvotes on 740 Posts
A GFCI does not have to have a ground?
No, a GFCI does not need a ground to work properly.
 
  #8  
Old 05-11-14, 11:50 AM
W
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 630
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Do you want all the devices / plugs / lights down stream of the GFCI receptacle to be protected ?

If not , tie all the whites together , w/a white pigtail to the line neutral / white on the GFCI receptacle . So the same with the blacks w/a black pigtail to the line black / hot .

If you want downstream protection , you will have to determine ( as someone has said ) the incoming white / neutral & black / hot & tir them into line . Tir the rest of the whites and blacks to their respective load terminals .

And , yes , as has been stated , the GFCI receptacle will work w/o an earth ground .

God bless
Wyr
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: