All,

I had a licensed electrician install a gfci switch/receptacle and a mechanical timer. The timer controls an exhaust fan and that works fine just by turning the timer. The GFCI switch is supposed to turn the vanity on and off. the problem is that when i hook the vanity up and flip the switch the GFI trips and the whole mess turns off. I put a audible tester on the vanity wires from the wall and there seem to be an issue. i have power to the black wire when the light is switched to the on position and when the switch is off but the fan timer is on. I don't know what the issue could be but i remember the electrician saying that the fan ground wire had to be linked into the wire (neutral) wire tie at the switch to get it to work. Anyone have any idea what issue I might be having? I tried multiple light fixtures with the same shorting out result for each. Check out my switch bank picture.

 

What exactly ? Just a light. Those inductive audible testers are wonderful devices. They tell you the circuit you are looking at has ac power. That's it. They are fooled by phantom/inductive voltages so are not the ideal testing devices.

You had a licensed electrician do this work ??? Get him back there. My customers have absolutely no problem calling me if there was an issue with my work.

 

A neutral is never tied to a ground. It is a safety hazard and code violation*. There is no code requirement to have a light in a bathroom GFCI protected. Either you are misunderstanding the electrician or he needs to brush up on his basics, As PJ said get him back to fix the problems and ask him about the wiring to clear up any misunderstandings.

*I have seen people use the ground for a neutral wire when the cable has too few wires. If that is what he did fire him and get a real electrician to correct the dangerous mess he made.

 

The issue is the ground is being used as a neutral which is unsafe and against the code. Have the contractor fix the problem. No responsible contractor should have tried that crap.