GFI help needed.

[Raymond Fries]

I have a GFI circuit in my house as there is a breaker in the box marked GFI. There is an GFI outlet in the garage that I replaced about a week ago. It kept tripping after about 30 seconds. When it tripped, the outlets in both bathrooms went dead. Today the new one is tripping just like the old one and I have no clue what is wrong.

Any ideas on what I need to change?

Thanks

[Judson Green]

I don't think you can have 2 GFCI on the same circuit. Not sure if that's your problem though.

[roger wiegand]

The easiest explanation is that you have a ground fault and it's working correctly. First step is to identify everything on the circuit and unplug it. If it stops, great; then plug things back in one at a time until it starts again. The last thing plugged in will be your culprit. If it still trips with everything unplugged, then the fun begins. I've been chasing an intermittent one in a trailer for four years and three electricians now without success in resolving it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Actually, you can have more than on GFI on a circuit but it's redundant, overkill and not necessary.

I'm with Roger. The GFI is working and protecting you from a "ground fault" somewhere down stream. As he said.....find out what that GFI feeds...make a list of what outlets, etc. lose power when the GFI trips...... isolate them one at a time until it quits tripping. The last thing disconnected should be the cause of the trip.

[Dan Hintz]

I have a GFI circuit in my house as there is a breaker in the box marked GFI. There is an GFI outlet in the garage that I replaced about a week ago. It kept tripping after about 30 seconds. When it tripped, the outlets in both bathrooms went dead. Today the new one is tripping just like the old one and I have no clue what is wrong.

Any ideas on what I need to change?

Thanks

If you've connected bathroom to garage, I'm going to take a stab at it (no pun intended) and say a drywall screw has hit a wire during install and is now beginning to rear its ugly head.

[Wade Lippman]

If it still trips with everything unplugged, then the fun begins. I've been chasing an intermittent one in a trailer for four years and three electricians now without success in resolving it.

I had a similar experience, but only two electricians. I finally found a bad outlet that I never used and didn't know was on the circuit. It can be an adventure.

[Raymond Fries]

I had a similar experience, but only two electricians. I finally found a bad outlet that I never used and didn't know was on the circuit. It can be an adventure.

Hmmm - Maybe a bad outlet. I had a problem with one several years ago and the electrician said it was back-wired and the connection went bad. I took the plate off in one of the bathrooms and sure enough it is back-wired as well. Think I will change the wires to the screws and see if that fixes it.

I think there are only the two wall outlets, one in each bathroom, on the circuit.

[Kent A Bathurst]

....I think there are only the two....

Famous last words.

I've only owned houses built in the mid-20's, and I swear each owner in the sequence had some wiring work done - rerouting, extended, whatever. The outlets on any given circuit can be mind-bending...............

I am in that list too, of course. But - when I had to do something, I tried to rationalize the circuit layout - while at the same time changing it over to grounded............

[Jim Matthews]

Call an electrician.

House fires are no joke.
They always happen when there's no one
home to call the Fire Department.

Cheap money to get a pro in, before that happens.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a GFI circuit in my house as there is a breaker in the box marked GFI. There is an GFI outlet in the garage that I replaced about a week ago. It kept tripping after about 30 seconds. When it tripped, the outlets in both bathrooms went dead. Today the new one is tripping just like the old one and I have no clue what is wrong.

Any ideas on what I need to change?

Thanks

Your first step is to determine exactly what is on the GFI circuit by turning off the breaker and checking every outlet you can find anywhere in the house, so you know exactly what is on the GFI circuit. As part of this check the GFI outlet in the garage and see if it is still powered. If it still has power then your gfi circuit is okay. If there is no power in the garage then you have two GFI's on one circuit which is bad. Replace the outlet in the garage with a non-gfi outlet ad use a GFI tester to see if it trips the circuit breaker.

[Ole Anderson]

I'm with Ken and Lee, disconnect one receptacle at a time, starting at the end of the circuit and keep testing until you find the problem. If you can't find the problem, then call in sparky. You can do it.

[Myk Rian]

When you figure it out, put the garage on a separate 240 line with a breaker box in the garage. You'll be glad you did.
Even a 30 amp circuit will do.

[Wade Lippman]

I think there are only the two wall outlets, one in each bathroom, on the circuit.

That's what I thought also, then 2 years later I found the bad one was outside.

Is the GFCI breaker tripping on overload or ground fault? If overload, then getting an electrician in could be a good idea. I have only ever had one breaker trip inexplicably, but it could easily have burnt the house down. A mouse shorted a wire a few inches from some paper napkins. Every time I tried it to find the problem, there was a large spark which could have set the napkins on fire. A ground fault is probably less urgent.

[Mike Lassiter]

if by chance you have a whirlpool bathtub it would likely be on the gfi breaker by itself. That is how mine is. And as Wade said you should expect any outside receptacles to be tied into the circuit feed by a gfi receptacle as that is often how they are wired.
Also you might start with the outside receptacles first. Some time back we had this issue in single wide mobile home. Daughter said the receptacle in the master bathroom kept tripping. The problem was water was seeping into the outside receptacle and faulting the circuit. Metal siding and screws holding it to the wall letting rain seep inside and run down into the box. It could be a bad seal on cover letting rain seep past cover and wall. Easy to check by removing receptacle and checking for water or moisture inside outlet box

[Pat Barry]

I have a GFI circuit in my house as there is a breaker in the box marked GFI. There is an GFI outlet in the garage that I replaced about a week ago. It kept tripping after about 30 seconds. When it tripped, the outlets in both bathrooms went dead. Today the new one is tripping just like the old one and I have no clue what is wrong.

Any ideas on what I need to change?

Thanks

Is the garage attached to the house? Or is it detached and with the wiring running underground? If the latter, does this happen in the spring each year? Could it be the wiring underground is getting wet from the annual spring snow melt?