I have plugged in my christmas lights outside and it is going to rain so I wonder if my outlet is GFCI or not. Is there a way to tell?
2006-12-22 11:26:51 · 6 answers · asked by l'il mama 5 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
most outside outlets are gfci protected either by a wired in place outlet or a circuit breaker that is gfci protected. but since you know it is going to rain why not simply unplug the lights, why tempt fate, anything can fail, and we don't want to see your house on the news in the morning because of an electrical fire due to x-mas lites. a few things any home owner should have is a simple volt/ohm meter
and a plug-in outlet tester, both shouldn't cost more than $ 30.00-$40.00. have a happy and safe holiday and a great new year!!
2006-12-22 11:51:46 · answer #1 · answered by barrbou214 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many times the outside outlet will not be the GFCI outlet itself... The outside outlets are protected from an outlet in the kitchen bathroom washroom etc. A GFCI outlet will protect everything down stream of it.( i hope that makes sense)...Outlets in a house are wired in a big chain...If the gfci is the first link in the chain, everything else is protected...
A way to check your outlets is:
Buy the tester at your local hardware store (Costs money)
or You trip all the gfcis with the test button. After "tripping" all the gfci's go out with a small desk lamp and see if the outlets are still hot...
Hope that helps
2006-12-22 16:18:51 · answer #2 · answered by David P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There will be two buttons in between the outlets - one to Test (usually black) the GFCI circuitry and one (usually red) to Reset the circuit.
http://www.cornerhardware.com/howto/ht067.html
2006-12-22 13:58:48 · answer #3 · answered by Tom-SJ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
easiest way is to go to home depot and buy a gfi plug tester they are about 8 bucks then go home and plug it in your outside plug and it will light up then theres a black button on the tester push that button if the lights go out on the tester then its gfi protected.then go inside and find the tripped gfi plug and hit the reset button.problem solved! if its not gfi protected the plug is 12 -15 bucks and you could put it in yourself. just turn off all the power in your house and do it no big deal
2006-12-23 04:17:43 · answer #4 · answered by b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IT'LL HAVE A RESET BUTTON IN BETWEEN PLUG OUTLETS.
2006-12-22 11:29:42 · answer #5 · answered by HADITDUN 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it should have a red reset button in middle of the sockets
hope that helps
2006-12-22 11:32:29 · answer #6 · answered by pomohud 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