GFCI Problem

I recently purchased a box of three Leviton GFCI receptacles with the SmartLock feature. When I wired one of them into a two-wire circuit ( no ground) there was no power from the GFCI. I checked it with both a lamp and a voltmeter. It would trip when pressing the Test button (the Reset button would pop out) and then would reset when pressing the Reset button (button stays in). But still no power from the GFCI plugs. I thought maybe the neutral and hot wires were somehow switched, so I checked the black wire with a voltmeter using a neutral from another circuit. It read 120.1 volts. I then checked for voltage on the neutral and got 0. Reading volts across the white and black connected to the GFCI shows 120.1 volts. I thought that maybe the GFCI was faulty so I pulled another from the box and got the same thing. The third one did the same also. I then put the original receptacle back in and it works fine as well as all of the downstream receptacles.

I put one of the GFCI's in a separate circuit as a test. The result was the same as above. I then tried wiring in the downstream receptacles to the Load side of the GFCI and none of them had power either. I'm trying not the think that an entire box of 3 GFCI's are faulty but I'm a little baffled by what I'm seeing or what kind of circuit problem would cause this.

Does anyone have an idea as to what might cause this kind of thing?

Reply to
HarryS
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Hi, They have line terminals and load terminals. Sure hooking it up on the right terminal? And missing ground? I never installed one without a ground. That could be a problem? Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

No, in fact NEC code recommends installing GFCI in as an upgrade in old two slot (no ground outlets). You should pigtail them in the old receptical on the line (not load) terminals. Usually the load terminals are taped off on new GFCI plugs.

Reply to
CKI

Arte you connecting to the line side?

Reply to
gfretwell

Yes, I'm connecting to the line terminals. When I tried one on a different circuit and it wouldn't work there either, I tried hooking the downstream receptacles on that circuit to the load terminals on the GFCI and then they had no power either.

Reply to
HarryS

You did push the button to reset it, right?

I have gotten faulty new gfis, but not 3 of them. The ones you have may REQUIRE a ground wire. Try hooking one directly to a breaker in your panel where you can get a ground. See if it works there. (or run a long piece of wire from a known ground to your installed location.

If that dont fix it, your guess is as good as mine.

What is the SmartLock feature? I have not herd that one yet?

Reply to
maradcliff

"Leviton's SmartLock incorporates a diagnostic feature that prevents the GFCI from resetting if the line and load connections are mistakenly reversed."

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Reply to
buffalobill

My house is old enough that there is no ground to any receptacles except the one in the laundry room. I have connected GFCIs to several of them and have had no problem unless the GFCI itself was defective.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

Those "smart locks" are very difficult to set. You can push in to were they appear to be reset without having actually pushed them in far enough to reset them. Push in quite firmly until you hear a distinct click.

-- Tom Horne

Reply to
Member, Takoma Park Volunteer

First, I believe you need to determine if your GFCI is working or not. To do this check for continuity between the line and load terminals. If there is no continuity, try resetting the GFCI. If you have continuity, try tripping the GFCI to ensure it will trip. You may have to apply power to do this. Once the GFCI is tripped, you should not have continuity between the line and load terminals. Check the line and load brass screws as well as the silver screws. You should only have continuity between the same colored screws. You should NOT have continuity between any of the brass screws to any of the silver screws.

If all of the above checks out. I believe you are wiring the GFCI incorrect. When you wire the GFCI, ensure the black line wire is on terminated under the brass line screw. You also need to ensure your white line wire is terminated under the silver line screw. The line is your power in, the load is your power out.

We provide electrical consulting services to help with these type of problems. You may visit our web site for the details.

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I hope this helps. Good Luck and be safe. Never work with live electricity. Always ensure your power is off before working on any circuits.

Reply to
gilchrist-electric

I've pushed the Reset hard. I've held it in for 10-15 seconds. When I first push it, I hear the click and the button remains partially depressed. If I push the Test button, the Reset button pops out.

Reply to
HarryS

For a little more on this post. I pulled one of these GFCI's out of the box and decided to try again. First, I put a couple of short pieces of insulated #12 on the two line terminals and just "plugged" it into an existing receptacle. The Test button worked and the Reset seemed to work and when I checked the GFCI with a voltmeter, power was feeding through. So, I went back to the original location and tried the same thing and it worked there too. I pulled the receptacle and installed the GFCI (just like I had before) and it worked, feeding power through the GFCI receptacle itself and also powering the downstream receptacles. I plugged a lamp into the GFCI, hit the Test button, and the light went out. I hit the Reset button and the light relit. I tried this several more times and sometimes the Reset would click but the power didn't feed through to the GFCI receptacle or the downstream receptacles and, of course, my lamp didn't relight. If I kept performing a Test and Reset, eventually the Reset would take and everything would power up. I did notice one other thing about the Reset button - a 'very' slight touch of the button would make the power shut down. When you removed the slight touch, the power came back on. The Reset button on these GFCI's is very, very sensitive and apparently acts as a switch with only slight pressure. Judging by how light a touch of the Reset button will kill the power, I'm wondering if there are times when the Reset button just doesn't pop all of the way out? If this is the case, it seems like a design flaw.

"HarryS" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

Reply to
HarryS

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