Hello:

Moved into a 30 yr old house that has, apparently, one circuit going to an
outside outlet
having a GFCI circuit breaker in the main service panel.

Being so old, I have doubts about how good the GFCI circuit breaker may be,
but really don't want to play with the panel and replace the breaker.

Any reason not to just add an additional individual GFCI outlet in place of
the outside
outlet there now (leaving the circuit breaker in the service panel alone) ?

Guess I'm asking if there is any harm, or potential problems, in having two,
possibly both being functional, GFCI devices on a single branch line ?

Thanks,
Bob

In article , "Robert11" wrote:
Hello:

Moved into a 30 yr old house that has, apparently, one circuit going to an
outside outlet
having a GFCI circuit breaker in the main service panel.

Being so old, I have doubts about how good the GFCI circuit breaker may be,
but really don't want to play with the panel and replace the breaker.

What leads you to believe that the GFCI breaker is 30 years old? What leads
you to believe that there is anything wrong with it?

Any reason not to just add an additional individual GFCI outlet in place of
the outside
outlet there now (leaving the circuit breaker in the service panel alone) ?

Waste of time and money. If you're concerned about the condition of the GFCI
breaker, it's simple enough to test it to see if it works. Does it trip when
you press the TEST button on the breaker? Does it trip when you press the
button on a plug-in tester? If yes to both, leave it alone.

Guess I'm asking if there is any harm, or potential problems, in having two,
possibly both being functional, GFCI devices on a single branch line ?

Obviously the potential for nuisance trips is at least doubled. And it will be
more of a headache to reset two devices than one, if a fault trips both of
them.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Just my opinion, but if it was me I'd put in a regular breaker and a GFCI
receptacle. That way if I was using the receptacle and it tripped, I would
not have to travel to the panel to reset it. Yah Yah I know it shouldn't be
tripping, but they do. I have a GFCI in the bathroom that trips 9 out of 10
times the hair dryer is plugged into it. Reset it and it's fine. Poop
happens.
"Robert11" wrote in message
...
Hello:

Moved into a 30 yr old house that has, apparently, one circuit going to an
outside outlet
having a GFCI circuit breaker in the main service panel.

Being so old, I have doubts about how good the GFCI circuit breaker may
be, but really don't want to play with the panel and replace the breaker.

Any reason not to just add an additional individual GFCI outlet in place
of the outside
outlet there now (leaving the circuit breaker in the service panel alone)
?

Guess I'm asking if there is any harm, or potential problems, in having
two, possibly both being functional, GFCI devices on a single branch line
?

Thanks,
Bob

As others posted, press the test button. It duplicates a
dangerous condition to humans; tests the GFCI. If the GFCI is
OK, then it will trip.

However newer GFCIs have an even better advantage. Should
the GFCI fail, then the circuit cannot be restored until the
GFCI is replaced. Like everything else electronic in the
house, the GFCI can be damaged by external transients - ie
lightning. Then when you needed the protection most, the GFCI
would not be working. That is unless you periodically press
the test button.

In the meantime, new GFCIs now have a safety lockout
feature. If the GFCI in the box trips, then the GFCI outside
also must be reset - and in that order.

Robert11 wrote:
Hello:
Moved into a 30 yr old house that has, apparently, one circuit going
to an outside outlet having a GFCI circuit breaker in the main
service panel.

Being so old, I have doubts about how good the GFCI circuit breaker
may be, but really don't want to play with the panel and replace
the breaker.

Any reason not to just add an additional individual GFCI outlet in
place of the outside outlet there now (leaving the circuit breaker
in the service panel alone) ?

Guess I'm asking if there is any harm, or potential problems, in
having two, possibly both being functional, GFCI devices on a
single branch line ?

Thanks,
Bob