I just installed a Leviton GFSW1-KW GFCI combo switch. As far as I can tell, it is wired correctly. White wire to the silver line screw, black wire to the brass line screw. There are no other outlets in the circuit, so the load connections are unused. The switch wires are connected using wire nuts.

The switch works perfectly. The outlet does not work at all. The GFCI test and reset buttons do noting, and the status indicator light does not work at all.
I purchased a second switch today, hoping I just had a faulty unit. However, once I installed it, the result was the same. I even tried switching the wires on the switch, in case that made a difference (it did not).

The ancient non-GFCI combo that this replaced worked perfectly.

I'm at a total loss. Please help!
I live in NJ, and I believe it is required to have a GFCI outlet near any source of water (my bathroom only has one outlet/switch, so there is no concern as to where in the circuit it must be.)

This was my initial wiring job.

 

Ok, so I did a little poking around in the box. There are three cables entering the box. Two from the bottom, one from the top. Each one has a white, a black, and a bare copper ground. All the whites are tied together with a wire nut. All the grounds are tied together with a wire nut.
Of the three black wires, I am assuming that the two coming from the bottom are the live wires (breaker box is in the basement). The black wire coming from the top and one of the black wires coming from the bottom are connected to the switch wires. The switch works, leading me to believe that I do indeed have one hot and one neutral hooked up there. The other black is hooked to the outlet.

This. Should. Be. Working.

Could the tied-together white wires be causing a problem, maybe?

 

Normally here will be only one live black wire. The rest are power out to other loads. You need to use a multimeter to find which cable is hot. (A non contact tester won't work.) Most likely you put the hot black on the switch.

 

Yes...that makes sense but since neither of those two black wires.....which we assume one is hot.... is not connected to the receptacle...... how will the GFI be getting power?


We can assume one cable is "hot in".
We can assume one cable is "hot out" to another location.
We can assume one cable goes to the light.

That means all three whites get connected together with a short white tail to the silver side of the GFI receptacle.

The "hot in black", the "hot out black", one of the switch wires and a short black tail goes to the brass side of the GFI receptacle.

The remaining "light out" black wire goes to the remaining switch wire.

 

I think you may be right. Upon examining the old switch, I noticed that the black screw (hot) and screw marked "white" are both on one side, meaning the two terminals on the other side were for the switch. I stupidly assumed that they would be on either side, like the new unit, and like every other outlet I've ever installed. Now that I see that, I'm quite sure I stuck one of those switch wires on the hot terminal.

That means I have a hot wire running to the switch. The switch still operates the bathroom's overhead lights without issue, though. Would that happen if I put the hot wire to one of those?



I'm going to pick up a multimeter tonight, and dig deeper tomorrow. I think it'll be good once I discover which wire is hot. From what you're saying, Pjmax, I should only have one hot wire coming in to the box, right? By putting the hot wire on the switch directly, I'm basically just bypassing the outlet portion of the unit...

 

Yes.... isn't that what's happening now ?

 

Assuming that the switch is not a switch loop this is the most logical way it could be wired. Note my positioning and labeling of cables may not match yours.



Get an analog not digital. The digital because of their high impedance give a misleading reading. A cheap $8-$15 one is all you need.

 

Ok, I picked up a multimeter last night (digital, though it's sufficient to show which wire is the hot wire.) I located the hot wire, and it was indeed going to the switch instead of the line terminal. I put it where it belongs, and the outlet works!

But now the switch won't work. I tried swapping the remaining black wires around, and still no dice. Swapping those wires should just change which switch direction is which, right? Neither wire going to the switch pigtails on the combo unit is hot.

The switch worked with the hot wire going to it. Now I'm thinking I may have damaged the unit by wiring it incorrectly.

 

No.... the switch was working.

Have you created a splice like Ray and I have shown you where the power is connected to the receptacle AND the switch ?

Ray's diagram is pretty clear and should be easy to follow.

 

I haven't, though it seems that might be the only way to go. The previous non-GFCI unit worked without such a splice, though. Figured this one would work in a similar fashion.

 

It's the loose wires on the switch that is different. The other unit had internal jumpers and screw terminals.

This was done so that the switch and the receptacle could be easily connected to two different circuits.

 

Note you will need to add a pigtail that was not used with the old device. A pigtail is a 6"-8" length of wire the same color and gage as the wires it is connected to. It runs from the power in splice to the "hot" line terminal of the GFCI.

 

Got it!
I ran a 14 gauge wire from the hot line terminal (there was space in the clamp for a second wire, which made it easy) to one of the wires coming from the unit. I capped and taped the wall wire that was previously attached, and tucked it out of the way. The other wall wire I left as it was (the one going up toward the ceiling seemed to be the logical choice.) Now I'm running direct power to the switch, just as I was yesterday with the miswired hot wire, and I still have the hot wire hooked to the outlet.

Unless I did something incredibly stupid, I think it's finally as it should be!


Thank you guys for your help. I genuinely appreciate it. Now I have a working combo switch, and I'm fairly sure I'm not going to burn my house down!

 

No still wrong. That wire is not decoration. That unconnected wire goes to another device or fixture. You just haven't identified what else is dead. You need to connect it as we told you to. We have told you how to wire it so please wire it that way if you want everything to work correctly.

 

You're right. I checked everything in my kitchen (which shares a wall) and it all worked. What I didn't check was my dining room ceiling fan/light. I'll be hooking that wire back up this afternoon as it should be. Thanks again.