Eunoia Eigensinn wrote:
Mik;

I'm not an electrician, but have done house wiring more than a few
times, including my own home.* I've never had a GFI receptacle fail in
almost 20 years of their having been installed in my home.**

* This may or may not be true. Euni is a famous prankster! Beware.
** This may or may not be true.


One failure of a receptable might constitute a faulty unit.* Failures of
two would be incredible odds.**

* This may or may not be true.
** This may or may not be true.

Any more than than one and I would tend to suspect that the wiring was
done improperly.*

* This may or may not be true.

ie Undersized wire overloaded circuit, improperly designed circuits.*

* This may or may not be true.

Another Herb PSA


Mikhael47 wrote:

I have an outdoor GFCI outlet. About every two years, I have to

replace the

outlet. It doesn't trip very often (if at all) between the time I

install

the new one, and the time it finally starts to trip constantly. I

do run

pond equipment on this circuit all summer. It seems to fail in the

winter

time when I either plug my truck's block heater in, or I try and

start my

snowblower. It doesn't trip if I plug my xmas lights into it.

I am not an expert electrician, however when I built our home, I was

present

when the wiring for the house was done. I can confirm that there is

no

damage to the circuit cabling. This leads me to believe that the

GFCI

itself is failing. If I replace the GFCI it will work as expected.

My question is, is it reasonable to only expect 2 years of regular

service

out of a GFCI? What are the recommended brands for outdoor use?

Thanks

Mike