Looking to find out how urgently I need an electrician or if I'm okay keeping everything unplugged at the moment. I had an injury and have been keeping a minifridge and small microwave in my master bathroom for a while. The outlet has tripped twice in the last 7-10 days, with the GFCI located downstairs in the garage. I don't think it's connected to anything else.It's been uncharacteristically wet out, I live in the desert, but we've had fog.Unfortunately, my house is a mess because of the injury and I'm not comfortable having people in. Am I at risk of having an electrical fire, like to the point I need to clean immediately and get an electrician in ASAP, or as long as I keep the outlets unplugged, am I okay for like a month or two so I can clean at a slower pace?
How injured are you and how dirty is your house that it's gonna take a month or two?
>>2968725So, I broke my pelvis and had a hip replacement. Like, way younger than is at all normal for that. For my recovery, so much shit just got shoved out of the way into guest rooms or whatever. I've needed actual maids to come into the house and deep clean for a while, but I haven't gotten there in terms of organizing the stuff that needs to get out of the way. Like, it's hard for me to get on my hands and knees and clean a bathroom floor/shower/toilet. I have closets of clothes to clear. And admittedly, there's some relatively embarrassing stuff I just don't want some electrician wandering into, so I need to hide all of that shit too. Without the injury I could probably do it all with a week or two of focus, but I just can't clean a 3 bedroom home top to bottom by myself without more time.
>>2968723Gfcis are retarded. Ive replaced so many old and some not so old gfcis that wont reset anymore or trip for no reason. Its always fixed with a new gfci because in the box there's never anything wrong with them. And when there is, its so wrong that the outlet is melted and an standard outlet wouldn't have been any worse. So just swap it. Ive been in fucked up places, and if you are nice and make an effort to be accommodating, and offer to tip for making him deal with your fucking mess, the electrician should be fine.
>>2968728If the GFCI is in my garage, do you think they'd just replace that, or go through my house to check all of the outlets? Do they need to?My house was built in the 90s. Anyone can walk into my garage or downstairs no problem, it's just if they need to get into every corner of the house to check every outlet, or into my master bedroom, it's gonna be a lot of work. I also have collectibles and shit to be moved.I think I'm making it sound a LOT worse than it is, but my bathroom especially is in awful shape, and unfortunately that's where the outlet's fucked.
>>2968732If the electrician is anything like me, hell just do what you ask him to do. He might offer to check other ones but he wont do anything you dont want him to. He might have to get to the electrical panel though. Hes not an inspector or pulling a permit so hes not obligated to do anything you dont want him to do.
>>2968732Wait. Are you talking about a gfci BREAKER? Thats way different than an outlet.
>>2968734I don't think it's a breaker, but I have limited knowledge.As far as I understand, the problem outlet is on the same GFCI circuit, but isn't necessarily the GFCI. The upstairs bathroom outlet has stopped working after I left for Christmas. I wasn't sure which circuit it was on the first time, and found the tripped GFCI in the garage (in a stupid place where I didn't even know I had one). I reset it like two days ago, went to grab my burrito tonight from the upstairs minifridge, and realized it tripped again. I just unplugged that whole thing, since it's right next to the shower.>>2968733I just don't want my house to set on fire. The electrical panel is outside, in a fine spot for anyone who wants to look.
>>2968737how full is the fridge, i currently have a similar issue but it was tripping a special arc fault breaker; mom suggested i fill the fridge, i put a bag of sand and couple water bottles and it has not tripped in months. not sure what is going on but a fuller fridge fixed my issue.changing a gfci outlet on your own can be done, anything near water should be a gfci not just on a gfci circuit i wanna say anything 6 feet from a water tap.screw terminals > insert terminals
>>2968728>So just swap it. Agreed, Last place I worked had every outlet fitted with GFCI's, they were fucking old, and would often trip if you plugged in a drop light.Made testing and diagnosing onboard charging systems less than amusing.
>>2968723>have been keeping a minifridgeGFCI is not for a fridge. that's the problem. gfci is for general wall outlets that you plug vacuum cleaners and beard trimmers into. the way a compressor starts up will often trip the gfci.
