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Subject - sensitive GFCI's
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wireman
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I originally posted this as a reply on "GFCI and Washing Macine" but thought I should post it as an original post. Just wanted to share with everyone.
I found out that gfci's are very sensitive to nicks in insulation. I wired up some recessed cabinet lights in my mom's kitchen a few months ago. There was an existing flourscent light on the circuit downstream of the counter gfi (ugly light)and there was no other way to feed the lights without ripping out the cabinets and trying to run it from somewhere else so I thought no harm if the lights happen to be on the same circuit too, after all it had been wired that way for years already. The cans were very small and the j-boxes on the cans were very tight and the first light on the loop has the leg going in and out which made It even tighter. Well I got the splice into the first can and i guess i nicked the insulation getting it in. I got the lights wired up and they worked fine. Everyone used the lights that day turning them on and off and playing with the dimmer. Oooo Ahhh! they were working fine all day. Ten next day I was showing the lights to my wife fliping them on and off, dimming up and down and the Gfci tripped. I thought that's wierd. So I reset the GFI tried it again and it was working fine. I continued switching the light on and off over and over until "snap" it happened again! I thought this is really strange and I going to get to the bottom of it. So I completely disassembled the cans and found a nick in the insulation on ungrounded wire in the first can. I blame it on My romex sheathing strippers. I cut back the wire and rewired it up. the gfi never tripped again.
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