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Need some electrical assistance for GFCI outlet
#350719 06/22/11 03:03 AM
Joined: Sep 2004
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axiomite
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axiomite
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Alright, things are humming along in the basement as I am trying to get through some of the previous homeowner's stuff. They had a wood working shop in the basement. Anyway, I too out the existing GFCI outlet since it was almond colored and I wanted everything to be white when I finish.

Anyway, the new GFCI outlet has an "end of life" LED on it.

I disconnected the old one, and used colored electrical tape to mark where each wire was going and then reversed the process to the brand new outlet.

Here's the kicker. The GFCI seems to be working 100%, but the end of life light is on all the time... The instructions barely talk about it, but it seems that it shouldn't be on all the time. Outlets down the line from the GFCI go on and off as they should when I press the test/reset buttons on the GFCI, so again, it seems to be working 100%.

Any ideas? I've looked things over again in the box and everything seems wired correctly still.

Maybe I got a bad outlet? I bought not the cheapest but definitely not the most expensive 3 pack. I could try another outlet, but it was a bear to wire it up since I am dealing with 4 sets of wires going into the box (one set isn't used, and I can't seem to find were it goes, so I want to leave it there just in case), The other sets of wires are JUST long enough to fit into the back of the box since it now attaches to a stud instead of a metal box since the previous guy never planned to finish the basement. Of course, I probably could just wire everything together into a box and skip the GFCI since it won't be required in the current location once the basement is finished.

Any ideas?

By that way, I mix and pour 1700 (before water) pounds of concrete tomorrow night in the new bathroom location. Then the walls get build in there for everything, then I am gone for 4 days for a business trip next week before the plumber comes back to put in the shower and get things set for the toilet and sink. Then I get to drywall, tile, and so forth. Good thing is that once the bathroom is completely done, I get to get back to working on everything else, including V4.0 of the theater!


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Need some electrical assistance for GFCI outlet
nickbuol #350725 06/22/11 04:02 AM
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
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What brand is your GFCI outlet? I installed a Leviton SmartLock when I redid a bathroom last year and the green LED stays lit on it. This particular outlet will not allow you to reset it if its miswired. It functions normally -- it passes power downstream and interrupts it when I hit the test button. I call the led a night-light now. I'm not worried about it any more.

Re: Need some electrical assistance for GFCI outlet
pmbuko #350726 06/22/11 04:07 AM
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axiomite
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I'd have to check the brand, but it just has a small red "end of life" light on it, no green "this is working" light.

I was surprised that it worked AND had the light on it since GFCI is designed to shut off power if ANYTHING is wrong. Maybe I'll wait until I get into the bathroom area and see if the other GFCI outlets I bought (I picked up a 3 pack) do the same thing or not. I wonder what the inspector will say....


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Need some electrical assistance for GFCI outlet
nickbuol #350740 06/22/11 11:30 AM
Joined: Oct 2006
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axiomite
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Go back to your VCR days. Cover the offending light with black tape.


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
Re: Need some electrical assistance for GFCI outlet
Murph #350760 06/22/11 02:35 PM
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axiomite
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smile


Farewell - June 4, 2020

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