How to Feed a GFCI off of Another
A ground-fault circuit interrupter, commonly called a GFCI, contains a circuit breaker and a monitoring device that measures the outgoing and incoming electrical currents. When the monitoring device detects a current imbalance above an acceptable level, the GFCI's circuit breaker trips. A GFCI protects all points in the electrical circuit downstream of the GFCI. If an electrical circuit feeds more than one GFCI, the second GFCI does not affect the first GFCI's operation. (see reference 2) Bathrooms, kitchens and other damp areas often contain GFCI receptacles. A GFCI receptacle has a "Test" and "Reset" button on its face. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 14-2 plus ground wire-set
- Wire cutters
- Wire strippers
- Phillips screwdriver
Instructions
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1
Turn off the circuit breaker controlling the GFCI's electrical circuit. Choose the circuit breaker controlling the room the first GFCI operates in.
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2
Run a 14-2 plus ground wire-set from the first GFCI to the second GFCI. Cut the wire set to size with wire cutters. A 14-2 plus ground wire-set contains two insulated and one uninsulated 14-gauge wire strands. The wire strand with black insulation carries the live voltage, the wire strand with white insulation acts as neutral and the uninsulated wire grounds the electrical circuit.
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3
Remove 1/2-inch of the insulation from each insulated wire in the 14-2 plus ground wire-set, using wire strippers.
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4
Examine the GFCI's wire terminals. The set of wire terminals with the "Line" label connects to the GFCI's feeder wire. The second set of wire terminals has a "Load" label. Each terminal set -- the "Load" and the "Line" terminal sets -- also contains a function tag. The terminals with the "Hot" tag connect to the live voltage wires and the terminals with the "White" or "Neutral" tags connect to the neutral wires.
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5
Wrap the black wire from the circuit breaker around the first GFCI's "Hot" terminal on the "Line" terminal set and the white wire from the circuit breaker around the "Neutral" or "White" terminal on the "Line" terminal set. Tighten the terminal screws with a Phillips screwdriver.
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6
Wrap the black wire leading to the second GFCI around the first GFCI's "Hot" terminal on the "Load" terminal set and the white wire leading to the second GFCI around the first GFCI's "Neutral" or "White" terminal on the "Load" terminal set. Tighten the terminal screws with a Phillips screwdriver.
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7
Wrap the uninsulated wires from the circuit breaker and the wire set leading to the second GFCI around the first GFCI's green screw, located on the GFCI's mounting bracket. Tighten the green screw with the Phillips screwdriver.
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8
Wrap the black wire from the first GFCI around the second GFCI's "Hot" terminal on the "Line" terminal set and the white wire from the first GFCI around the second GFCI's "Neutral" or "White" terminal on the "Line" terminal set. Tighten the terminal screws with the Phillips screwdriver.
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9
Wrap the uninsulated wire from the first GFCI around the second GFCI's green screw. Tighten the green screw with the Phillips screwdriver.
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