>>2968726>broke my pelvis>there's some relatively embarrassing stuffDid you break your pelvis by fucking the hell out of a sex doll, OP?
>>2968737Ok well if its not just one gfci that's tripping and something downstream thats not a gfci. The electrician may have to investigate everything on that line. He could just replace the gfci and call it, but if many non gfcis are connected to it he might check those as well. If its a breaker thats a whole other fucky thing.Just call an electrician if you're unable to fix it yourself.
>>2968723dude. just get someone to fix it. I was a computer tech for 24 years. I have been to few peoples home. I had to go to some woman's house to fix a printing problem. it was the middle of summer, she had no AC, her house had feral cats in it, and there was cat shit and piss everywhere.a messy house would be something I wouldn't bat an eye at.if you tell them just replace the one outlet, and leave that is what they will do.
>>2968723I have pic related. it has wiring inside that is live all the time. I had a the kitchen gfci trip since it was 30 years old I replaced it. the new one instantly tripped. I had an electrician come in and check everything. when he was here the gfci wouldn't trip. it took me a while to figure out why.my wife would cram bagels in the toaster which was never designed for them. they would get stuck and she would have to pull them out in pieces. it appears that a chunk of bread fell where it completed a circuit. not enough to blow a fuse but just enough to cause the GFCI to trip.educated her, and there has been no problems since.
>>2968784It's not full at all really, only had a few condiments, two white claws, and a leftover burrito. There's a microwave plugged into the surge protector too.>anything near water should be a gfci not just on a gfci circuit i wanna say anything 6 feet from a water tap.Yeah, this is a concern. The outlet in question is like 6 inches from a sink and the shower, and isn't a GFCI. But it's how I bought the house, not my own choosing.
>>2968799Nah, nothing that embarrassing. Broke my pelvis kickboxing. No sex doll thankfully. Mainly embarassed by the dirty shower, bathroom counters, floors, and toilet. I'm not necessarily a full-on alcoholic either, but there's booze cans and stuff to be cleaned up and all. And other embarassing stuff if they really need to dig in every nook and cranny of my house.>>2968836I'd be less embarrassed if it were cat shit and not necessarily my own fault for letting my bathroom get gross, or let my guest rooms become storage closets.>>2968838Maybe I should just take out the fridge and microwave. I don't really need them anymore, they were just there for when stairs were hard to handle.
>>2968723If it's an AFCI/GFCI combo random shit will cause it to trip. New electrical code require AFCI protection to be on all circuits, which pisses everyone off not only because of the random tripping but also because it's more wasted money.
>>2968723>keeping a minifridge and small microwaveMotor start capacitor in the fridge or transformer inrush in the microwave might be doing it. If it was the microwave, you'd notice the coincidence. So my money is on the fridge. Move it to another circuit.
>>2969200my kitchen has a microwave and all outlets are on the same GFCI circuit it never trips.
My brother bought a house and his kitchen circuit kept tripping the GFCI and it was extremely annoying since his fridge was on that circuit. Turned out the wire it was daisychained to was pinched between 2 pieces of wood in the attic, total hack job
>>2968723Average circuit is 15a. A small fridge and microwave plus whatever else you have is probably too much for it. Microwave alone is probably 1000w when used.
>>2969254GFCIs don’t trip on overcurrent. They trip when there is a current imbalance.
>>2968723Electrician here, my money is on the fridge leaking to earth, very common fault and perfectly safe so long as the fridge body is earthed.I would just run an extension from a non-protected outlet to the fridge.
>>2969254IIRC new code requires each countertop receptacle in the kitchen to be on it's own dedicated circuit because too many people try to run their air fryer, microwave, and toaster at the same time while leaving the fridge door open. And/or if the receptacle is going to run a device/equipment that uses more than 1000W.The wiring in my house is a bit retarded because the builders cheaped out built in the 70s. It still has aluminum wiring and a FPE stablok panel . Some rooms are on the same circuit that shouldn't be logically. Boxfills are maxed out. I rewired a little bit and put a few jboxes in the attic when I added ceiling fans to rooms.
