Another GFCI Problem

SpartanEpoxies
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
J

JohnPetrucci00

New Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hello,

I am trying to replace two, non-grounded outlets with GFCI outlets. I have included a (horribly drawn) picture to illustrate the configuration.

One outlet had two wires attached originally while the other had four. Both outlets are on the same circuit. I connected the two wires from the original outlet on the left to the 'load' terminals. For the other outlet, I connected two wires to 'load' and two wires to 'line'. After turning on the circuit breaker, I measured 0 voltage across both outlets. I switched 'load' and 'line' on the the right outlet and had the same issue.

Interestingly, the little green light on the right outlet turns on while it remains off on the left outlet.

Any ideas?

-John

GFCI-drawing.jpg
 
Last edited:
The outlet with two wires have to be connected to the LINE (top) terminals.
On the outlet with four wires, you have to determine which wires are LINE and which wires are LOAD and connect accordingly.
You must also press the Reset button on both GFCIs to get a volt reading from the oulet.
 
Thanks for the reply. I apologize - I had a typo in my post. The outlet with two wires is actually connected to 'line'. I left the sticker in place on 'load' and only removed it for the outlet with four wires. I have tried swapping 'line' and 'load' on the outlet with four wires and have non-functioning outlets in both cases.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but I think you only need one gfi, power to line , load to second plug. If you are using two stay away from load and hook up to line.
 
Hey guys...if you're not sure then giving advice on electrical questions is NOT a good idea!!

If these 2 outlets are on the same circuit then they can use1 GFI to cover any outlets "downstream". You need a tester to find out which pair of wires are the "hot" side of the circuit. These would be in the box with the 4 wires. Make sure that you can see that they are a "pair" (coming from the same cable or pipe). These 2 (black and white) would go to the LINE side of the GFI. The other 2 feed the other outlet and go to the LOAD side. All you would need is a regular duplex outlet at the box with 2 wires and it should be protected by this GFI.

Just be careful and use some common sense.
 
Yes only one needs to be GFCI(the one with two cables). The second receptacle when connected to the LOAD terminals is also protected by the GFCI. Be sure to install the no ground stickers.

Did you push the RESET button after you installed the GFCI? They won't reset without power to them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top