GFI Receptacle Question NEW INFORMATION MORE New info

[FLHTPI]

NEW INFORMATION:

OK, based on the help I got here, I checked out my circuit. Here's what I have:

The GFI is switched. When the light comes on it's supposed to be live.

I checked the wiring for the light, and here's what I found: There are three wires coming out of the wall at the light.

The black is connected to black for the light. The white is connected to white for the light. There's a double Brown wire is connected to both the black and white, (one leg to each).

At the GFI, there are only a black and white, (actually, there's a ground at both locations, too).

When I disconnect the brown from either the white or the black at the light, the GFI works but the light doesn't.

One more thing I just found:

I openned up the switch itself. There are: A black and white wire connected to the switch, and a black and white wire connected to each other. If I seem completely lost and confused it's becuase I am.

[Joseph Meehan]

See response in the original thread.

[FLHTPI]

Joe-

Here?s what I did:

I checked the all the connections and everything seems to be OK.

Remember there are two white wires and two black wires at the light. The brown wires were for the light itself, (Duh).

The two black wires are connected to one leg of the light. One white wire goes to the light, and the other white wire is now connected to ground. At this point, the light works, and the GFI works.

I?m still concerned about your comment about connecting neutral to ground. I?m not sure where the white wire that?s connected to ground goes, but the whole thing seems to work now. Is there a way to check if the circuit is wired safely??

Thanks a million for your advice.

Dia is Muire duit.

Don

[Noozer]

There is *NO* white wire connected to ground.

You obviously won't take advice. Hire an electrician so you can argue face to face with someone.

[Joseph Meehan]

Brown is not a standard US or NA color for residential in-wall wiring. It is an indication that something may not be properly wired and everything should be suspect until it is checked or until it is understood where those brown wires came from.

White wires are by description current carrying neutrals. They should be connected to ground ONLY in the breaker box, any other connections to ground is a code and safety violation. It is also an indication of a problem with the why it was wired and a second indication that the entire system should be suspect and considered a potential danger until it is thoroughly checked and any errors and violations corrected.

It is not easy to check unless you really know what you are doing as there are many possible variations and unless you known them well, you may well miss something.

The fact that some part of it works is not an indication that it is properly or safely wired.

I suggest that it is time to call in a professional to find out what is going on before something serious may happen.

For example from what you are describing, it is possible that under certain conditions someone could be injured from a plumbing fixture or a fire may result from the wrong type of wire being used.

[Noozer]

Well, DUH... Why do you care about a GFI at all if you're perfectly happy with illegal wiring?

Methinks I smell a troll.

[Joseph Meehan]

Yes, but if you don't know a lot about wiring and why I am questioning those two BROWN wires, I suspect you really need a professional to come in and do the checking.

BROWN is not a standard color for wiring in a residential home in the US. The fact that it is there is troublesome. It is an indication of at least a code violation if not a safety issue until more is known.

Also since white wires are not normally connected to ground anywhere other than at the breaker box, that is another alert. There are just too many things that are not right to assume it is safe. Please take my advice and have it properly inspected.