I have a GFI receptacle in the garage that protects the bathrooms and outside receptacles, everything is three pronged. Recently the circuit has been shutting off on a regular basis. I thought I had found the problem in the outside outlet where the face was cracked so I replaced the outlet this seemed to fix it for a while. No luck. Next I checked the fish pond pumps, air pump was not working, replaced it, No luck. Next checked the water circulation pump had a faulty cord with burned insulation at the plug between line and common blades, replaced pump, No Luck. Could all of these faults worn out the original GFI? It is 30 years old and came with the house when new. I read that GFIs don't like motors but the previous pump ran for two years before problems showed up. Should I get a higher amperage GFI or replace it with the same type?
Electrical – GFI frequently tripping
electricalgfci
Related Solutions
Near where the service enters the house, you should see a grounding block similar to this.
The coaxial cable from the pole/dish/mast should be connected to one side, and the coaxial cable feeding to the house should be on the other side. The screw terminal should have an insulated copper wire, larger than 14 AWG, and shorter than 20' (6 m) attached. The other end of this wire should be attached to either:
- The Intersystem Bonding Termination.
- The grounding electrode system.
- The grounded interior metal water piping system, within 5' (1.5 m) from the point of entrance to the building.
- The metallic power service raceway.
- The service equipment enclosure.
- The grounding electrode conductor.
- Or where the building has no grounding means, to an approved grounding electrode.
If the service is not grounded at the house, it could be (and likely is) at a different voltage potential than the grounding system in your house.
The breaker was not tripped but I did flip all the breakers off and on a couple times to be sure.
Based on this and other comments, it sounds more like an open somewhere in the circuit and not a short. The other possibility is maybe (big emphasis on maybe) a bad breaker that didn't trip for a short. Here's some good reading about this subject
Half of the original circuit is powered by one breaker and the other half powered by a different breaker
(1) Consider physically disconnecting the half supplied by the new breaker from any cable(s) fed by the old breaker. (2) Or, as @Craig stated, simply turn off the old breaker. This is the fail-safe option.
On the same breaker there is the bathroom plug with GFI, light fixture and fan all working as expected including the GFI.
Based on what you have described, he rewired the portion(s) of the circuit that were acting odd, which implies that your open/loose connection/gremlins are somewhere between the OK portion of the old circuit and what he rewired. If you can't live without power in the bathroom you mentioned, then consider option (1) above.
If you disconnect the old circuit where the new begins, you should be minimizing the chance of aggravating the situation. By turning the old breaker off, you completely remove the chance of aggravating the situation.
Best Answer
It's true GFCI's do go bad and will wear out over multiple trips. So replacing one after 30 years is a good idea since the replacement is not all that expensive. But lets say the replacement does not fix the problem.
So to start, let's look at how a GFCI works. It is a closed loop system unlike an overcurrent protection. It actually measures the current in the hot wire against the return current in the neutral and if it senses a slight difference. It acknowledges there is leakage in the circuit itself. Since it is not intelligent it can only assume that there is a problem and therefore it trips.
When we troubleshoot a GFCI. WE start by removing all loads attached to the device. Then if we reset the device and check to see if trips. If it does not trip then one or more of the pieces of equipment attached to the circuit has some sort of problem. If it does trip we know that the installed GFCI device and its circuit is the problem and you begin a step by step approach to investigate and locate the problem internal to the circuit itself.
Moisture is a big player in GFCI tripping and you don't need much. For example many times on a construction site after a rain, an extension cord with a very small crack or cut in the jacket, not the insulation, will absorb enough moisture into the fill material of the cord to trip a GFCI. Remove the cord and set it out in the sun to dry for a few hours and you will be able to plug it back in and it will work.
So remove all equipment from the circuit. Check all cordage and exterior devices for moisture and make sure they are in good condition, clean and dry. Pay attention to equipment cordage that is making contact with the earth. More than likely the problem will make itself apparent. Reset the GFCI, if it stays reset then plug each piece of equipment onto the circuit one at a time and check to see which pieces of equipment are tripped your device. Replace or repair any piece of equipment causing a trip.
Hope this helps.