electricalgfci
In my garage I have two wall receptacles on opposite sides of the garage. On one side the receptacle is a GFCI receptacle and the other side is a normal one. In the normal receptacle I have a small deep freeze, and a refrigerator plugged in. A couple of times a day I go out and neither the refrigerator nor the freezer are working, and the GFCI receptacle on the other wall is tripped.
Any suggestions on what I can do to fix this?
You should never chain two GFCI circuits together. When you install a GFCI circuit, you should only ever chain standard outlets off of them. Multiple GFCI on the same circuit can cause each other to trip.
So yes, what you want to do is actually what you should do.
What you do need to do, however, is make sure you connect the new outlet to the LOAD terminals on the GFCI outlet. That will put the new outlet on GFCI protection.
You should also sticker the new outlets as GFCI protected.
See in the above how the duplex (standard) outlet is fed from the GFCI, NOT the main line.
And in case it's unclear- the 3 gfci in the pic are not chained - they are connected in parallel. Only the standard outlet is "chained" - or connected in serial.
You can use multiple GFCI devices on a single circuit, you just cannot connect them inline with each other. If your current wiring looks like this, where the yard receptacle is connected to the load side of the GFCI receptacle in the garage.
You can change the way the second receptacle is supplied, by connecting it in parallel with the existing GFCI receptacle. Then you can swap the receptacle in the yard, with a GFCI receptacle.
In this configuration, the GFCI in the garage will only trip if a ground-fault is detected in any device plugged in to it. While the GFCI in the yard will trip if any device plugged in to it, has a ground-fault.
If the GFCI protecting the circuit is a combination GFCI/circuit breaker, you'll have to swap it out for a regular circuit breaker. Then you'll have to protect individual outlets appropriately, using other GFCI devices.
Best Answer
It sounds like your normal outlet is wired to the GFCI, making it a protected outlet.
Turn the power off, and remove the GFCI. You should see Black and White wires connected to the "LINE" Terminals, and another pair Connected to the "LOAD" Terminals. Devices with motors can trip GFCI outlets due to inductive loads at start up or shutdown.
Get yourself some spare wire. If you don't have any, buy a foot of 14/2 household wire from the local Orange or Blue Big Box Store. Also pick up some wire nuts rated for 3 14 ga wires.
You'll need to cut 4-6 inch white and black "jumper" wires and strip the ends.
Disconnect all wires from the GFCI, and screw in the LOAD screws all the way. I like to tape them off with electrical tape.
Attach one end to the LINE Terminals, matching white to white and black to black. (Brass screw is black, Metal screw is white. Green screw is ground (green or bare).
Now wire the three white wires together with a wire nut. Similarly, wire the blacks. These are called Pigtails.
Wire the two remaining ground wires to the ground (green) screw on the GFCI.
Stuff the wires in and re-mount the outlet.
You've just unprotected the fridge and freezer. However, I'd put a label on the unprotected box "NOT GFCI" so that a future owner doesn't make any assumptions.
EDIT: There may be a code requirement to have all garage circuits GFCI protected. Check with your local authority before doing this.