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which GFCI to buy?

14K views 138 replies 6 participants last post by  SD515 
#1 · (Edited)
I just removed the GFCI that produced smoke when I pressed the test button. It is a 15 amp GFCI. The circuit breaker to the GFCI says 20 amp. My house was built 10 years ago.

Which new GFCI should I buy? 15 amp or 20 amp?
 
#79 ·
Mike…at your panel you have a breaker labeled ‘fan’ that appears to be tripped. Bath fan maybe? Whole house fan?

I see a sleeve to the left labeled ‘bath gfis’. Find the breakers those go to. Does the red go to the one you have off, and the black go to the breaker that’s tripped? Does that sleeve say anything else?
 
#85 ·
Can you take a better picture of the receptacle box? Test for voltage first....pull the cables out, untwist them as best as possible...disconnect that red wire from that black one....cap 'em off so you're safe...you can leave the grounds as they are....
 
#91 ·
Maybe. Also I think someone got something mixed up with the red & black of the 3 wire coming from the panel...no biggie though.

Cap off ALL the wires and make everything safe. Using you meter, test ALL of the wires to ground. Right now none of them should read any voltage.

If that’s true….turn on the breaker with the red wire (labeled Bath GFI’s) and retest ALL of the wires. Only the red wire(H) should show voltage between it & ground and it & the white (E).

Turn off the red breaker, and turn on the black (labeled fan). It should hold now. If it doesn’t, report back. If it does, retest ALL of the wires for voltage. This time only the black (D) should have voltage…it to ground, it to white (E). Turn off the breaker.

This test should work. You said you identified the cable w/ B & C as the other baths outlets…do they have GFI receptacles or are they protected by this one? Next step would be to identify what the 3rd cable (A &G) goes to.
 
#94 ·
The way your panel is labeled, the red is the gfi bath outlets. Remember the black is labeled 'fan'. Next step is to find that 3rd cable. No fans in either baths? Do you have attic access to look for a gable or roof fan?
 
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