GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this?
The outlet is on a wall inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button) outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one room of
my basement are also connected to it as well.
I disconnected the fridge and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably had the
most rain.
Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any help is
much appreciated!

--
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GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On 6/18/2019 10:14 PM, Ryanallen11 wrote:
So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first
happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it
and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it
and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I
reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute
where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just
immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before
tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this? The outlet is on a wall
inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button)
outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any
of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one
room of
my basement are also connected to it as well. I disconnected the fridge
and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no
problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are
popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is
worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably
had the
most rain. Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not
sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement
lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the
lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights
in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be
getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any
help is
much appreciated!

Could be moisture. Rain, condensation. Could be any one of the plugs
causing it. Check the grounds for good contact.

Refrigerators should not be on a GFCI for the reason you are
experiencing. Would suck to have it trip while you are on vacation.

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On Tue, 18 Jun 2019 22:41:57 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 6/18/2019 10:14 PM, Ryanallen11 wrote:
So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first
happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it
and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it
and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I
reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute
where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just
immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before
tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this? The outlet is on a wall
inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button)
outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any
of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one
room of
my basement are also connected to it as well. I disconnected the fridge
and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no
problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are
popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is
worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably
had the
most rain. Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not
sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement
lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the
lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights
in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be
getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any
help is
much appreciated!

Could be moisture. Rain, condensation. Could be any one of the plugs
causing it. Check the grounds for good contact.

Refrigerators should not be on a GFCI for the reason you are
experiencing. Would suck to have it trip while you are on vacation.

Power off the circuit. open all of the boxes on that circuit. Make
sure the wires are away from the sides of the box, no wires are nicked
and make sure all wire nuts are pointed up. That fixes about 99 % of
these things.
Boxes in wet locations get wet inside. Eliminate the ground paths made
by the water.

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On 6/18/19 9:14 PM, Ryanallen11 wrote:
So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first
happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it
and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it
and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I
reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute
where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just
immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before
tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this? The outlet is on a wall
inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button)
outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any
of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one
room of
my basement are also connected to it as well. I disconnected the fridge
and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no
problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are
popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is
worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably
had the
most rain. Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not
sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement
lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the
lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights
in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be
getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any
help is
much appreciated!

Use a trouble light or small lamp to trace the circuit. Plug it
in at different
spots, then flip the gfci off and on to see if the light goes off and
on with it.
The problem could still be the fridge. A gfci is more sensitive
than a
regular circuit breaker.

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at 6:57:50 AM UTC-4, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 6/18/19 9:14 PM, Ryanallen11 wrote:
So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first
happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it
and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it
and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I
reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute
where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just
immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before
tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this? The outlet is on a wall
inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button)
outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any
of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one
room of
my basement are also connected to it as well. I disconnected the fridge
and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no
problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are
popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is
worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably
had the
most rain. Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not
sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement
lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the
lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights
in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be
getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any
help is
much appreciated!

Use a trouble light or small lamp to trace the circuit. Plug it
in at different
spots, then flip the gfci off and on to see if the light goes off and
on with it.
The problem could still be the fridge. A gfci is more sensitive
than a
regular circuit breaker.

I'd start by finding out if there is an outside receptacle on it. Very
common for a garage GFCI to also be used for a receptacle outside.
That could have water in it. Or it could have an extension cord in it
that's left laying out or powering something. If all the receptacles
and anything else on it seem OK, then next replace the GFCI.

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

I'd start by finding out if there is an outside receptacle on it.

or an outside post lamp fed by an underground wire.

m

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On Wed, 19 Jun 2019 05:57:45 -0500, Dean Hoffman
wrote:

On 6/18/19 9:14 PM, Ryanallen11 wrote:
So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping. It first
happened 2
days ago. When I hit the reset button, everything turned back on and worked
fine for a while. It tripped again yesterday, and same thing. I reset it
and
everything was good. Today when I first noticed it tripped, I reset it
and it
stayed on for about 5 minutes before it tripped again. Now every time I
reset
it, it lasts for less than a minute before tripping again. During the 30
minutes or so that I was just playing with it, there was about a minute
where
hitting the reset button would not do anything and it would just
immediately
pop back out but then went back to staying on for ~ 30 seconds before
tripping
again. Any clue on what could be causing this? The outlet is on a wall
inside my garage but the other side of the wall is the
exterior of the house. There are a few other normal(no reset button)
outlets
in the garage that are connected to this GFCI as one of them had a
refrigerator plugged in it and this and anything else plugged into any
of them
will not work when the main GFCI is tripped. Also, the lights in one
room of
my basement are also connected to it as well. I disconnected the fridge
and plugged it into an extension cord that I then
plugged into a different outlet inside the house and it worked no
problem so I
know it's not the fridge. There are also no circuit breakers that are
popped
and I still turned all of them off and back on again and the problem still
persists. We have had a lot of rain the last few days and it now is
worse than
the last 2 days which coincides with the fact that today, we probably
had the
most rain. Excuse me for my lack of electrical knowledge but I'm not
sure if that circuit
is connected anywhere else, or if it has a connection to an outdoor outlet.
All I know is that when it is tripped, one single room of my basement
lights
won't work and all the outlets in the garage won't work however the
lights in
the garage are still on and it seems like all other outlets and lights
in the
house are still working fine even when it's tripped. Could water be
getting in
somehow since it is on the interior side of a wall that also faces the
exterior of the house or could it just be a coincidence that it happened
during rainy days and there is something else wrong with the GFCI? Any
help is
much appreciated!

Use a trouble light or small lamp to trace the circuit. Plug it
in at different
spots, then flip the gfci off and on to see if the light goes off and
on with it.
The problem could still be the fridge. A gfci is more sensitive
than a
regular circuit breaker.

She said she already eliminated the fridge. Trader is right an out
side box is likely on that circuit but that is where my previous
advice is most important.Keep your wires away from the inside of the
box as much as possible, keep them off the bottom of ther box and your
wire nuts pointing up so they won't fill with moisture.
Ants in the boxes will get you every time.

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

In article ,
Ryanallen11 m
wrote:

So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping.

Others have given you good advice. Most likely you have leakage via
moisture.

Another thing to consider is that the GFCI outlet may have failed. Do
you have another you could swap with it?

Fred

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On Wed, 19 Jun 2019 13:04:20 -0400, Fred McKenzie
wrote:

In article ,
Ryanallen11 m
wrote:

So I have a GFCI outlet in my garage that keeps tripping.

Others have given you good advice. Most likely you have leakage via
moisture.

Another thing to consider is that the GFCI outlet may have failed. Do
you have another you could swap with it?

Fred

+1

GFCI Outlet in Garage Keeps Tripping
 

On 6/19/2019 12:41 AM, wrote:
....

Power off the circuit. open all of the boxes on that circuit. Make
sure the wires are away from the sides of the box, no wires are nicked
and make sure all wire nuts are pointed up. That fixes about 99 % of
these things.
Boxes in wet locations get wet inside. Eliminate the ground paths made
by the water.

...."make sure all wire nuts are pointed up."

Hadn't ever thought of that one -- makes some sense if there is really
heavy condensation problem or the box actually does take on water,
though. Altho in SW KS unless it's outside in a downpour, such issues
are pretty-much a non-issue, I could see in those swampy places to live
like Houston.

--