I just replaced a standard receptacle with the GFCI in the bathroom. Everything worked fine before the change. The heater and the GFCI share a common neutral I believe. The heater is on a dedicated hot wire. If I remove the GFCI and replace it with the standard receptacle everything works fine again. Any ideas why? Thanks.
2007-11-27 06:32:05 · 4 answers · asked by Flamingo Kid 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Something is not connected correctly. The shared neutral ahead of the GFCI would have no effect. Make sure you are connecting to the line side of the GFCI and that your polarity is correct. If you want the heater connected to the load side of the GFCI you must run both the neutral and hot to the heater from the GFCI load terminals. A GFCI works by comparing the current flow (on it's load side) in the hot and the neutral. If there is a difference, the GFCI trips. Grounds have nothing to do with it.
2007-11-28 08:04:39 · answer #1 · answered by John himself 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GFCI works on Ground faults. Disconnect the ground for the light and keep separate from GFCI. It has to have it,s own ground If this is the problem you will have to change the heater ground. You say it has its own dedicated circuit? Don't ground them together. Let me know how you make out. It could also be a problem with the white or common ground. Some where along the line the problem is in the grounds
2007-11-27 08:29:07 · answer #2 · answered by Bill 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Be sure the hot side coming from the panel is wired to the side on the GFCI that says 'Line' my guess is that it's wired backwards.
2007-11-27 07:14:25 · answer #3 · answered by Parercut Faint 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Honestly can't tell you why, but electricians have
noted that GFCI's sometimes don't like to share
a neutral, even upstream of the device.
Sensitive little buggers!
2007-11-27 07:17:23 · answer #4 · answered by Irv S 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