Timeline for answer to Wiring advice - two circuits wired to a single GFCI outlet by Robert Chapin
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:37 | comment | added | Robert Chapin | Added more to the answer regarding tied neutrals and NCV testers. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:35 | history | edited | Robert Chapin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 305 characters in body
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| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:22 | comment | added | KZ. | Yeah, I'll need to correct this ASAP. I'm scared to look behind my other outlets and switches now. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:18 | comment | added | Robert Chapin | If you're confident in that diagnosis, then you have 3 branch circuits sharing a wire somewhere in that panelboard. That should never happen in a 2-phase system. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:12 | comment | added | KZ. | Well, for the other question I have breaker #4 and #23 with their neutral tied. #23 and #25 are on the same MWBC. Thinking through this, #25 is one of my heavist circuits - with two (big) computers and a toaster on the same 20A circuit (up to 2kW - it has tripped once). I guess I need to separate those neutrals sooner than later. #23 has only about 200w in it (mostly lightning). | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:06 | comment | added | Robert Chapin | More to the point, opening up the panel would allow you to determine if and where the hot wires are grouped together with a common neutral wire. Now that doesn't explain why you have two different circuits attached to a GFCI, but for your other questions it might give you an 'aha' moment. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 5:02 | comment | added | KZ. | I think I need to open up my breaker panel to mark which breakers are on the same MWBC. I can't tell right now because none are marked and their handles are not tied. This will at least tell me if I need to be looking for a red and black hot pair. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 4:58 | comment | added | KZ. | I opened up the first box on that circuit and ran in to this: diy.stackexchange.com/q/232092/99275 (the other circuit in that post is a different breaker from what I'm asking about here). I got busy with other projects last weekend and didn't look at thethe other boxes yet. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 4:56 | vote | accept | KZ. | ||
| Aug 17, 2021 at 4:28 | comment | added | Robert Chapin | Any luck looking in the other boxes? The only ways to explain this cross connection are that there's a 2nd box with both circuits involved, or someone just put too many cables in there for no good reason. | |
| Aug 17, 2021 at 4:07 | history | edited | Robert Chapin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Aug 11, 2021 at 6:19 | comment | added | KZ. | I still don't understand why they would have run two circuits to the same box. I need to open up all my other boxes on this run to figure out what's going on. | |
| Aug 10, 2021 at 18:47 | comment | added | Robert Chapin | Also, "breaker #6 has been a mystery"... you might eventually discover that breaker was intended to serve a dedicated bathroom circuit. If there are no other loads, it would be a perfect way to run a hair dryer. | |
| Aug 10, 2021 at 4:51 | comment | added | KZ. | Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I'll go through all my outlets. | |
| Aug 9, 2021 at 10:01 | history | answered | Robert Chapin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |