GFI breaker/heated floor electrical issue


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Old 10-03-16, 07:58 PM
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GFI breaker/heated floor electrical issue

As a fairly unexperienced new owner of a home, I had a question on how to trouble shoot an electrical issue I have been having. My heated floor in the master bathroom worked fine all winter, but I noticed it stopped working when two events happened (and I'm not sure if either affected it).

1) My daughter ran into the wall directly opposite the heated floor panel, hard enough for their to be a small dent in the drywall
2) Solar panels were installed which involved the installers doing some work on the circuit breaker panel.

After I noticed the heated floor panel (NuHeat) was blank, I checked the circuit breaker labelled for the heated floor (from labeling it seemed like the only device on the circuit). It was tripped, and the only breaker tripped in the panel. Additionally, when I tried to rest it, it would not reset (wouldn't even stay open for a moment).

I took off the heated floor control panel, and couldn't see any wires obviously out of place or crossed. I even disconnected all the wires coming into the heated floor panel, making sure they didn't cross, and the circuit breaker still would not reset.

My spider sense tells me something is wrong with the circuit breaker (It is a single pole breaker, with a "test" button), but I'm really not an expert at trouble shooting. My assumption is if all the wires are disconnected from the heated panel box, there wouldn't be a good reason the circuit breaker wouldn't reset.

My question to the forum is how can I go about troubleshooting the various things that could be wrong. If it is an issue with the circuit breaker box, I'd love to call my solar panel installers back and have them take a look at it, but don't want to waste their time if something else created the issue.

Thanks for all your help!
 
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Old 10-04-16, 10:50 AM
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First step would probably be to disconnect the black and white wires going to the circuit breaker (It is likely a GFCI breaker since it has a test button) and see if the breaker will reset. Obviously make sure the power is off before you disconnect the wires. If the breaker won't reset with nothing connected to it, the breaker is likely bad. If it does reset, then there is a likely a fault in the wiring or heat tapes.

You should also make sure the white pigtail wire that comes out of the circuit breaker is properly connected to the neutral buss in the panel.

I would say that neither event you describe *should have* caused a problem, but it's possible that either may have.
 
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Old 10-04-16, 06:06 PM
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IF the GFCI breaker is bad it may be still under warranty. What kind is it and how old is it? Can you provide a picture of it?
 
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Old 10-10-16, 08:14 PM
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Thanks for the responses. I will try turning off the main panel power, and checking out the unwired breaker this weekend. I'm uploading a picture of the panel, as well as a close up of the breaker that won't reset.

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I'm not sure how old it is (I believe under 10 years). It was put in by the previous owner.
 
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Old 10-10-16, 08:46 PM
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Looks like a Bryant 20A GFI breaker.

After you pull the cover off.... post a pic of the breaker wiring.
 
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Old 10-12-16, 01:59 PM
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It it is a Bryant, and it looks like a Bryant, forget the warranty, it is probably close to 20 years old minimum and the warranty was just for 10 years.
 
 

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