# new GFCI outlet won't work



## will107777 (May 27, 2013)

I have a GFCI outlet in my bathroom that tripped when my wife was using a clothes steamer. It would not "un-trip" afterwards. So I bought and installed a new GFCI outlet, but it still won't work. 

Every other outlet/switch in my house still works. The outlet in question does not feed out into any other outlets, it just receives. I installed the outlet the same way the old one was installed (which worked for years and years just fine). I have made sure the wires are tightly secured into the outlet, and I have tried pressing the test and reset buttons multiple times.

What could be my problem? Could it be the wires themselves, even though everything else works fine?


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

In the near past, Have you removed, replaced or reconfigured any electrical devices prior to the GFCI tripping and not resetting?

Is the insulation nicked off any of the wires when you pushed it back in its box? 

Pull the GFCI out of the box and try resetting it.


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## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

Cycle the power off, then on at the breaker and then try to reset it.
I have also run across GFCI receptacles that are very hard to reset after pushing the test button.

Is this in a metal box or plastic?


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Did you cut the breaker back on, needs power to reset.
Checked to make sure there's incoming power?
100% sure you have the incoming power on the load side of the outlet not the line side? Should be marking on the back side if the outlet to tell you which is which.


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## will107777 (May 27, 2013)

Yes I am sure the wires are connected right...tried flipping the power on and off as well. Getting nothing at the outlet though - and again, everything else works perfect. I'm at a total loss here.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Did you test the wires to see if you have power to the outlet?


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## will107777 (May 27, 2013)

No I didn't test the wires. Could it be the wires even if every other outlet and switch still work fine though?


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Quite possible----in older homes (1970s) the bath/kitchen and outside outlets were all wired together to save costs----frequently, when a bath outlet is not working, the wires are dead and need to be traced to another GFCI outlet or to a gfci breaker.

Test it--sure beats trying to get an outlet to work that has no power.


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## clydesdale (Nov 25, 2010)

joecaption said:


> Did you cut the breaker back on, needs power to reset.
> Checked to make sure there's incoming power?
> 100% sure you have the incoming power on the load side of the outlet not the line side? Should be marking on the back side if the outlet to tell you which is which.


Joe I think you meant be 100% sure you have incoming power on the LINE terminals not the LOAD.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

I agree with OH'MIKE. Could be another GFCI on the same circuit (often in the garage)that has tripped and you really don't need the GFCI in the bathroom as you have protection elsewhere.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I'm always surprised by how few homeowners have a simple electrical tester .

If you need to buy a tester--get a two wire tester ,not a noncontact tester.

I like Wiggy style testers---a Multi-meter will work well also---but are a bit fragile for heavy field use----

In order to test a circuit you want to touch ground and then the power with the second probe---
If it is live--then repeat the test using the neutral and power---If it does not register,you will know that the neutral is out----

That can't be done with a non-contact tester----so don't get one of those----


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## micromind (Mar 9, 2008)

Is there a ground wire present? A typical GFI won't trip if there's no ground. 

Also, is the black wire on the side with the darker colored screws? And is the black actually hot? A lot of modern GFIs won't reset if the polarity is reversed. 

One quick test to see if there's another GFI ahead of this one is to check continuity between neutral and ground. If it's open, most likely there's another GFI in the circuit, as a tripped GFI opens both the hot and neutral. 

Rob


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## curiousB (Jan 16, 2012)

micromind said:


> Is there a ground wire present? A typical GFI won't trip if there's no ground.
> 
> Rob


Sorry Rob-o no ground wire needed for a gfci to work. They operate via differential transformer. Any imbalance between hot and neutral over 5mA will trip unit. Ground or no ground.


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## micromind (Mar 9, 2008)

curiousB said:


> Sorry Rob-o no ground wire needed for a gfci to work. They operate via differential transformer. Any imbalance between hot and neutral over 5mA will trip unit. Ground or no ground.


I didn't state 'work', I stated 'trip'. I should have been more concise; a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground. 

Sorry for the confusion.


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## sublime2 (Mar 21, 2012)

micromind said:


> I didn't state 'work', I stated 'trip'. I should have been more concise; a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground.
> 
> Sorry for the confusion.


Incorrect. A GFI will work properly without a ground. It will not protect equipment without a ground, hence the label that comes with it indicating such.


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## clydesdale (Nov 25, 2010)

sublime2 said:


> Incorrect. A GFI will work properly without a ground. It will not protect equipment without a ground, hence the label that comes with it indicating such.


Rob's statement was in response to oh'mike's comments about getting an electrical tester. What Rob was pointing out is those testers won't trip the GFCI if there is no ground wire present. You need to use the integral tester on the GFCI receptacle if there is no ground wire present.


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## sublime2 (Mar 21, 2012)

clydesdale said:


> Rob's statement was in response to oh'mike's comments about getting an electrical tester. What Rob was pointing out is those testers won't trip the GFCI if there is no ground wire present. You need to use the integral tester on the GFCI receptacle if there is no ground wire present.


Think you may need to re read what he posted. 

a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

sublime2 said:


> Think you may need to re read what he posted.
> 
> a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground.


Could there be different circuted GFI's. I replaced a bunch on my daughters ungrounded 1953 build, and while I can't go over there now, I could swear they trip with their integral trip test button.

They definately won't trip with the "plug-in" tester, as that uses a jump to ground to fault it.

My memory could be wrong though, but I could swear the intternal trip will trip it. It was my first experience with an old non-grounded branch system.

Peter


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## sublime2 (Mar 21, 2012)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> Could there be different circuted GFI's. I replaced a bunch on my daughters ungrounded 1953 build, and while I can't go over there now, I could swear they trip with their integral trip test button.
> 
> They definately won't trip with the "plug-in" tester, as that uses a jump to ground to fault it.
> My memory could be wrong though, but I could swear the intternal trip will trip it. It was my first experience with an old non-grounded branch system.
> ...


You are correct!


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

sublime2 said:


> Think you may need to re read what he posted.
> 
> a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground.


If you mean the test button on a 3 light tester you are correct. If you mean the built-in test button you are incorrect.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I learn something new every day, here in electrical---Thanks---


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## jproffer (Mar 12, 2005)

joecaption said:


> Did you cut the breaker back on, needs power to reset.
> Checked to make sure there's incoming power?
> 100% sure you have the *incoming power on the load side of the outlet not the line side*? Should be marking on the back side if the outlet to tell you which is which.


I figure you know what you meant, and just typed it wrong, but I *think* this is backwards....isn't it?

The incoming feed comes to the line side.

EDIT: Sorry Joe, I just read down far enough to see the other similar comment.


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## Crash1952 (May 1, 2016)

My new GFCI would not work, had the green light but no power in the outlets.

Turns out that the new ones have different wiring configuration, I switched the top black and bottom, same on the white side, works fine. My local electrician gave me this info via phone (Silva Electric-Tracy, CA):biggrin2:


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

micromind said:


> I didn't state 'work', I stated 'trip'. I should have been more concise; a GFI will trip on a fault if there's no ground present, but it will not trip by pushing the test button if there's no ground.
> 
> Sorry for the confusion.



Deleted


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