Bought a new home and gfci outlet isn't working


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Old 07-11-16, 08:21 AM
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Bought a new home and gfci outlet isn't working

Hello all,

I just made an account to learn more about my home and doing more diy work to save money. We just bought our first home and we are in the process of working the kinks out. First link? The gfci outlet in the kitchen isn't working and the three outlet after it isn't working either. So I did some research and bought an outlet tester and and a non contact voltage tester so here is what I came up with.

The gfci has no ground attached. The green wire has no wire attached to It at all. So I'm assuming that's the issue. I see a bundle of bare wires twisted together in the back of the outlet so I'm assuming they are the ground wires. My question is do i just grab one of those and connect it to the green screw?

Ok I see now the wire would be to short. Anyway to lengthen it? I'll attach some pictures to help assist. Thanks for allowing me to join your community

 
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Old 07-11-16, 08:40 AM
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Hello and welcome to the forum. Congrats on your new home.

You are correct that the ground wire should be attached to the GFCI receptacle, however that is not the reason it is not working. To attach the ground, create a 6" pigtail of copper wire, wirenut it to the existing ground wires in the box and attach the other end to the ground terminal on the receptacle itself.

My guess is that the previous owner made a common error when putting in GFCI receptacles is getting the LINE and LOAD wires backwards, especially if the previous owner did this hastily to complete the sale. You need to determine which of the black wires is the hot coming from the panel. That wire and its corresponding white wire need to be on the LINE side of the GFCI receptacle. You can make this determination by disconnecting the black wires, carefully separating them, turn the breaker on, then test which one is live.
 
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Old 07-11-16, 08:51 AM
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Ok, it appears that the top right wire which is black is the hot wire. It is connected on the side with the bronze screws. So we have two blacks on the bronze screws and two whites on the silver screws. Is this the correct way?
 
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Old 07-11-16, 08:58 AM
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Yes, and you also need to check the LINE and LOAD side -- one will be top and one will be bottom. It will be printed on the plastic somewhere (depends on the brand).
 
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Old 07-11-16, 09:00 AM
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Ok, I will take care of that now. Gimme a few minutes
 
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Old 07-11-16, 09:13 AM
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Ok, progress. Now we have a amber light illuminated on the front of the outlet socket. The black hot wire was moved to the bottom with the corresponding white wire but we still have no power at the outlet

Edit. (again)

Outlet tester is showing a hot/neu reverse.
 
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Old 07-11-16, 09:30 AM
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And we have power! Thanks for your help. Wires were installed incorrectly
 
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Old 07-11-16, 11:03 AM
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Good job! Now you know how to do the next one.
 
 

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