Electrical – connect two load lines to a GFCI receptacle

electricalgfciwiring

I just bought a leviton GFCI and the instructions say if there are two load lines in the box, do not connect the GFCI in that box.
I can't understand why this is a problem, especially since the device has holes for two sets of wires (plus screw terminals) on the load side. Is this an issue of GFCI volume vs box size?

This a kitchen outlet; my alternative would be to cut into the supply line & put the GFCI there, but this would be in the basement and inconvenient.

Best Answer

You can connect two loads to in the same box. I don't see any valid safety or utility issue here.

I suspect that Leviton advises against it because of ground potential differences in the multiple load lines. I would speculate that if the potential difference is significant enough it could cause a trip of the GFCI if it is grounded to the same box as the loads.

It's not uncommon for a weekend-warrior to ground load lines from the GFCI separately and cause a trip. This may erroneously lead the user to think there is a problem with the GCFI receptacle when, in fact, this is precisely the intended behavior.