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Amperage for residential GFCIs

3K views 38 replies 18 participants last post by  Photobug 
#1 ·
I just got the electrical work in my house done and used 15 amp GFCIs for each of the two bathrooms. Neither of them work. Why is that? Even if they were installed on a 20 amp circuit, shouldn't they work? As far as the load on the electrical system, I'm the sole inhabitant of the house, but I do have a fair amount of electric and electronic items.

I also need to get GFCI outlets for the kitchen and outdoors. Would 15 amp be OK for that?

Here's my electrical box, for reference. I know one of the 20 amp breakers was switched off but I turned it back on after the picture was taken. The numbers on the box are hard to read so I wrote them in more clearly. That black square is to cover up a permit sticker that has my address and town name on it.
 

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#35 ·
Take what i say with a grain of salt because what I know about wiring i learned from this forum and may have misremembered this: But current codes has each bathroom needing its own 20amp GFI wire running the outlets. The lights need to be separate so a hair dryer does not take out all power and the lights if it trips a circuit breaker.
This is not part of the NEC. One 20 amp circuit can supply 1 or 100 bathroom receptacles as long as it is only receptacle loads.
 
#9 ·
And after the GFCI issue is solved and just as a reminder, please get a blank filler put in the open breaker box slot. And if one cannot be found, a $5-7 single pole breaker installed as a spare, will do the job cheap for safety's sake.



Good Luck on your project.
Thank you. I was wondering about that. I just did a search on the Home Depot website and see that filler plates are very cheap. Does the electrical supply need to be turned off to put one on?

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#23 ·
You mentioned TWO GFCI outlets? Anothe common error is when using two GFCI's on a circuit, you cannot use one GFCI as a pass-through to the next. They will "fight" each other. Instead they must be pig-tailed so that the power source to each is isolated from one another. Each of the GFCI's can be used as pass-through devices to protect other non-GFCI recepticles but power cannot be fed through one GFCI to the other GFCI.
 
#38 ·
A bathroom circuit can power only receptacles in multiple bathrooms, or it can power lights, fans and the receptacle if it only serves ONE bathroom.

This has been in place for multiple code cycles.
 
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#22 ·
This really should have done by your electrician, but check the information pamphlet that came with the GFCI receptacles. Most require the breaker to be turned on before you initially press the reset button. This should all fall back on your electrician. You paid him to give you working circuits, and it seems so far he hasn't.
 
#25 ·
There are some GFCIs out there that will not work if the wires are put into the quick slots. I ran across the same problem you have, they did not work. I wrapped the wiring around the standard external screw-ins and the problem was solved. Just tighten those screw-heads down real good.
 
#31 ·
GFI's do not use a backstab arrangement. They use a back wired clamp. Never seen any with a backstab. Even if they did exist there is no reason the device would not work.
 
#29 ·
You say you "...got the electrical work in my house done..." Does that mean you had an electrician do it? Or did you do it yourself?



If you used an electrician, this is his/her problem. But I suspect this is your work. And I have to assume that your "...15 amp GFCIs for each of the two bathrooms..." are Ground Fault OUTLETS that were installed in existing boxes in the bathrooms and not Ground Fault breakers installed in the breaker box. It does not look like there are any Ground Fault breakers in the breaker box, but I am not familiar with the appearance of every one ever made.



Things to check:
1. Does power actually get to those bathroom boxed? A neon tester can quickly determine this.

2. Is the incoming line to those boxes actually connected to the Line terminals of those outlets? Most Ground Fault outlets have pass thru terminals which allow additional, standard outlets to be connected downstream of the GF outlet and have the same protection. But these pass thru terminals can not be used to provide the power to that initial GF outlet. You MUST use the proper terminals on them.

3. Is there a proper ground in those boxes and is that ground actually connected to the GF outlets? If these are plastic boxes, you may need an individual ground wire connected to the green terminal on the GF outlets. If it is an older building there may not be a ground wire from the breaker box to these boxes. If that is the case, please DO get a proper ground run, even if you must employ an electrician to do it.



If those three things (power to the box, proper connections, and a ground) were done properly, the GF outlets should work. It is unlikely that you got two bad GF outlets, but it could have happened.



Please do this with care. Turn the breakers off before opening the boxes. Test all wires for power with a neon tester (not a meter which can easily be burnt out - and YES, I have personally seen that happen) before touching them. Only turn the breakers on when live power is actually needed for testing and be extra careful then. Kill the power again before any work or before re-closing the box. And, if at all possible, have someone there while you are working. DO NOT DO IT ALONE! Far more knowledgeable people have been killed while working with electricity alone. I would be considered a professional and an expert, but I have been bitten. Once by 40,000 Volts and I can assure you it is no picnic.



As for the outlets you need for the kitchen and outdoors, you need to consider the things that they will power and the circuits that they will be installed in. If they are 20 Amp circuits, then either 15 or 20 Amp outlets are OK. If only 15 Amp circuits, then I would urge you to either upgrade or to consult with a licensed electrician or the local city/county inspectors.







I just got the electrical work in my house done and used 15 amp GFCIs for each of the two bathrooms. Neither of them work. Why is that? Even if they were installed on a 20 amp circuit, shouldn't they work? As far as the load on the electrical system, I'm the sole inhabitant of the house, but I do have a fair amount of electric and electronic items.

I also need to get GFCI outlets for the kitchen and outdoors. Would 15 amp be OK for that?

Here's my electrical box, for reference. I know one of the 20 amp breakers was switched off but I turned it back on after the picture was taken. The numbers on the box are hard to read so I wrote them in more clearly. That black square is to cover up a permit sticker that has my address and town name on it.
 
#32 ·
3. Is there a proper ground in those boxes and is that ground actually connected to the GF outlets? If these are plastic boxes, you may need an individual ground wire connected to the green terminal on the GF outlets. If it is an older building there may not be a ground wire from the breaker box to these boxes. If that is the case, please DO get a proper ground run, even if you must employ an electrician to do it.
A GFI does not need a ground wire to work properly.
 
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