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HeyBub[_3_]

wrote:
On May 20, 8:12 am, Robert11 wrote:
Hello,

Have the typical Leviton GFCI dual outlets (as sold by ACE Hardware)
around our house.

One has the electric garage door opener plugged into it.
It has recently tripped, but on pushing back in the red button, it
seems to work again.

Another, the outlet on our Deck, has tripped, but the red button will
not stay pushed in (nothing plugged into the outlet).

Both are about 3 years old, and worked until now.

Neither one has the small green indicator light, which I see the new
units in the store now have on them.

Questions:

a. For consumer grade Leviton GFCI outlets like these, how reliable
are they generally ?

Almost all of the ones I've had from a variety of manufacturers
over decades are working. I've replaced maybe one.

Should they have to be replaced in 3 years, e.g., normally ?
Are they both likely defective ?

They should not have to be replaced. With a motor load like
the garage door sometimes they can falsely trip. That's why
they are not recommended for refrigerators. So, the garage
one may be OK.

The other one it could either be a bad GFCI or there could
actually be a ground fault on the circuit. Does that GFCI
also protect other outlets downstream? One of them get
wet, etc? Easy way to find out is to put in a new one and
see what happens.

The cheaper way (to test the integrity of the GFCI outlet) is to disconnect
the wires leading to the downstream outlets and re-connect them to the
unproteced terminals.

As for the garage door opener compared to the refrigerator, I'd imagine that
the garage door opener has an even larger motor than the fridge. Therefore,
if the GFCI manufacturer discourages connecting a fridge, I'd think the same
considerations would apply for a garage door opener.