electricalgfci
I was replacing a outdoor GFI when putting back in box the ground touched the lower unused terminal and fried the ground, shorted GFI out. Now I have some switches in the house that do not work mainly on off switches and 2 standard outlets. No breakers are tripped?
All other GFI's in house work, What might I check next? I have not tried a new outdoor GFI yet.
I would start troubleshooting by disconnecting the Load side of the GFCI, this will tell you if the problem is upstream or downstream from the receptacle.
If the GFCI resets with nothing connected to the load terminals, you'll want to look for a short/problem in the lines and devices supplied by the GFCI. If the GFCI does not reset with nothing connected to the load terminals, you'll have to trace the line back to the breaker looking for shorts/problems along the way.
All of your symptoms sound like a faulty Neutral connection. Faulty neutral causes L1 to affect L2, and has no affect on 220 equipment just like you described.
Fix that quick. A faulty neutral can damage your equipment, and because you installed a second ground, it can harm YOU as well. Check that the neutral wire is firmly connected, and using Noalox:
ALL aluminum connections for that matter should be protected from corrosion and thermal expansion with Noalox.
You are lucky that you have a conduit! You have an EASY way to remove the entire length of the neutral conductor to inspect it for damage. You should also take advantage of that conduit to pull a ground conductor through it and use that to ground your sub panel VIA your main panel. Do not use a second ground rod at the sub. It is not worth the risk in your case.
Best Answer
It sounds like you fried the GFCI. 2 things that I Usually to to make it safe. turn the power off. With double gang or metal boxes wrap a couple layers of electrical tape around the terminals of the outlet or switch. Replacing the GFCI would be my first step. the outlet may work but not pass power to the other devices.