HI I have a GFCI breaker dedicated to 2 GFCI outlets that are both outside. I can not get the breaker to reset and no wiring looks damaged. I took out the GFCI breaker and put a regular breaker in its place and the outlets worked fine. I am really stumped on what the problem could be and hope someone can help Thanks Gary
1. since one is pool related I think you should wait until some of the more experienced posters weigh in for a full answer
as to the other issue, find out what is causing the problem. a ground to neutral short is a safety issue - you do not want any current flowing on the EGC. once you resolve it and get an answer to #1 above, then decide what to do breaker-wise
That's What I kinda figured. It was that way when I bought the house the one outlet is used to operate my pool pump so didnt know if it was required to have a gfi breaker. So can I just but a regular circuit breaker in its place and not worry about finding the problem?
You need to really understand the circuit layout. GFCI outlets after a GFCI breaker is redundant as stated but it is also a bad thing. You could press the test button at the GFCI receptacle but have the GFCI breaker trip first. This would be very confusing to an unknowing person trying to just conduct the monthly test at a GFCI outlet (press receptacle test button and power trips off but reset button on receptacle doesn't trip?!?!?!).
Just swapping out the breaker to a standard one and having GFCI at point of use seems to make sense but the devil :furious: is in the details. What if parts of this branch circuit go to places needing GFCI protection before the GFCI outlets? They would then become unprotected.
You need to find why the GFCI breaker is tripping first and foremost. Once you sort that out then maybe you just remove the GFCI outlets and put in regular waterproof duplex receptacles and a label saying they are GFCI protected at the panel. I would also get a GFCI tester plug and try all the outlets to be sure they do trip the GFCI breaker when a test ground fault is fired at each outlet.
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