The reset button shot across the room from the kitchen GFCI receptacle last night. Tonight, the same thing occurred in the upstairs bathroom GFCI receptacle. Is it possible that both GFCI receptacles went bad on consecutive days? Please help. Thanks in advance!
Is there a chance that there was a device or appliance plugged into the kitchen outlet (and that GFCI in the kitchen could have been protecting other outlets, too) that was today plugged into the bathroom GFCI or whatever other outlet the bathroom GFCI is protecting? I mean, unless you can find a certain load that was common for both outlets, this is most likely just a freaky coincidence.
GFCI outlets are sensing small currents between the hot wire and the ground, a condition that would occur if a person touched the hot wire. I guess, is a mouse touches it, the outlet will also trip, but that is a very unlikely scenario - I never heard of it actually happening. So, you 'd have to try and find something that was plugged into both outlets to find the culprit.
And another thing: a GFCI outlet certainly should <strong>not</strong> disintegrate with buttons shooting across the room. This makes me think that both outlets were from the same manufacturing batch and it was not the best batch for sure. I would advise you to re-check the outlets just in case. They do sell small GFCI outlet testers such as these :
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