On May 31, 8:19*am, N8N wrote:
On May 30, 2:31*pm, "RBM" wrote:





"Evan" wrote in message

....
On May 30, 9:56 am, "RBM" wrote:

** I rarely find burn outs from improperly connected Edison circuits. I'd
have to say that a good percentage of Edison circuits that I explore, are
incorrectly done. Typically, I just find the white wire turns brown from
the
excessive heat, right at the neutral buss.
The OP has a classic, loose connection under a wire nut, with a high
amperage draw, over time anneals the copper, degrades and overheats the
connection to the point of disintegration, and opens the circuit.

Right, except how often do you open up a switch box which has
multiple circuits fed into it and see ALL of the white neutral wires
connected together ?

**I don't believe that there are multiple circuits in this junction box.. It
sounds to me like it's one circuit branching off in several directions.This
was standard practice some years ago. Typically, where you find the burn,
you have the problem. It's not impossible that the problem is something more
obscure, just that it typically isn't.

I never said it had to be an Edison circuit, just that if someone had
made an incorrect connection somewhere upstream and connected
the neutral wires from more than one circuit together that could cause
the exact same issue...

Given that the bathroom outlet was replaced with one with a higher
rating by someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing
all bets are off -- there could be several factors which added up to
cause that burn out...

Not necessarily. *Most GFCI receps are rated @ 20A even if they are
NEMA 5-15R. *(so they can be used on a 20A circuit... like a
bathroom.) *Someone probably had a recep in the bathroom and decided
to replace it with a GFCI to make it closer to conforming to current
code. *Makes sense to me. *Problem is that the ckt. is still 15A and
the OP is putting high load on it (which is the reason for the 20A
requirement in the first place.) *We're just speculating at this point
as to why the neutral connection is "melted."

Now if the GFCI is in fact NEMA 5-20R then someone did something that
they shouldn't have, although it is still not the source of the
problem.

nate



Again, no one seems to know what else besides the one GFCI
bathroom outlet is also on the same circuit...

~~ Evan

REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY PLUG INTO THE CIRCUIT IT IS LIMITED AND
PROTECTED UPTO 15AMPS.
I AM WITH EVANS SCHOOL THAT SAYS THE GFCI WAS WIRED IMPROPERLY WITH A
LOOSE NEUTRAL CONNECTION....THEREFOR THE OVERHEATED OR MELTED
INSULATION.
MASTER ELECTRICIANS AND PROFESSIONAL HANDYMEN DO NOT USE PUSHIN
CONNECTOR HOLES IN RECEPTACLES, AND SECURE ALL CONDUCTORS TIGHTLY WITH
THE SCREW OPTION ALWAYS.
TGITM