>>2969296>I would NEVER buy a new build>you need to buy an old house to get quality!!I hate when people say this shit because 9 times out of 10 it's full of bullshit electrical and plumbing repairs done by a leadbrain boomer 40 years ago that are just itching to blow up in your face and fuck up your life for a few days.
>>2969296Generally speaking, how serious does electrical work need to get before you need a permit? Like if I'm just fixing some outlets that weren't wired correctly and maybe adding a breaker to the main panel, am I good to go?
>>2969306Depends on local code. But yeah you should be able to do those yourself.I want to replace my FPE Panel. Safest way to do it is to remove the utility company's meter, but they'll know immediately and send someone out to keep homeowners from setting their house on fire and killing themselves. Less safe way to do it is to put temporary heat shrink insulation over the ends of the wires coming from the meter, and carefully pulling the panel off, so the insulation doesn't get nicked by sharp panel edges and electrocute you. I'm too much of pussy, so I'll have to have an electrician do it. Also depending on local code, the city/county/state might require you to bring ALL of your electrical up to code if you want to do anything. If the city can't see what you're doing from the street, you don't want to let them know.>>2969305I just think the builders were cheap. I didn't see a single NM cable properly secured in the attic except for the ones that a previous owner added for attic lighting. No "service loops" either.
>>2969296He's not in a kitchen, anon. That's the issue. Kitchens are typically on 20-30a circuits for such reasons. He's in a bedroom, I'm guessing.
>>2968726>So, I broke my pelvis and had a hip replacement. Like, way younger than is at all normal for thatYour doctors fucked you over big time.You'll be crippled for life thanks to him.
>>2968723They're fucking 5mA. Some fucking induced current from a long cord could trip that sensitive snowflake shit. It's probably a total nothingburger.You know, this is why Europeans do what we do. One big 30mA in the panel for fucking everything and forget about it. Never randomly trips. 30mA probably won't kill you either.>>2968732WHY THE FUCK IS IT IN THE GARAGE AND HAS THE BATHROOM WIRED DOWNSTREAM? WHAT THE FUCK?
>>2969526I dnno but my parents bathroom is on the same circuit as the garage too
>>2969526Euro rcd's are just designed to prevent your corpse burning the house down. American GFCI is designed to prevent you from a quick toaster based exit in the tub.
>>2968732>>2969526>>2969538>WHY THE FUCK IS IT IN THE GARAGE AND HAS THE BATHROOM WIRED DOWNSTREAM? WHAT THE FUCK?>but my bathroom especially is in awful shape, and unfortunately that's where the outlet's fucked.Cheap builders probably decided to put the GFCI upstream to stay in code at the time. Garages also require GFCIs for some reason. One GFCI is allowed to protect stuff downstream, you can put GFCI circuit breakers in your electrical panels too.
>>2968723>GFCI tripped twice in 10 daysFirst worlders are so spoiled.I had to bypass the GFCI for the washing machine because it kept trippingNow i get a nice shock if I'm not careful and touch any exposed metal. Keeps me on my toes while doing laundry
Electricians here? Installed my entire house up with industrial grade outlets, GFCI, and light switches since the houses electrical was ass. Will it add any value to the house or was this just needless overkill for the sake of it?https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-G5262-WTW-Extra-Heavy-Industrial-Tamper-Resistant/dp/B019D8Q27E?th=1https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-V-Industrial-Grade-Tamper-Weather-Resistant-Duplex-Outlet-Receptacle-White-1-Pack-TWR15-W-TWR15-W/301361208
>>2969943Tamper resistant is standard now so that was right. Industrial grade ive never put in anywhere so thats overkill. Regardless of the quality of stuff you put in, replacing the receptacles will be a nice bulletpoint on the list. Assuming you put them in right and didn't fuck up the splices
>>2969974Thanks for the insight i hopefully (triple checked) didn't fuck up the splices.
>>2968723Some fridges trip certain GFIs because they can think there's an imbalance on the load. Plug it into a normal outlet and don't worry about it.
