New GFCI outlet not working

[wavinwayne]

Today I decided to do some basic home maintenance. I had a GFCI outlet on the front porch that wasn't working, but had worked fine until recently. Nothing happened when I pressed the test or reset button. I tested the voltage coming to the outlet with my Fluke multimeter, and there is 120V coming to the outlet. I turned off power at the breaker, re-tested to verify there was no power coming to the outlet (there wasn't), and replaced the outlet with a new GFCI outlet. I triple-checked that my wiring to the new outlet was done correctly (black wire to brass, white wire to silver, ground wire to green), and that I connected the wires to "LINE" on the new outlet. Turned power back on at breaker. I re-checked with my multimeter and there IS 120v coming to the new outlet. NOTHING on the new outlet. The test and reset switches do nothing, and the outlet is not providing power when I plug anything in. I'm now out of my depth. What gives?

 

[SHOZ]

How tight is it in the outlet box? I have seen some that will torque the frame from too tight space when all buttoned up and not work.

 

[wavinwayne]

How tight is it in the outlet box? I have seen some that will torque the frame from too tight space when all buttoned up and not work.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[ripcord]

Any lights lit up on it?

 

[Trav]

Instead of putting the wires in the top of the plug try putting them in the lower positions.

 

[wavinwayne]

Any lights lit up on it?

Negative

 

[wavinwayne]

Instead of putting the wires in the top of the plug try putting them in the lower positions.

Did that, and nothing. Think I got a bad new outlet?

 

[ripcord]

My only thought is double check that you're connected to LINE and not LOAD. I assume this outlet is on the terminal end of the wires from the panel?

 

[ripcord]

Or you may actually have a ground fault on the circuit somewhere.

 

[hemitom]

wire in a regular outlet new or used , whatever you have lying around see if it works.

 

[hemitom]

Or you may actually have a ground fault on the circuit somewhere.

if there was a fault i don't think he would get 120 volts on the wires when he tests them ?

 

[wavinwayne]

Or you may actually have a ground fault on the circuit somewhere.

Maybe??? Going to do a little more checking, but I've got the family electrician coming this weekend to have a look.

 

[wavinwayne]

My only thought is double check that you're connected to LINE and not LOAD. I assume this outlet is on the terminal end of the wires from the panel?

100% sure the wires are connected to LINE. Verified multiple times for my own sanity.

 

[92saturnsl2]

if there was a fault i don't think he would get 120 volts on the wires when he tests them ?

A properly wired GFCI would trip immediately with a ground fault. But you should still be able to press the reset button only for it to trip again.

My vote is bad GFCI outlet. Are there other outlets upstream of this and are they working?

 

[eljefino]

I bet the wiring has a fault upstream of this outlet. Wire in a 69 cent "normal" outlet to test with, and try to run a 60 watt light off it. Bet it can't. The 120 volts your digital meter sees is phantom voltage, not really able to power anything.

Your goal is to find whatever is upstream of this, which will be part of a daisy chain, and clean its corroded/ arced connections.

 

[wavinwayne]

A properly wired GFCI would trip immediately with a ground fault. But you should still be able to press the reset button only for it to trip again.

My vote is bad GFCI outlet. Are there other outlets upstream of this and are they working?

Best I can tell, this is the only outlet not working.

 

[MSCH]

WavinWayne... some babies are born dead.. try another receptacle

 

[chainblu]

I've had them go 'bad' at my house. Both times they were on exterior walls.

 

[wavinwayne]

WavinWayne... some babies are born dead.. try another receptacle

I'm going to wait to try any more troubleshooting until I have a trained electrician family member to help me this weekend. I'll post an update once we figure out the issue.

 

[brianl703]

My only thought is double check that you're connected to LINE and not LOAD. I assume this outlet is on the terminal end of the wires from the panel?

Pretty much every GFCI comes with the LOAD terminals covered with a sticker telling you they're LOAD terminals.