Leviton GFCI Receptacle Questions

Hello,

I have a Leviton GFCI duplex receptacle, bought at ACE, that I installed a few years back, and no longer have the instruction sheet for. I have a note that the model No. is 8599

It's the pretty typical 2 outlet type, with the black and red pushbuttons between the outlets.

It does Not have the little green test light/power indicator light in the corner that I noticed the new models apparently come with.

Would like to test it out, as anything i plug into it does not work. The house circuit breaker for it is Not tripped.

How do I test it please:

If I press the black "Test" button in, is the red "Reset" button supposed to pop-out ? If it does, or doesn't, what does this indicate ?

As long as both buttons are in (depressed positions), which they are, should it be working ?

If anyone could tell me how to test the functionality of the gadget, would be most appreciative. Not too sharp with this stuff, so fairly detailed steps would be appreciated.

Am most interested in why it doesn't supply power, rather than the GFCI aspects.

BTW: these things have a history of usually being pretty reliable ?

Thanks, Bob

Reply to
Bob
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Yes, but only if there is power there.

If it's working the reset button will pop out indicating it detected a fault. If it doesn't then the GFCI is bad.

Yes it should, but apparently either it's kaput or it's not getting power due to something else wrong on the circuit, eg a wire is disconnected somewhere along that circuit path. I would try moving the circuit breaker for that circuit all the way to the off position, then back on. Sometimes the breaker can trip, but the handle only move part way, leading you to believe it;s on. Or alternatively, are other outlets, lights, etc on that breaker working?

Is it possible there is another GFCI upstream on that circuit before this one that is tripped? Usually you would not wire it that way, but it can be done.

They are usually realible, but they do sometimes go bad.

Reply to
trader4

If it doesn't pass the test it is defective assuming you verified there is power. There really isn't much else you can do.

Reply to
George

"Bob" wrote

Yes

Pops out means OK. Stays in, = junk

No. It's broke.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Some of these things are real nasties to reset. Be certain you are pressing the "reset" button all the way in.

Reply to
Mr.E

I don't believe that they will trip if there's no power on the "line" side terminals. So you could have a faulty GFCI, or you could have a problem in your wiring (likely a loose connection.) Easy enough to turn off the breaker, carefully (because you have no way of 100% verifying that there's no power on the wires in the box until you remove the GFCI) remove the GFCI and pull it out of the box, take your meter and check for voltage across the black and white terminals on the GFCI with the breaker turned back on. If you have voltage, replace the GFCI. If you don't, start troubleshooting that problem.

good luck

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Some GFCI receptacles are pretty tricky to reset. I find that pushing the reset button with a screwdriver works, where my finger often doesn't. That model is an older one, which doesn't have a "lock out", so the reset button should remain in even if there is no power to the receptacle. Pull the receptacle, verify that you have a good hot and neutral, if so, and the reset button is not popped out, it's toast.

Reply to
RBM

Did this outlet ever work ?

Or are you trying to figure out what went wrong when you put it in ?

~~ Evan

Reply to
Evan

I agree with what others have written.

If an old GFCI is installed backwards (line-load reversed) the receptacle will always be hot. The test seems to work OK and anything connected through the receptacle downstream will protect OK. The recommended test is to plug in something like a lamp and make sure it goes off.

Newer GFCIs if installed backwards (line-load reversed) will not trip on a ground fault at the receptacle. If they do trip (like from the test button) they can not be reset. I believe they are all shipped tripped so they will not work if installed backwards.

Reply to
bud--

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