Are there any big downsides to Daisy chaining GFCI outlets? I understand that protection would be redundant. I have an outside outlet that's protected by an upstream GFCI that's located inside the house. I am replacing the outside outlet and am thinking of replacing it with a GFCI. My thinking is that when it trips I'll be able to reset it outside rather than inside. I understand that if the inside outlet trips I won't be able to use the outside one until the inside is reset.
Electrical – Are there drawbacks to installing GFCI outlets in sequence
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Related Solutions
GFCI receptacles have two sets of contacts, line, and load. The Line side of the receptacle is used to power the device, while the load side is used to power other devices down the line. Any device connected to the load side of a GFCI receptacle, will be protected by the GFCI receptacle.
For example, if you have a setup like this (which I assume you have).
There is no need to have a GFCI receptacle as the second receptacle, since it will already be protected by the first GFCI receptacle. Because of this, if the first device trips all devices on the load side will not be powered (as you have noticed).
You can use pigtails to connect the receptacles like this.
But in a setup like this, you'll be required to have a GFCI receptacle at both outlets. The devices down stream are no longer protected by the first GFCI receptacle, because they are not fed by the load side of the device.
FYI:
This is what it would look like if the receptacles were wired in series.
Yes, that is the entire purpose of the load terminals of the GFCI. You can imagine that the protection element of the GFCI extends both to its receptacles, and then just imagine the load pair as another "receptacle".
As to the second part, yes, if you just connect the terminals together "before" the GFCI protection is in place, the GFCI will have no effect - remember, it can only sense problems on its own receptacles and its load terminals.
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Best Answer
That won't work
You're trying to manage sequence of breaker trip, for your convenience of resetting them, and that's tough to do generally.
Especially it isn't going to work with GFCI, because they don't work that way. When there's a ground fault, they all will trip by design. And then, you will have to fight to reset them.
I fail to understand the core problem that you are attempting to solve. They shouldn't be tripping at all. If you have a device that is tripping GFCI, fix it. It's broken.