On 1/8/2012 3:30 PM, RosemontCrest wrote:
On 1/8/2012 12:12 PM, RBM wrote:
On 1/8/2012 2:59 PM, croy wrote:
On Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:34:29 -0500,
wrote:

On 1/8/2012 2:14 PM, croy wrote:
Two years ago, I revamped a 20a circuit in my (USA) house. I
added some outlets, and put a GFCI breaker for that circuit
in the service panel.

All was well for a year and a half, then the GFCI breaker
started tripping for no apparent reason. I assumed that the
breaker had gone bad, so I replaced it. The new one still
trips, albeit after a longer period of time (old, about
three minutes; new, three to 20 hours).

I've pulled all the outlets and tightened the screws.

Still the breaker trips after some hours, whether the
circuit gets loaded or not.

One thought I've had: the original romex for the longest
run of this circuit is from that period of time (1960s?)
when the ground wire is smaller gage than the main
conductors. Could that be causing the problem?

Other ideas?


I don't know what it means to "revamp" a circuit. It sounds like you
extended an existing circuit, but that's irrelevant.

Correct--extended is a more descriptive term.

Unless required by
Nec, replace the GFCI breaker with a standard breaker. If any of the
outlets in the circuit require ground fault protection, install
receptacles at those locations.

All the outlets on this circuit are in the kitchen (3
double-duplex).

The undersized equipment ground on older
Romex won't have any affect of the function of any GFCI device.

Good news.


Is it possible that there is an outdoor outlet connected to this
circuit? If so, I would check it for moisture entry, which is a likely
cause for the circuit to trip.

Good point.

If possible I would replace the breaker
with a standard type, and install gfci receptacles at only the kitchen
counter outlets, which is what Nec currently requires in a kitchen

That seems like overkill. Why not simply install a GFCI outlet in the
first "upstream" location and feed the remaining "downstream"
receptacles from the GFCI?

It could be done that way, depending upon the path of the wiring. At
about $8 an outlet, I prefer to use GF receptacles at each required
location, so when there is a ground fault issue, there is no mystery as
to where it occurred.